Spice is a focus wallpaper manager for Windows and MacOS.
Spice is a premium wallpaper manager for Windows and macOS that keeps your desktop fresh, dynamic, and beautiful. It runs in the background as a system tray application — no windows to manage, just great wallpapers.
Spice lives entirely in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (macOS). Click the Spice icon to open the menu.
When one display is connected, the tray menu shows actions directly:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Next Wallpaper | Immediately advance to the next wallpaper |
| Prev Wallpaper | Go back to the previous wallpaper |
| Pause Play | Pause automatic rotation (changes to Resume Play when paused) |
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| Source: | Shows the image provider (e.g., Wallhaven, Met Museum) |
| By: | Shows attribution — click to open the original image on the web |
| Add to Favorites | Save the current wallpaper locally (only visible when Favorites is enabled) |
| Delete And Block | Delete the image from cache and prevent it from ever appearing again |
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| Preferences | Open the settings window |
| About Spice | Version info and credits |
| Quit | Exit Spice completely |
When more than one display is connected, Display 1 (the primary) keeps its controls at the top level of the menu. Every additional display gets its own submenu named Display 2, Display 3, etc. (with the device name appended if available, e.g., Display 2 (DELL U2723D)).
Each display submenu contains the same full set of controls — Next, Prev, Pause Play, Source, Attribution, Add to Favorites, and Delete And Block — all acting independently on that specific display.
Tip: When Spice starts with multiple monitors, it staggers wallpaper changes by a random offset so they don’t all flash at the same time (configurable in Settings).
Spice is designed for power users who want total control without interrupting their flow. Our global hotkeys are instant, responsive, and cross-platform.
Why it’s cool:
Note for macOS: Global actions use
Command+Control(similar to WindowsCtrl+Alt). Targeted actions useCommand(similar to WindowsAlt).
These shortcuts perform actions across every connected monitor simultaneously.
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Next Wallpaper | Ctrl + Alt + → |
Cmd + Ctrl + → |
| Previous Wallpaper | Ctrl + Alt + ← |
Cmd + Ctrl + ← |
| Sync / Detect Displays | Ctrl + Alt + D |
Cmd + Ctrl + D |
| Open Preferences | Ctrl + Alt + O |
Cmd + Ctrl + O |
Hold a number key (1–9) alongside the modifier to target a specific display. Display 1 = key 1, Display 2 = key 2, etc.
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Next on Display N | Alt + N + → |
Command + N + → |
| Previous on Display N | Alt + N + ← |
Command + N + ← |
| Block / Delete | Alt + N + ↓ |
Command + N + ↓ |
| Add to Favorites | Alt + N + ↑ |
Command + N + ↑ |
| Pause / Play | Alt + N + P |
Command + N + P |
Example: To skip the wallpaper on your second monitor, press and hold Alt (Windows) or Command (macOS), tap 2, and press →.
Spice gives you granular control over how hotkeys interact with your system. If you find that Spice shortcuts conflict with other software (like your IDE or web browser), you have two options in Preferences → App:
Ctrl + Alt + Arrow) but find that the Targeted Shortcuts (e.g., Alt + 1 + Right) interfere with your browser’s “Go Back/Forward” actions, you can disable only the targeted modifiers.macOS Permissions: Targeted shortcuts require Accessibility permissions. macOS will prompt you once when Spice first detects a number key press. If shortcuts stop working, ensure Spice is still enabled in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
Open via Tray → Preferences or Ctrl + Alt (Windows) / Cmd + Control (macOS) + O.
