Deploy And Set Desktop Wallpaper, Lock Screen Images, Outlook Signature & Screensaver Using Microsoft Intune
This article will cover how to design, create, deploy, and configure Windows personalization items such as Outlook email signatures, desktop wallpapers, lock screen images, and video screensavers using Microsoft Intune. It will serve as a comprehensive guide for setting up these personalization features. If you manage an organization with over 10,000 employees and a mix of networked and cloud-managed devices, this article is tailored for you. I hope you find it informative.
For the purpose of this article, I am an IT manager at a large organization with over 10,000 users globally. Over the past few years, my team and I have been upgrading end-user computing devices from Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows 10 to Windows 11. Now, our organization is at another crossroads, transitioning device management from on-premises Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM) to Microsoft Intune. We are currently managing a hybrid environment that is both networked and cloud-connected.
Previously, we used a combination of AD group policies and login scripts to set desktop backgrounds, Outlook signatures, lock screen images, and screensavers. We are looking for a solution to deploy the following Windows personalization items to all our users worldwide using Microsoft Intune.
WPSecure Personalization Packager satisfied all our requirements because it could create packages containing the items below and deploy them as standard applications using Microsoft Intune and SCCM. WPSecure Personalization Packages can be deployed to networked and cloud-connected devices, helping transition seamlessly. Download the Packager by clicking on the link in the top-right corner of this page.
- Outlook email signatures for new and reply messages (HTM, RTF, and TXT).
- Desktop backgrounds for landscape and portrait screens (Multiple screen sizes/resolutions, orientations).
- Video screensavers are used for landscape and portrait screens (Using an MP4 Video).
- Lockscreen images for landscape and portrait screens (Multiple screen sizes/resolutions, orientations).
Lets design, create, package, and deploy
Click on this link to learn about the prerequisites and information on preparing your environment.
With a well-articulated statement of work, my team and I embarked on a journey to storyboard, design, create, package, and deploy the above personalization items. Below are the steps we took to accomplish that task.
- Design and create desktop background images.
- Design and create Outlook email signatures.
- Design and create video screensavers.
- Design and create lockscreen images.
- Create a silent installation package.
- Deploy the package using Microsoft Intune.
1. Design and create desktop background images.
Our internal communications team requested simplicity, coherence, clarity, and quality. With that mandate, my team started designing the images following the guidelines below.
- Identify all possible screen resolutions on each monitor/screen within the network infrastructure, including work-from-home scenarios.
- Identify all possible screen orientations (landscape and portrait) for each monitor/screen within the network infrastructure, including work-from-home and remote scenarios.
- Desktop backgrounds/wallpapers should support the following resolutions: 1080P (Full HD): 1920×1080 pixels1, 2 K (Quad HD): 2560×1440 pixels, 4 K (Ultra HD): 3840×2160 pixels, 5 K: typically around 5120×2880 pixels1, and 8 K: 7680×4320 pixels.
- Each image’s file size must not exceed 10 MB, and the image PPI (Pixels Per Inch) should be set at 72 PPI.
- Design and create a landscape prototype for a desktop wallpaper image.
- Design and create a portrait prototype for the desktop background image.
- On approval, create images for other screen resolutions and orientations.
After a few days of design work, my team finalized the following designs. The design for portrait and landscape screens is in the image below. The design included a list of words in a Word Cloud that characterize a Great Team. The Word Cloud was positioned differently to suit landscape and portrait screens.
