Changing your wallpaper is a simple computer personalization step, but it can have a huge effect on your mood and productivity. And with today's impressive displays, using a high-resolution wallpaper is a must. Those small wallpapers from old CRT monitors won't cut it anymore.

Whether you want to build up a collection of high-quality wallpapers or just replace the generic default background that came with your computer, here are the best wallpaper sites full of high-quality images.

A Note on High-Resolution Wallpapers

Before we begin, we should briefly explain what's considered a "high-resolution" or "HD" wallpaper so everyone is on the same page.

Computer displays, as well as digital images, are usually measured by width and height in pixels. For example, a 1080p display is 1920px wide by 1080px tall. Because 1080p is considered "full HD," this is our baseline for high-resolution wallpapers. We'll only include sites that have plenty of wallpapers in 1920x1080 and above, such as 4K wallpapers.

You can use a wallpaper that's smaller or larger than your monitor's size if you want. But if it's too small, the image will stretch to fit your display and look distorted. And when using a wallpaper that's a higher resolution than your monitor, you'll have to either downsize it or crop it to fit your display.

If you have to choose, it's better to pick a higher-resolution one. They'll look sharper, and are future-proofed for when you upgrade to a higher-resolution display in the future.

See our overview of high display resolutions for more info about this, and be sure to follow our guide to perfecting your wallpaper display for anything you download.

Now, let's get into the list of the best free wallpaper websites.

1. InterfaceLIFT

InterfaceLIFT Wallpapers

Photos of the Earth's landscape make great desktop wallpapers, and you'll find thousands of them on this website. InterfaceLIFT automatically detects your display resolution and shows high-quality wallpapers for that size. However, you can click the dropdown box under a wallpaper to change its resolution.

Simply click the Download button next to an image to grab a copy of it. If you're interested, you can also see information about the image provided by the photographer. In case you like a lot of the images here, there's a bulk download option that lets you grab all the images from a particular year at once, though this isn't free.

By default, the site sorts images by date. If you'd prefer, use the Sort by line at the top to sort by the number of downloads, rating, or even randomly instead. There's also a Resolution selector to find wallpapers of certain ratios or for multiple screens.

2. Wallhaven

Wallhaven Wallpapers

Wallhaven makes its way onto many lists of the best wallpaper websites. And while it's not specifically known for high-resolution wallpapers, we found that nearly all the images on offer were 1080p or above.

Start by browsing the homepage or using the Latest, Toplist, or Random buttons at the top. Once you find one you like, Wallhaven makes it easy to find similar images. Use the Tags on the left sidebar, select Search for similar to display comparable images, or even choose a color from the image to search by.

If you want to download a wallpaper in a different resolution, choose Crop & Scale Download under Tools to choose a different preset size or set your own.

3. Reddit

Reddit Wallpaper Subreddit

It's no surprise that Reddit has several subreddits dedicated to wallpapers. You'll find several active communities that post new wallpapers all the time.

The most popular is /r/wallpaper, which boasts over a million members. Most wallpapers are at least 1920x1080. If you don't find what you're looking for on that subreddit, give the similarly named /r/wallpapers a look.

These communities have a lot in common, and many people cross-post to both subreddits. But it's worth scouring both for the maximum amount of cool wallpapers.

Finally, if you're looking for even higher resolution wallpapers, have a look at /r/WQHD_Wallpaper. WQHD (wide quad HD) is a term for the 2560x1440 resolution, also known as 1440p. Thus, these wallpapers are a good fit for 1440p and 4K displays.

4. Simple Desktops

Simple Desktops Wallpapers

If you find the offerings on other sites too cluttered, try Simple Desktops. This site offers clean and minimal high-res wallpapers that are still attractive to the eye.

It's also a pleasure to browse—click any image you like and you can easily save it. There are no annoying full-screen ads or other nonsense to deal with.

The site asks that all uploaded wallpapers are 2880x1800, meaning they meet the hi-res wallpaper criteria. And because they're so simple, you can easily crop them to fit smaller displays if needed.

5. WallpaperStock

WallpaperStock Wallpapers

WallpaperStock has a huge amount of HD desktop wallpapers for all purposes.

Use the categories on the right side of the page to search by categories like Cars, Animals, and World. If you like, you can select a desired resolution on the left side to filter by your screen size. Otherwise, if you're open to anything, you'll see all available resolutions when you visit a wallpaper's page.

Because the site detects your display resolution, you can simply click on a wallpaper to open it in the matching size. From there, saving it is easy, as usual.

6. HDwallpapers

HDwallpapers Website

As evidenced by the name, this is another site offering HD and above quality wallpapers. Like what we've seen so far, you can look through the various categories in addition to checking what's new or popular.

If you don't want to download a wallpaper in your native resolution, pick from the Available Resolutions on an image's download page. The only downside with this site is that you must wait 10 seconds before downloading a wallpaper. Thus, it might not be the best choice if you're looking to download many wallpapers at once.

7. WallpapersWide

Wallpapers Wide

If you're still searching for the perfect HD wallpaper, WallpapersWide can hopefully provide it. It contains the elements you've come to expect, making it one of the best websites to download high-quality wallpapers from.

Mouse over an image and click the arrow that appears to jump right to the download screen at your current resolution. Alternatively, you can select an image to see its tags and review all available resolutions.

Aside from this, the site lets you filter by aspect ratio or resolution in the bottom-left corner. With thousands of images available, you're sure to find something you like. Just keep in mind that this site features a small watermark in the corner of its wallpapers.

High-Resolution Wallpaper Websites Galore

You don't have to get stuck with the handful of wallpapers included on your computer by default. Have fun going through these HD wallpaper sites to find dozens of fresh desktop backgrounds. They're a good way to express yourself to anyone walking by your computer, and wallpapers are a fun collection to build up over time. Thanks to cloud storage, they're easy to move between computers, too.

To go further, there are more ways to beautify your desktop wallpaper—even if you already love it.