wallswitch

Cycle wallpapers across the desktop, Windows Terminal, and registry persistence with one global hotkey per pool.

Background daemon, not a live wallpaper engine or a startup manager.

Quick start

1. Download a release zip, or build bin/wallswitch.exe with build.ps1.
2. Edit bin/.pools and bin/.targets. The release zip ships placeholder files. In a source checkout, start from the .example files.
3. Run bin/wallswitch.exe. It stays in the background.
4. Press a pool hotkey to apply the next image.
5. Optional: add a Startup shortcut or Task Scheduler task.

What it does

• One global hotkey per pool.
• random mode gives each enabled target a different image. sync gives every target the same image.
• Each pool keeps a shuffle queue so images do not repeat until the cycle drains.
• Targets: live desktop, Windows Terminal backgroundImage, and registry persistence.

Requirements

• Windows 7 or later with .NET Framework 4.0 or later.
• Windows Terminal only if the Terminal target is enabled.
• Images in jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, or webp. WebP on Windows 10 needs the codec pack.

Limitations

• Hotkeys are registered at startup. PoolKey changes need a restart. Mode and PoolDir changes reload on the next press; use an absolute PoolDir for live reloads.
• Random mode needs at least as many images as enabled targets. Otherwise some targets are skipped.
• The Terminal target only rewrites an existing backgroundImage key.
• Single wallpaper across the virtual desktop. No per-monitor control.
• No installer, auto-start, success log, or format conversion.
• State lives in bin/state. A read-only folder can cause repeats or skips.

Docs

• Usage
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting
• How it works
• Project history