wv2wall

wv2wall is a Windows Forms app that hosts a WebView2 surface behind desktop icons (attached to WorkerW/Progman) so a web page can act like a live wallpaper. It includes a tray menu for URL + monitor mode selection, and low-level input hooks to forward mouse/keyboard to the WebView (scrolling works!) while preserving normal desktop behavior (desktop icons + right-click menu).

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• .NET (SDK that supports WinForms; typically .NET 6+)
• WebView2 Runtime installed (usually already present on modern Windows)

NuGet:

• Microsoft.Web.WebView2

Build

From the project directory:

dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release

Run

Default startup loads:

• http://127.0.0.1:5500

Run:

dotnet run

Or run the built executable from bin\Release\....

Use

• Launch the app → it appears in the system tray.
• Right-click the tray icon:
  • Set URL... to point at:
    • a local dev server (recommended)
    • a hosted page
  • Pick a mode:
    • Span: one surface across the entire virtual screen
    • All monitors: one surface per monitor
    • Monitor N: single monitor wallpaper

Keyboard focus behavior:

• Clicking the desktop background (not an icon) sets “wallpaper focused” and forwards keys to the web app.
• Clicking normal windows clears “wallpaper focused”.

Mouse behavior:

• Desktop right-click remains the normal Windows desktop menu.
• Clicking on desktop icons behaves normally.
• Clicking elsewhere on the desktop forwards input to the wallpaper WebView surface.
• Mouse wheel is forwarded via WebView2 DevTools protocol (Input.dispatchMouseEvent) for consistent scrolling.

How it works (high level)

• WallpaperContext (ApplicationContext)

  • Owns the tray icon/menu and the list of DeskForm instances
  • Manages monitor mode and recreates forms when switching modes
  • Installs:
    • WH_MOUSE_LL to route mouse events to the correct WebView region
    • WH_KEYBOARD_LL to route keyboard events when wallpaper is focused
  • Uses desktop ListView memory ops to clear selection (deselect icons) when clicking background

• DeskForm

  • Borderless WinForms window with a WebView2 control docked to fill
  • Reparents itself to the desktop host via WorkerW.FindDesktopHost()
  • Navigates to _url
  • Exposes helpers:
    • GetWebViewHandle() to find Chrome_RenderWidgetHostHWND
    • DispatchScroll() for wheel input
    • PostKey() to forward key messages to the WebView window handle

Notes / limitations

• This is Windows Shell–dependent behavior (Progman/WorkerW) and can vary across Windows builds/themes.
• Low-level hooks apply system-wide while the app runs. Bugs in hook logic can affect input globally.
• Some web pages may behave poorly as a wallpaper (heavy GPU, autoplay policies, focus issues).
• WebView2 DevTools input dispatch is used for wheel; if DevTools are disabled at runtime in future changes, wheel forwarding would need an alternative.

License

MIT See LICENSE file