Based on positive feedback from the internal communication department, my team created images in the following sizes for other screen resolutions and orientations. The list includes landscape and portrait images.
| Width | Height | Orientation |
|---|---|---|
| 7680 | 4320 | Landscape |
| 5120 | 2880 | Landscape |
| 4500 | 3000 | Landscape |
| 4320 | 7680 | Portrait |
| 4096 | 2160 | Landscape |
| 3840 | 2160 | Landscape |
| 3440 | 1440 | Landscape |
| 3240 | 2160 | Landscape |
| 3000 | 2000 | Landscape |
| 3000 | 4500 | Portrait |
| 2880 | 5120 | Portrait |
| 2880 | 1920 | Landscape |
| 2736 | 1824 | Landscape |
| 2560 | 1600 | Landscape |
| 2560 | 1080 | Landscape |
| 2560 | 1440 | Landscape |
| 2496 | 1664 | Landscape |
| 2256 | 1504 | Landscape |
| 2160 | 4096 | Portrait |
| 2160 | 1440 | Landscape |
| 2160 | 3840 | Portrait |
| 2160 | 3240 | Portrait |
| 2048 | 1536 | Landscape |
| 2048 | 1080 | Landscape |
| 2048 | 1152 | Landscape |
| 2000 | 3000 | Portrait |
| 1920 | 1440 | Landscape |
| 1920 | 2880 | Portrait |
| 1920 | 1280 | Landscape |
| 1920 | 1080 | Landscape |
| 1920 | 1200 | Landscape |
| 1824 | 2736 | Portrait |
| 1800 | 1200 | Landscape |
| 1680 | 1050 | Landscape |
| 1664 | 2496 | Portrait |
| 1600 | 2560 | Portrait |
| 1600 | 900 | Landscape |
| 1600 | 1024 | Landscape |
| 1600 | 1200 | Landscape |
| 1536 | 2048 | Portrait |
| 1536 | 864 | Landscape |
| 1504 | 2256 | Portrait |
| 1440 | 1920 | Portrait |
| 1440 | 900 | Landscape |
| 1440 | 2160 | Portrait |
| 1440 | 960 | Landscape |
| 1440 | 3440 | Portrait |
| 1440 | 2560 | Portrait |
| 1400 | 1050 | Landscape |
| 1366 | 768 | Landscape |
| 1360 | 768 | Landscape |
| 1280 | 720 | Landscape |
| 1280 | 800 | Landscape |
| 1280 | 1024 | Portrait |
| 1280 | 768 | Landscape |
| 1280 | 960 | Portrait |
| 1280 | 600 | Landscape |
| 1280 | 1920 | Portrait |
| 1200 | 1800 | Portrait |
| 1200 | 1600 | Portrait |
| 1200 | 1920 | Portrait |
| 1152 | 2048 | Portrait |
| 1152 | 864 | Landscape |
| 1080 | 2048 | Portrait |
| 1080 | 1920 | Portrait |
| 1080 | 2560 | Portrait |
| 1050 | 1400 | Portrait |
| 1050 | 1680 | Portrait |
| 1024 | 768 | Landscape |
| 1024 | 1280 | Portrait |
| 1024 | 1600 | Portrait |
| 960 | 540 | Landscape |
| 960 | 1280 | Portrait |
| 960 | 1440 | Portrait |
| 900 | 900 | Landscape |
| 900 | 1440 | Portrait |
| 900 | 1600 | Portrait |
| 864 | 1152 | Portrait |
| 864 | 1536 | Portrait |
| 800 | 600 | Landscape |
| 800 | 1280 | Portrait |
| 768 | 1024 | Portrait |
| 768 | 1280 | Portrait |
| 768 | 1366 | Portrait |
| 768 | 1360 | Portrait |
| 720 | 1280 | Portrait |
| 600 | 1280 | Portrait |
| 600 | 800 | Portrait |
| 540 | 960 | Portrait |
| 500 | 500 | Landscape |
After creating the other images, the source folder looked similar to the picture below.
The images in this folder are ready to be imported into the WPSecure Personalization Packager. But before we do that, we’ll have to create templates for Outlook email signatures for ‘new‘ and ‘reply‘ messages, video screensavers, and lockscreen images for landscape and portrait screens.
2. Design and create Outlook email signatures.
We used Microsoft Office Word to create Outlook email signatures in HTM and RTF formats and Notepad to create an Outlook email signature in TXT format.
