This page takes you from a fresh install to a live wallpaper on your desktop in a few minutes. Sucrose ships a set of Showcase sample wallpapers that are auto-imported into your Library on first run, so you can apply a wallpaper immediately — or browse the in-app Store for thousands more. Below: open the Portal, pick a wallpaper, apply it with Use, optionally customize it, and set Sucrose to start with Windows. If you have not installed yet, start with Installation.
Launch Sucrose Wallpaper Engine from the Start Menu or desktop shortcut. This starts the Launcher, which lives in the system tray. The Launcher opens the main settings/management window — the Portal — and automatically restores your last wallpaper on every boot, so you only set it once.
If Sucrose is already running, double-clicking the shortcut (or the tray icon's Open) just brings the Portal window forward; it does not start a second copy. See Portal Interface Tour.
📷 Screenshot needed: The Portal main window on the Library page right after first launch, showing the auto-imported Showcase wallpapers.
Use the top navigation to choose a source:
You can also drag-and-drop your own files onto the Library: a .zip package, a .url shortcut, a GIF/video/web/app file, or a plain URL. Sucrose imports or opens the Create Wallpaper dialog as appropriate.
Right-click a wallpaper card and choose Use. Sucrose sets it as the active wallpaper and (re)starts the correct render engine for its type:
| Type | Default engine |
|---|---|
| Gif | MpvPlayer |
| Video | MpvPlayer |
| Web | CefSharp |
| Url | CefSharp |
| YouTube | CefSharp |
| Application | Aurora |
A brief flicker when applying is normal — the engine restarts to load the new wallpaper.
For wallpapers that support it (Web wallpapers with properties, and Gif/Video/YouTube on an engine that supports a property panel), right-click the card and choose Customize. This opens the property editor where you can adjust visual filters and behavior — for example brightness, contrast, blur, saturation, mute, and playback speed. Changes re-apply live. See Customizing Wallpaper.
WallpaperVolume, default 100). You can also mute on the desktop or when other audio is active. See Settings General.Open Settings → General → Application Startup (RunStartup, default 0 = None) and choose how Sucrose launches at logon:
| Value | Mode |
|---|---|
| 0 | None |
| 1 | Normal (current-user Run key) |
| 2 | Priority (elevated) |
| 3 | Scheduler (Task Scheduler task Autorun for Sucrose) |
Because the wallpaper auto-restores on Launcher start, enabling startup means your wallpaper comes back automatically after every reboot. See Theme, Tray & Startup and Settings General.