Microsoft moved most of the classic Control Panel to the Settings screen in Windows 10, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that all features have also been removed.
Actually, users can still access some old Control Panel settings, as the menus are still there and Microsoft only removed the traditional ways to reach them. Including the desktop background options, that is.
In Windows 10, the Settings screen allows you to change the desktop background, pick a different accent color, tweak the Start menu and things like that, but if you want the operating system to automatically change the desktop wallpaper, there’s no option in the new menu.
How to find the options
And yet, the classic settings did have such an option, so here’s how to access them.
First and foremost, you need to open the run dialog (you can do that by pressing the Win key + R anywhere on the desktop or by launching the Start menu and typing Run in the search box.
Once the Run dialog is launched, type the following command and hit enter:
control /name Microsoft.Personalization /page pageWallpaper
This command will get you to the old Desktop Background screen that allows you to change the wallpaper, but also to choose the photo position and enable the automatic wallpaper changer if you have your own folder with pictures and want to change them without moving a single finger.
Obviously, there are several apps that can do that, but since the feature is still part of the operating system, it’s only natural to want to use this one. Microsoft is very likely to add it in the settings screen in the coming updates, as the old Control Panel is supposed to be phased out very soon, most likely with the major update the company prepares for October.