Within the email templates (HTM, RTF, and TXT), we inserted placeholders that will act as markers into which user attributes like ‘FirstName,’ ‘LastName,’ ‘Email,’ ‘Address,’ etc. will be substituted.
There are two types of Microsoft Outlook signatures:
- New message signature.
- Reply message signature.
We’ll use the following guidelines when designing and creating the Outlook email signature templates for the ‘New‘ and ‘Reply‘ signatures.
The total file size of each Outlook signature and its assets cannot exceed 10 MB, and we recommend keeping the number of characters for each HTM file below 25,000.
New message signature: A new message signature is used when composing a new Microsoft Outlook message. It should include a ‘wpsecure_new.htm‘ HTML file and optionally include a ‘wpsecure_new.txt‘ file, a ‘wpsecure_new.rtf‘ file, and an optional ‘wpsecure_new_files‘ directory that contains resource files like images, CSS, etc.
Reply message signature: A reply message signature is used when replying to an email message. It should include a ‘wpsecure_reply.htm‘ HTML file and optionally include a ‘wpsecure_reply.txt‘ file, a ‘wpsecure_reply.rtf‘ file, and an optional ‘wpsecure_reply_files‘ directory that contains resource files like images, CSS, etc.
After we design and create the Outlook email signature templates, the folder containing the template will look similar to the image below.
User attribute placeholders
Before we started creating the email signature templates, we discussed the details of the user attributes and how to set them in the signature templates. When using the WPSecure Personalization packager, the user attributes are set using placeholders. The following table lists all the user attributes that can be retrieved from EntraID (Azure AD) or Active Directory Services.
Active Directory | Azure (Entra) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ad_telephonenumber | az_businessphones1 | Phone number associated with the user. |
| ad_l | az_city | City where the user is located. |
| ad_company | az_companyname | Name of the user’s company or organization. |
| ad_c | az_country | Country code or name where the user resides. |
| ad_department | az_department | Department or team within the organization. |
| ad_displayname | az_displayname | User’s display name (usually first and last name). |
| ad_employeeid | az_employeeid | Unique identifier for the employee. |
| ad_facsimiletelephonenumber | az_faxnumber | Fax number associated with the user. |
| ad_givenname | az_givenname | User’s first name. |
| ad_title | az_jobtitle | Job title or position within the organization. |
| ad_mail | az_mail | Email address of the user. |
| ad_mailnickname | az_mailnickname | Unique nickname for the user’s email address. |
| ad_mobile | az_mobilephone | Mobile phone number of the user. |
| ad_office | az_officelocation | Physical office location or workspace. |
| ad_postalcode | az_postalcode | Postal code or ZIP code of the user’s address. |
| ad_st | az_state | State or region where the user resides. |
| ad_streetaddress | az_streetaddress | Street address of the user. |
| ad_sn | az_surname | User’s last name or surname. |
| ad_userprincipalname | az_userprincipalname | Principal name used for authentication (usually the email address). |
We created a ‘Text’ file containing all required placeholders. The documentation for WPSecure Personalization Packager recommends not entering the placeholders directly into the tools that make the HTM or RTF files and always copying and pasting them from the ‘TXT’ file into those tools.
Microsoft Entra ID app registration
Although our final goal was to move away from traditional management and move toward modern cloud-only management, we find ourselves managing an environment that is partially networked and partially cloud-connected. We would not be doing Entra ID app registration if we were only using Microsoft Active Directory Services.
Instructions on getting and assigning values for placeholders are documented here.
WPSecure Personalization Packager has two documented ways of doing this. We plan to use the ‘User self-service sync’ method as the primary deployment method. Using the ‘Organization-wide silent sync ‘ method, we will deploy an initial zero-touch user attribute draw-down. We will disable the deployment after an acceptable level of deployment success because it is not the recommended approach.
