How to Change Your Wallpaper Automatically for Presentations

Your wallpaper is showing

I was on a client call once where the presenter's wallpaper was their dog wearing sunglasses. Funny? Sure. Professional? Not really.

Nobody notices a professional wallpaper. Everyone notices a weird one.

Changing it manually is annoying

On Mac: System Settings, Wallpaper, browse, select, apply. On Windows: right-click, Personalize, Background, browse, select. That's 6 clicks minimum. Then you do it again after the call to switch back.

Nobody does this consistently. Which is why you see family photos, memes, and anime wallpapers on client calls all the time.

What wallpaper to use

Keep it boring. Dark gray, navy blue, or black. A subtle gradient works too. Your company's branded wallpaper if they have one. The default macOS or Windows wallpapers are honestly fine.

Don't use personal photos, busy patterns, bright colors, or anything with text on it.

What I do

I set up QuickPresent once with a dark wallpaper. Now every time I hit the button before a call:

Wallpaper swaps to the professional one
Desktop icons disappear
Open apps get minimized
Speakers muted
Notifications blocked

Call ends, I press the button. Personal wallpaper is back, icons reappear, everything normal.

Set it up once. Works every time after that.

Virtual backgrounds don't help here

Zoom's virtual background covers your webcam feed, not your shared screen. Two different things. When you share your screen, people see your actual desktop, wallpaper and all. Virtual backgrounds are irrelevant.

Where to find good wallpapers

You don't need to design anything. The built-in OS wallpapers work. Or open Paint/Preview, fill a canvas with a dark color, save as PNG. Or search "minimal dark wallpaper" on Unsplash.

Go dark. Dark backgrounds are easier on the eyes, make app windows stand out, and look professional in any context.

Wallpaper is one piece

If you're fixing your wallpaper, you might as well hide icons, close apps, mute audio, and block notifications too. That's what QuickPresent does. All of it.

Download QuickPresent →

Keep reading

QuickPresent is available for Mac and Windows. See pricing · Setup guide