Linux

Live wallpapers on Linux

Last updated 2026-11-03 · Fashtag s.r.o.

Wallpaper Animator is a native Linux app on Steam. This page says what it does on each desktop, what to do when something goes wrong, and which features are still Windows-only. It also answers the question most people arrive with: whether Wallpaper Engine runs on Linux.

Does Wallpaper Engine work on Linux?

Not officially. Wallpaper Engine has no Linux version. Two community projects can play some Wallpaper Engine content on Linux:

linux-wallpaperengine renders Wallpaper Engine wallpapers on its own. It uses the assets from your Wallpaper Engine install, so you need to own Wallpaper Engine and have it installed through Steam (with Proton). On X11 it doesn't work when the desktop draws its own background, and on Wayland it needs a compositor that supports wlr-layer-shell.
wallpaper-engine-kde-plugin is a KDE Plasma 6 wallpaper plugin that plays wallpapers from your Wallpaper Engine Workshop subscriptions. This version continues the original catsout plugin.

Not every Wallpaper Engine wallpaper works through them. Their READMEs list what is supported and how to set them up. If your goal is to keep your Wallpaper Engine library, start there: Wallpaper Animator can't open Wallpaper Engine or Steam Workshop items.

Wallpaper Animator on Linux

Wallpaper Animator has its own Linux build on Steam that runs in the Steam Linux Runtime, not through Proton. It's the same app as on Windows: a gallery of 10,000+ community wallpapers, the Studio for making your own, and your own videos and images. When you set a wallpaper, the app looks at your desktop and picks how to draw it:

On KDE Plasma it uses a Plasma wallpaper plugin.
On a Wayland compositor with wlr-layer-shell (Hyprland, sway, wayfire) it uses the bundled mpvpaper, one per monitor.
Otherwise it opens desktop windows behind your other windows through X11 or XWayland, one per monitor.

To start the app with your session, turn on Start with Linux in its settings. With it on, GNOME, Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE also get the wallpaper's still frame as their regular desktop background.

KDE Plasma and Steam Deck desktop mode

On Plasma, the app installs a small wallpaper plugin and switches your desktop to it, so the video plays inside Plasma's own desktop. Desktop icons keep working, on both X11 and Wayland. Steam Deck desktop mode is KDE Plasma, so it gets the same plugin. When you stop the wallpaper, your previous Plasma wallpaper comes back.

Because Plasma itself plays the video, Plasma remembers the plugin. After a crash or a logout without quitting the app from the tray, your desktop can come back animated with the app closed.

Known issues:

A still image instead of a video. The plugin plays video through Qt 6 Multimedia's FFmpeg backend, which comes from the qt6-multimedia-ffmpeg package. Without it you get the still image and a notice until it's installed.
Green horizontal bands on AMD graphics with Mesa 25.1 or newer (seen on SteamOS 3.8 with Plasma 6.4 on Wayland). This is a Qt bug. The app writes the workaround, QT_DISABLE_HW_TEXTURES_CONVERSION=1, to ~/.config/plasma-workspace/env/wallpaper-animator.sh and asks you to log out and back in once. To undo it, delete that file and log out.
"Compatibility mode" notice and hidden desktop icons. This happens when Steam runs the app with Proton or another compatibility tool, because then the app can't reach Plasma. Set the app's Steam compatibility tool to Steam Linux Runtime (Properties, then Compatibility).

Hyprland, sway and other wlroots compositors

If your compositor supports wlr-layer-shell, the app runs the bundled mpvpaper on each monitor, drawing the wallpaper below your windows. Plain Hyprland and Hyprland with hyprpaper both work.

Known issues:

The wallpaper doesn't show. Some shells paint an opaque surface on the layer above the wallpaper, for example end-4's dots-hyprland (quickshell) and some eww setups. The protocol has no way around that. For dots-hyprland, set wallpaperIsVideo: true in ~/.config/quickshell/ii/modules/background/Background.qml.
Start with Linux does nothing. The autostart is a systemd user unit tied to graphical-session.target. If you start Hyprland from a TTY without uwsm or a display manager, that target never starts. Either launch with uwsm start hyprland, or add exec-once = "<install folder>/AppRun" --startup to hyprland.conf (Steam shows the install folder under Manage, then Browse local files).

GNOME

GNOME doesn't offer wlr-layer-shell, so on a GNOME Wayland session the wallpaper runs through XWayland: a helper opens one desktop window per monitor behind your other windows. It is not a native GNOME Wayland wallpaper. GNOME on X11 uses the same helper. If XWayland isn't available, the app falls back to a plain video window, which is not a real wallpaper.

If you use the Desktop Icons extension, the helper switches it off and on once so the icons sit above the video. On a virtual machine or a computer without working OpenGL, you may see an mpv icon in the dock while the wallpaper plays.

Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE

These use the same X11 desktop-window helper, one window per monitor. With Start with Linux on, the still frame is also set through each desktop's own background setting (gsettings on Cinnamon and MATE, xfconf on XFCE). There is no other desktop-specific code. If something doesn't look right on your setup, write to hello@wallpaperanimator.com.

The COSMIC desktop (Pop!_OS 24.04 and later) supports neither of the methods the app uses, so it isn't supported.

What's Windows-only

A different wallpaper on each monitor. On Linux every monitor shows the same wallpaper.
Pausing while a game or maximized app covers the screen. On Linux the wallpaper keeps playing.
The pause button. Linux has no pause control.
Lock screen matching, which puts a still of your wallpaper on the Windows lock screen.
The depth effect, where still wallpapers shift in 3D as you move the mouse.
New pictures shaped like your screen. On Windows the Studio knows your monitors' shapes, so portrait and ultrawide screens get pictures in their shape. On Linux it doesn't read them.

Requirements

64-bit Linux: Ubuntu 22.04 or newer, or equivalent, or SteamOS 3.
KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, MATE, XFCE, or a wlroots Wayland compositor such as Hyprland or sway.
Minimum hardware listed on Steam: 1.66 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 1 GB disk space.
An internet connection for the gallery and AI creation. Downloaded wallpapers play offline.

Get it on Steam