User self-service sync | Allow Users to download placeholder data for their Outlook signatures (Preferred method). |
Organization wide silent sync | Allow Administrators to download placeholder data for Outlook signatures on behalf of the Users. |
The above methods draw down the user attributes and write the attributes to the Current User Registry Hive. The WPSecure Outlook signature processing process replaces the placeholders with the corresponding values at runtime.
We will create Outlook signature templates in the following formats. Outlook signature in HTM format is required, but RTF and TXT formats are optional.
| HTM format |
| RTF format |
| TXT format |
Create a master Outlook signature template document
Multiple ways exist to create an email signature template. However, we chose Microsoft Word, a basic but relatively effective tool for creating an HTM signature.
Microsoft Word was used to create the email signature content and saved it in HTM and RTF formats.
The relevant user attributes were replaced with placeholders from the placeholder text file.
We followed the following guidelines strictly to avoid placeholder scrambling. RTF files tend to scramble placeholders if an edit is made after inserting them.
- We right-clicked and copied the placeholder from a text file
- We point-clicked on the place where we wanted to paste the content
- We pasted the placeholders to the right spot.
- We ensured we did not edit the placeholders after pasting them.
After inserting the placeholders the Microsoft Office Word document looked similar to the image below.
We saved the file as a Word document as two different files.
- wpsecure_new.docx
- wpsecure_reply.docx
‘wpsecure_new.docx‘ will create the ‘New‘ message signature, and ‘wpsecure_reply.docx‘ will make the ‘Reply‘ message signature.
Outlook signature in HTM format
After creating the Outlook email signature templates, the folder looked similar to the image below. Using the DOCX templates, we can create the email signature templates in HTM and RTF formats.
Now that the template is saved in Microsoft Word, we will create a corresponding template in HTM and RTF.
We opened the ‘wpsecure_new.docx‘ file and saved the file as a Web Page Filtered (*.htm, *.html).
Outlook signature in RTF format
We open the ‘wpsecure_new.docx‘ file and saved the file in Rich Text Format (*.rtf).
We open the ‘wpsecure_reply.docx‘ file and saved the file in Rich Text Format (*.rtf).
Outlook signature in TXT format
We used Notepad instead of Microsoft Word to create Outlook email signatures in TXT format and used the same TXT-based email signature template for both ‘New‘ and ‘Reply‘ messages. Finally, we saved the file as ‘wpsecure_new.txt’ and ‘wpsecure_reply.txt.’
After creating Outlook email signatures in HTM, RTF, and TXT formats, the target folder will look similar to the image below.
We can import ‘New’ and ‘Reply’ message signatures into the WPSecure Personalization Packager. But before we do that, we’ll have to design and create video screensavers and lockscreen images for landscape and portrait screens.
3. Design and create video screensavers.
We are excited to design, create, and deploy a Video screensaver. Video screensavers provide message clarity and appeal that slideshows and other static screensavers cannot. We wanted to use the screensaver to inspire teamwork within our organization. MP4 Video files will be created with the following scenarios in mind.
- Landscape video will be used if the display screen has a landscape layout.
- A portrait video will be used if the display has a portrait layout.
We will design and create two MP4 videos, one for landscape screens and the other for portrait screens, with a file size of less than 50MB, per the WPSecure Personalization Packager requirements. We downloaded a video from YouTube for this article, edited it, and converted it to an MP4 file using Techsmiths Camtasia. The link to the video is below.
After editing, we had a landscape and a portrait video. The landscape video will run on a screen set with a landscape orientation, and the portrait video will run on a portrait screen. The graphic below shows how the screensaver will operate when deployed to a device with two screens: Landscape and Portrait.
We can import the landscape and portrait-oriented videos into the WPSecure Personalization Packager. But before we do that, we’ll have to design and create lockscreen images for landscape and portrait screens.
4. Design and create lockscreen images.
Lock Screen Images will serve the following purpose within our organization.
- Organizational branding.
- Device use disclaimer.
