Microsoft is now focusing on Windows personalization features just as much as any other functional features. Being able to personalize your computer improves your overall experience with Windows OS. With that, you can now add stickers to your desktop’s background in Windows 11.
To be precise, this feature is currently only available in Windows 11 version 22H2, therefore it is not yet available on the stable channel. Hence, you must be subscribed to the Insider Dev channel or the Beta channel to test out these new stickers right now.
Moreover, since the feature is still experimental, it needs to be enabled before you can use these stickers. Today, we are going to show you how to enable and add desktop stickers on a Windows 11 PC.
Table of Contents
How to Enable Desktop Stickers in Windows 11
Perform the following steps to enable stickers on a Windows 11 computer. However, before you do, make sure that you are using Windows 11 22H2 by typing in winver in the Run Command box. In the popup window, you should see the details about your OS, as in the image below:
Once confirmed, continue with the steps given below.
Note: This process involves manual changes to the Windows Registry. Misconfiguration of critical values in the system’s registry could be fatal for your operating system. Therefore, we insist that you create a system restore point before proceeding forward with the process.
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Open the Registry Editor by typing in regedit in the Run Command box.
Open the Registry Editor -
Now paste the following in the navigation bar at the top for quick navigation:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device
Quick navigation to Device -
Here, right-click on the Device key in the left pane, expand New from the context menu, and then click Key.
Create new key Name this key “Stickers.”
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Now right-click the Stickers key, expand New, and then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Create new DWORD Name this DWORD “EnableStickers.”
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Double-click the EnableStickers DWORD and set its Value Data to 1, then click Ok.
Set Value Data -
Now restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Although a restart is not essentially needed, we noticed that you may possibly encounter an error when adding the stickers to your desktop (next section). To avoid that, we suggest you reboot your PC.
Once rebooted, you can now begin adding stickers to your desktop background.
How to Add Desktop Stickers in Windows 11
Once the stickers are enabled, you can now begin adding them to your desktop using the following steps. Remember that there is no limit to the number of stickers you can add. You can rearrange and resize them as you like, and even overlap them. However, you cannot rotate them or create your own stickers at the moment.
Note: Your operating system must be activated in order to use stickers in Windows 11. However, you can customize some of the other items without activating the OS.
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Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and click Add or edit stickers from the context menu.
Add or edit stickers Alternatively, you can navigate to the following location and click Add Stickers from the Settings app.
Settings app >> Personalization >> Background
Add stickers from the Settings app -
You shall now see a flyout at the top of your screen with the available stickers to choose from.
Stickers flyout Select the sticker(s) that you want to display on the desktop background (you can even search from the search bar) by double-clicking them, and they shall appear on the desktop.
The default location for each sticker is the top-left corner of the screen. However, you can rearrange and resize them.
Unfortunately, the drag-and-drop option to select the stickers from the flyout is currently not available.
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Now click on the stickers and drag them across the screen where you want to place them. To resize them, grab them from a corner and resize them according to your preference.
If you want to remove a sticker, simply click on the trash icon below the sticker.
Manage stickers -
If you are satisfied with your stickers, click on the cross icon at the top of the screen (next to the stickers flyout button) to exit the stickers mode.
Exit stickers mode
You should now see your desktop as usually with the stickers in the background, as in the image below:
To edit these stickers in the future, simply re-enter the stickers mode using either the Settings app or the context menu, as we had previously discussed.
How to Disable Desktop Stickers in Windows 11
If you do not like the stickers feature in Windows 11, you can also disable it at any time you want and restore your old settings. Here is how:
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Open the Registry Editor by typing in regedit in the Run Command box.
Open the Registry Editor -
Now paste the following in the navigation bar at the top for quick navigation:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device
Quick navigation to Device -
Under the Device key, right-click the Stickers key and click Delete.
Delete Stickers key -
When asked for a confirmation, click Yes.
Confirm deletion -
Now restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
Note: If the stickers still appear after the reboot, you might need to reboot the PC again or restart the explorer.exe process.
Final Thoughts
It is clear that the Windows 11 desktop stickers are still in their preliminary state because of the issues we got to experience with them. However, they are still usable, which is probably why these are not enabled by default.
You can enable desktop stickers in Windows 11 on builds 22621 and higher since there are now declared as version 22H2 by Microsoft.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can we add desktop stickers to Windows 10?
The feature to add stickers to the desktop background is currently only available on Windows 11 22H2. Hopefully, Microsoft will also bring this feature to Windows 10 with a future update, but no such inclination has been made just yet.
When will desktop stickers come to Windows 11?
Background desktop stickers are a work-in-progress and are only available to insiders on Windows 11 22H2. That said, Windows 11 version 22H2 is expected to be released to the public in the second half of 2022, which may likely include background stickers. You can read more about the approximate release date for Windows 11 22H2 here.
How do I put stickers on the desktop background?
Right-click on a blank space on the desktop in Windows 11, and then click Add or edit stickers. Now double-click the sticker you want to add from the flyout and arrange it accordingly on your desktop.
If you do not see the option to add stickers to the context menu, the feature needs to be enabled through Windows Registry. Here are the steps:
1. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device
2. Create a new key named “Stickers” under the Device key.
3. Create a new DWORD named “EnableStickers” under the Stickers key.
4. Set Value Data for EnableStickers DWORD to 1 and restart the computer.
