How to put a custom background to a WhatsApp chat.
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Sending a message to the wrong chat can have catastrophic consequences, and a good way to avoid this is to use a different wallpaper. Luckily, WhatsApp has started to activate the function -first in the beta- to put a different background to each chat, after many years in which it only allowed to change the background of all chats.
WhatsApp launches personalized backgrounds for each chat, and they come with some additional additions, such as the possibility to choose one background for the light theme and one for the dark themeas well as more backgrounds and solid colors including the WhatsApp scribble pattern on top (if you want). We tell you how it works.
How to change the background of a chat in WhatsApp
WhatsApp has completely renewed its wallpaper system for chats, although the way to access the setting is the same as always. From a chat, press the menu button ⋮ and choose Wallpaper.
On the screen that appears below you can choose between four types of wallpapers to use in any chat: light backgrounds, dark backgrounds, solid colors or your own photos that you have on your mobile.
The collection of light backgrounds and dark backgrounds includes around 30 assorted ready-to-use backgrounds, most of which are photos. By tapping on one of the backgrounds, you can see a preview of what they look like in a chat. If you want to see other backgrounds, you don’t need to go back to the list, you can slide to the sides to see the rest of the funds in the category.
By pressing Set Wallpaper You are asked if you want to set the background only for this chat or for all the chats in the theme you are using at the moment: whether I know the light theme or the dark theme. If you choose the first option, only this chat will change the background. With the second, the new background is applied to all chats, except those that have a custom background.
In the case of solid colors, there is a little novelty. The color list is the same as always – with different colors depending on whether you use the light or dark theme – but now you can choose if you want WhatsApp doodles overlap, by checking the corresponding box at the bottom.
For the rest, all backgrounds, whether they are light, dark, from mobile photos or solid colors, are set the same as a background for a chat. This is the summary of the necessary steps.
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Enter the chat and press the menu button ⋮
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Enter Wallpaper
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Tap on the category of backgrounds you want (light, dark, colors or My photos)
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Choose the background you want to put
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If it is a solid color, choose if you want the doodles to be included or not, by checking Add WhatsApp Doodles
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Tap Set wallpaper
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Choose For this chat
How to set different backgrounds for light and dark theme
WhatsApp allows you to choose a wallpaper for different chats if you are using the light theme or the dark theme (also called the night mode). Technically you can do it from the same menu above, but a more simplified way to do it is from WhatsApp settings, in the section Chats – Wallpaper.
When you enter this menu, you are told that you are changing the default wallpaper for the theme you are using at the moment, either light or dark. That is, if you want to change the default theme for the dark theme, you must first put WhatsApp in dark mode.
After pressing Change, the options are exactly the same as before, although in the case of the dark theme there is an interesting addition, the slider Wallpaper brightness. With it, you can control the brightness of the background, making it darker the more you adjust the slider to the right. This is the process:
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Put WhatsApp in the theme of which you want to change its default background (light or dark)
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Tap on ⋮ and enter Settings
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Enter Chats
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Tap on Wallpaper
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Press Change and choose the background you want
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In the dark theme, you can adjust the brightness to make the background darker
How to return to the default background
If at any time you regret any of the wallpapers that you have put in a chat, you can easily disable it. To do this, you simply have to enter Wallpaper again and press Remove custom wallpaper.
This will remove the custom settings for this chat, returning to the background that has been configured for the theme WhatsApp is on (light or dark). If you want to use the default WhatsApp background (gray and squiggly), then tap Default wallpaper. These are the steps:
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In chat, press the menu button ⋮
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Enter Wallpaper
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Press Remove custom wallpaper to remove the custom background settings, and then confirm with Remove.
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If you want to go back to WhatsApp’s default gray background, tap Default wallpaper and then Set wallpaper.