- Seasonal greetings.
Windows Lock Screen images were traditionally only set in Landscape dimensions, with the Width of the image larger than the Height. The ‘Main monitor’ in Windows 10 and 11 is the only Screen that will display the Lock Screen image.
The WPSecure Personalization Packager enables you to set a portrait image if the main screen is oriented in portrait mode and a landscape image if it is oriented as landscape. My team and I developed a basic design with our logo and a legal disclaimer.
Note: Since the release of WPSecure Packager version 54.1.5.3, you can import multiple lockscreen images for different screen aspect ratios.
We can import the landscape and portrait-oriented lockscreen images into the WPSecure Personalization Packager. We have all the required personalization items, including desktop wallpaper backgrounds, Outlook email signatures, MP4 videos for screensavers, and lock screen images.
Important note
We downloaded and installed the WPSecure Personalization Packager using the link in the top right corner of this webpage. If you are following along, you should do the same.
We checked the prerequisites and verified that no group policies prevent the change of desktop backgrounds, Outlook signatures, screensavers, and lockscreen images. Click here to read the documentation.
5. Create a silent installation package.
We use the WPSecure Personalization Packager to create an installation file containing the video screensavers, outlook signatures, desktop wallpapers, and lock screen images. The tool will also generate an installation file in the ‘.intunewin‘ file format that can be deployed as a Win32 App using Microsoft Intune. Click on the button on the top right corner of the screen to download and install the packager.
After installing the WPSecure Personalization Packager we launched the tool from the start menu.
We agreed to the terms and entered the application.
After agreeing to the terms of use, we were redirected to the application’s main page. The buttons at the top of the page were personalization input buttons, and the buttons at the bottom were action buttons.
We clicked the “Import desktop background images” button to import the newly designed desktop background images from the folder that contains the images for the desktop backgrounds.
We selected all the images and clicked on “Open.” The image below shows a preview of a selected image from the Personalization Packager.
We clicked the “Import lock screen image” button to import the newly designed lock screen images one at a time from the folder containing the photos for lock screens. In our case, we only imported 2 images—one for landscape (1920X1080) and another for portrait (1080X1920).
We clicked the “Import Outlook signature” button to import the newly designed email signatures, both New and Reply message signatures, one at a time from the folder containing the email signatures. Click on the imported item to preview it.
We clicked on each imported Outlook signature template to ensure we imported the correct signature for ‘New‘ and ‘Reply‘ messages.
We clicked the “Import screensaver” button to import the newly designed MP4 videos (landscape and portrait) one at a time from the folder containing the video files.
After importing all the personalization items like desktop wallpaper images, video screensavers, Outlook email signatures, and lockscreen images, we clicked on the “Create personalization package” button to start the package creation process (this process creates the silent installer package).
Below are some brief notes on the personalization package.
A personalization package is a collection of all the settings and files you have imported or created for your desktop backgrounds, Outlook email signatures, lock screen images, and video screensavers. The selected destination folder has to be empty. The personalization package creation process creates two folders: general_install and intune_install.
The general_install folder contains installation files for deployment via enterprise software management tools like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM). Run the ‘wpsecure-install.exe’ to install the personalization package. More details regarding the enterprise installation and uninstallation process are in the ‘documentation.html’ file.
The intune_install folder contains the ‘wpsecure-install.intunewin’ file to be uploaded to the Microsoft Endpoint Device Management portal (Intune). The command line for this is identical to the general install.
The process also creates a ‘documentation.html’ file that provides all the information required to deploy the personalization package, such as the package version, install and uninstall command lines, and detection methods.
6. Deploy the package using Microsoft Intune.
After creating the WPSecure personalization package, it was time to unload to Intune and deploy the personalization package. We used the following “wpsecure-install. intunewin” file to create a win32 app deployment in Microsoft Intune Console.
Open Microsoft Intune Admin Center (https://aka.ms/intune), clicked “Apps,” and then chose “Windows Apps.”