The App tab controls application-wide behaviour, independent of any wallpaper source.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable System Notifications | Toggle desktop toast notifications (e.g., “Paused Play”, “Next Wallpaper”). Useful to turn off if they become distracting. |
| Enable New Version Check | Spice checks for updates once on startup and once per day. A tray indicator appears when a newer version is available. |
| Enable global shortcuts | Master switch for all keyboard hotkeys. Disable if the shortcuts conflict with another application. |
| Enable Targeted Shortcuts | Enable or disable targeted shortcuts (Alt + 1-9 + Arrow on Windows / Cmd + 1-9 + Arrow on macOS). Recommended to disable if they conflict with browser navigation. |
| Theme | Choose between System (follows OS dark/light mode), Dark, or Light. Changes apply immediately. |
The Wallpaper plugin tab appears immediately after the App tab. It contains four sub-sections accessed via a side navigation bar: General, Online, Local, and AI.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Wallpaper Change Frequency | How often Spice automatically rotates. Options range from Every 5 Minutes to Daily. Set to Never to disable automatic rotation entirely (you can still change manually via the tray or hotkeys). |
| Cache Size | How many images to keep on disk. A larger cache means faster display and fewer network requests at startup. Set to None to disable caching (images are fetched fresh each time). |
| Smart Fit Mode | Controls how Spice fits images to your screen — see below. |
| Enable Face Crop | When Smart Fit is active, the cropper aggressively centers on the largest detected face. Note: This setting is automatically disabled if Smart Fit Mode is “Disabled”. |
| Enable Face Boost | When Smart Fit is active, the cropper hints toward faces but also considers overall composition. Note: This setting is automatically disabled if Smart Fit Mode is “Disabled”. |
| Stagger monitor changes | Adds a small random delay between wallpaper changes on each display during automatic rotation, preventing a distracting simultaneous flash across all screens. |
| Change wallpaper on start | When enabled, Spice immediately changes the wallpaper when the app launches. Disable this to show the last-seen wallpaper until the timer fires. |
| Refresh wallpapers nightly | Spice quietly re-fetches images from all active sources once per night, keeping the cache fresh with new content without interrupting your day. |
| Display Configuration → Refresh Displays | Manually tell Spice to re-detect all connected monitors. Use this if you plug in or unplug a display while Spice is running. |
| Clear Wallpaper Cache | Deletes all downloaded images from disk. You will need an internet connection before new wallpapers appear again. Requires confirmation. |
| Blocked Images → Reset | Clears the list of blocked images, allowing previously deleted images to be re-downloaded. Requires confirmation. |
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Disabled | Images are used as-is — no processing. Fastest. |
| Quality | Rejects images whose aspect ratio doesn’t match your monitor. No black bars, no stretched photos. May skip some images. |
| Flexibility | Accepts high-resolution images even if their aspect ratio differs from your screen, then crops intelligently. More variety. |
The Online tab lists each cloud and institutional image provider as an expandable accordion card. Click a provider name to expand its settings.
Wallhaven is a premier destination for high-quality wallpapers. Spice integrates deeply with the Wallhaven API to provide a seamless search and synchronization experience.
Authentication: Entering your API Key is highly recommended as it enables access to your private favorite collections and higher search quotas.
Favorites Synchronization: This is the “killer feature” for Wallhaven power users. Instead of manually adding individual search URLs, Spice can mirror your entire Wallhaven account.
Adding Manual Queries: If you want to track a specific search that isn’t in your favorites:
https://wallhaven.cc/search?q=nature&categories=110).Account Reset: Clicking Clear API Key is a destructive but necessary action if you wish to change accounts. It will:
Pexels is a high-quality stock photography provider known for its vibrant, modern imagery. Spice leverages the Pexels API to bring these professional photos directly to your desktop.
How to Use:
Wikimedia Commons is a vast, dynamic repository of freely-licensed media from millions of contributors. Unlike static museum collections, Commons allows you to tap into a live stream of real-world history and discovery.
The Power of Discovery:
search:nature or paste a MediaSearch URL to fetch images matching specific topics.category:Deep space or category:Impressionist paintings for a focused rotation.file:File:Earth_Eastern_Hemisphere.jpg).Tip: Support the community! You can contribute to their mission via the Donate to Wikimedia link in the provider settings.
Art has no borders. Spice integrates with the world’s leading cultural institutions to transform your screen into a rotating gallery of historical masterpieces, all provided under Open Access (CC0) licenses.
Available Museums:
The “Director’s Cut” Collections: Each museum provides curated collections designed to showcase institutional highlights:
How to Use:
Google Photos is for your personal memories. Spice uses the Google Photos Picker API, ensuring a high-privacy integration.
Why it’s cool:
How to Use:
Sometimes the best wallpapers are the ones you already own or have carefully curated into your favorites. These can be managed in the Local tab of the Spice Preferences.
The “Favorites” provider is the heart of Spice’s localized content. It acts as a persistent archive of images you’ve “loved” from other providers.
The “Killer” Features:
How to Use:
Alt + N + ↑ (Windows) / Cmd + Control + N + ↑ (macOS).Want to use your own photography or personal collection?
.jpg, .png, .webp) and add them to your rotation.Spice fully supports any number of connected monitors. Each display is managed independently.
When Spice starts, it detects all connected displays automatically. If you connect or disconnect a display while Spice is running:
Ctrl + Alt + D (Windows) / Cmd + Control + D (macOS).With the Stagger monitor changes option enabled (recommended for 2+ displays), Spice introduces a random delay between each display’s automatic rotation. This prevents all screens from flashing at the same moment, creating a more pleasant, natural feel.
The Spice Browser Extension is the ultimate companion for discovery. It bridges the gap between your web browser and your desktop, allowing you to sync new collections with zero configuration.
localhost). Your browsing habits and selected images are never sent to a cloud server.Spice is available for all major desktop browsers:
The extension is pre-tuned for high-resolution discovery on:
Pro Tip: Keep Spice running in your system tray! The extension needs the desktop app to be open to receive its synchronization signals.