20 cool backgrounds to jazz up your Mac.

It can be hard to define what “cool” even means — is it looking to kill without trying too hard? Being self-sufficient but fitting in with ease? Whatever makes cool, you know it when you see it.

For this post, we’ve rummaged around in Wallpaper Wizard 2 and cherry-picked cool wallpapers that, in our entirely subjective opinion, nail the concept. They catch your eye but will subtly blend into your Mac, add a splash of color to your screen but don’t overdo it — in other words, are the very definition of cool desktop backgrounds. Scroll on to find a picture that will jazz up your desktop, or download the app for free to get your hands on thousands of said pictures.

These awesome wallpapers will fix a bland desktop:

1. For the record

   

   There’s something special about vinyl, even if the sound quality is meh compared with fancy digital formats. And when vinyl comes in teal it makes just about the grooviest background around. Check it out in the Music Is Life collection, there’s plenty of goodness for us melomaniacs.

2. Genie in a bottle

   

   Some people have a thing for teeny-tiny bottles, and can you blame them? The ones in this cool wallpaper have the added benefit of being soiled in Holi colors, not to mention the millennial pink background (don’t roll your eyes). More millennial imagery is here in the Juicy Still Life collection of wallpapers.

3. Wearing a face

   

   If you think about it, street art is a glimpse into the moods of the city. There’s no telling what the mood underneath this broken mask is, but we can’t take our eyes off it. Try it on your own desktop, it’s here in the Walls Are Canvases collection of good wallpapers.

4. Scrape the sky

   

   Who said gray and gray are the right colors for skyscrapers? This one scrapes the sky just fine while flaunting a red-and-white facade. With a scrap of blue sky in the corner, it also seems to look good on a desktop. See it in HD in the Facades collection from Wallpaper Wizard 2.

5. Take me to Woodstock

   

   Hippie wagons were all the rage once, and we hope they’ll make a resounding comeback one day. Meanwhile, you can wallow in nostalgia for the decade you’ve never seen with this cool background, or get more bits and pieces of the past in the Retro World collection of wallpaper photos.

6. Hipster trivia

   

   The cool is in the details, even seemingly trivial ones like the right color combo or the right font on a T-shirt. This cool background in HD resolution lets you see every little thing that makes someone hip. If it looks like your thing, be sure to check out the Letters and Numbers collection here.

7. Tie the knot

   

   Sure, ropes aren’t exactly a hot subject, but bear with us. What makes this wallpaper cool is the colors — they’re so non-typical for either ropes or boards, and yet go together like peanut butter and jelly. Here, savor this photo in the Strong Ropes collection of wallpaper pictures.

8. Beach biking

   

   Have you noticed how all new movies seem to sport an Instagram filter of some kind? Love it or hate it, manipulated colors are in, and this image from the Town Bicycles collection of awesome wallpapers is proof.

9. Lighten up

   

   Words to live by indeed. Our two cents is, look at what makes you happy, be it inspo quotes in neon on your wall or cool wallpapers in HD on your screen. Like this one from the Illuminating Night collection of backgrounds.

10. Your morning fix

    

    Voted the favorite morning routine of 2017 (we just made that up), coffee has a way of making mornings tolerable. So, even though there’s a photo of a coffee cup on every other blog, Instagram account, and Pinterest board, we’re still giving this one the title of a cool desktop background. Get it here in the Morning Coffee Bliss collection from Wallpaper Wizard 2.

11. Playful Kiki Ljung

    

    Kiki Ljung’s art is winning over the Internet with its primary colors and cartoony shapes. Must be the child in us that this picture speaks to, because we thought it should be listed among the cool HD wallpapers. Look at the Best of Kiki Ljung collection, you’ll find something that speaks to you, too.

12. The grittier the better

    

    This looks like the kind of street you better stay away from after dark, but gritty city corners make pretty awesome wallpapers. The Urban Streets collection from Wallpaper Wizard 2 confirms.

13. Wow walls

    

    Street art was cool before it was cool, and we vote for it as the number one subject for awesome desktop backgrounds. Check out the Graffiti collection of wallpaper images if you agree.

14. A watermelon ride

    

    We need more crazy bike designs like the one in this awesome background. Just picture the city where all bikes look like that. Check out this and more city bike scenes in the Life Is a Ride collection of wallpapers.

15. Patterns on walls

    

    Layers of paint applied over the years chip off and come together in weird and wonderful patterns. If you’re into that loft-y beauty, the In Concrete collection of laptop wallpaper is a find.

16. Warm is the light

    

    Our favorite lamps are those that mimic the cozy light of their predecessors, candles. Specially for people who geek out over the right kinds of light is the Lamp Warmth collection of wallpaper pictures.

17. Take a shot

    

    It’s great to be able to capture anything with a tiny box of wizardry that’s your phone, but aren’t real cameras so much cooler? They sure make cool desktop wallpapers, or so says the Catching the Moment collection here.

18. Make a splash

    

    Sleepy summer afternoons on a lake or chilly fishing mornings when toes and fingertips grow numb — what do you picture when looking at this image from the Boat Trip collection of wallpapers?

19. A glimpse of old Europe

    

    Copenhagen, Amsterdam, or a cozy no-name town somewhere in Belgium? We don’t know where this scene is, but it sure works as an awesome wallpaper for your Mac. Check it out in the Dream Town collection of backgrounds.

20. All shades of pink

    

    When there’s color and symmetry, even walls can look like art. Take a look at the Bright Walls collection if you’re still skeptical.

There you go, the ultimate selection of cool HD wallpapers according to yours truly is all before you. Get more desktop backgrounds in Wallpaper Wizard 2, and be sure to share this post if you know someone else who likes good images. Which of course you do.