Fix Stuck COVID-19 Wallpaper

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a wallpaper with guidelines was pushed to campus PCs. Users have requested removal of the wallpaper.

Below, please find an example of the registry keys which were set to enforce the wallpaper.
Image depicting COVID-19 wallpaper registry keys


The wallpaper enforcement can be removed by simply importing the attached registry file and then restarting the PC or restarting the Windows Explorer process. Else, follow the steps below to manually make the changes.


Manual removal of the keys can be performed by deleting the key entries titled "Wallpaper" and "WallpaperStyle" or by removal of the "System" parent key, so long as no other values are present.

An example of a properly cleared "System" key can be seen below.
Image depicting the cleared System registry key


The Windows Explorer process will typically need to be restarted in order for the change to take effect. This can be accomplished by either restarting the PC or by restarting the Windows Explorer process.

An example of restarting the Windows Explorer process using Task Manager can be viewed below.
Image depicting the location of the Windows Explorer process in Task Manager and the Restart option highlighted on the Right-click menu option for the Windows Explorer process


To confirm that the changes have taken effect, open up the Personalization menu via the Start Menu or by right-clicking on the desktop as seen below.
Screen capture of the right-click menu, on the Desktop, which produces the necessary menu options - the Personalize option is located at the bottom of the pop-up menu


Next, in the Background tab, the Background [Type] may need to be changed from Solid Color to another option, such as Picture. The change should produce results similar to what is seen the image below.
Image depicting the Background tab with the Picture option set