Click the “+ Add” button to create the Intune Win32 App deployment. The images below describe the first steps of the setup process.
The ‘documentation.html’ file provides all the information required to deploy the personalization package, such as the package version, the install and uninstall command lines, and the detection methods.
Using the above information, fill out the Intune Win32 application setup form.
If you are using Environmental Variables, use the correct setting for “Associated with a 32-bit app on 64-bit clients.“
We clicked Next and completed the process. We waited for Microsoft Intune to upload and set up the Windows Personalization package.
The below video is a step-by-step walkthrough of this article. We use a workstation with 4 Screens to demonstrate the features of the WPSecure Personalization Packager.
Do we have an option to disable WPSecure packages for desktop Wallpapers and only use them for Lock screens and Screensavers?
Please refer to the documentation page. Scroll to the very bottom of the document to find the section titled “Commands to Apply Extra Settings.”
https://wpsecure.shop/documentation/
There are two ways to approach this:
To turn off only the background processing engine, run the following command as an administrator. This should be done on devices where you want to permanently disable desktop background deployments using WPSecure. By default, this setting is enabled.
wpsecure-set.exe -disablebg
To re-enable the desktop wallpaper processing engine, run the following command:
wpsecure-set.exe -enablebg
Our organization has a high-resolution and wide-format screen alongside standard monitors with 1920 X 1080.
From this article, I understand that the WPSecure package can contain multiple desktop wallpaper sizes and orientations.
Can I do the same for Lock screen images?
Yes, you may.
We recommend deploying lockscreen images for aspect ratios of 16:9, 9:16, and other commonly used aspect ratios within your environment.
Hi there. Two questions.
Can we deploy the same personalization package with Configuration Manager and Intune?
Can we deploy the packages during the SCCM task sequence deployment?
Yes, You can. Follow the instructions in the documentation.html file that gets generated during the Personalization Package creation process.
https://wpsecure.shop/deploy-desktop-wallpaper-lock-screen-images-outlook-signature-and-screensaver-using-sccm/
You can also add the Package to your SCCM Build Sequence.
Good afternoon. We have a mix of Windows 10 Business and Windows 10 Enterprise devices.
While using Intune Personalization CSP policies, the desktop backgrounds work on Windows 10 Enterprise devices but not Business Premium devices.
Does WPSecure Packages work on Windows devices that are not ‘Enterprise’?
Also, some of our devices do not connect to the internet. Do the WPsecure packages entirely run offline after deployment?
Hey Wes,
Thanks for reaching out!
Personalization CSPs work only within the device scope, as explained in the Microsoft documentation ==> https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/mdm/personalization-csp#desktopimageurl
The WPSecure Personalization Package engine sets the desktop background images per display in the context of the currently logged-on user.
With Personalization CSPs, you can only assign a single image regardless of the display resolution or orientation. However, with WPSecure Personalization Packages, you can design and deploy images specific to a screen’s orientation and resolution.
After deployment using Intune (or other tools like SCCM), the WPSecure Personalization Packages operate completely offline.
Please download and try the Packager before you procced to buy a subscription.
Thanks for the article. This is one of the most well-written technical posts that I have read.
Question: Regarding desktop background images, as per the article’s text, I understand that we can add images corresponding to multiple screen resolutions, layouts, and orientations. In my organization, users only use 1920 X 1080 and 1080 X 1920. I want to deploy four unique image designs for each (1920 X 1080 and 1080 X 1920).
Will this work? If yes, how will the WPSecure package select which image to set on each monitor? All, if not most, of the users have 2 or 3 screens.
Hey Lydia, It’s entirely up to you. Conceptually, WPSecure Packages were designed to deploy images that will accurately fit screens of specific resolutions and orientations. The goal was to maximize the quality of the assigned images, avoiding pixelation or stretching.
But if your organization only has sizes 1920 X 1080 and 1080 X 1920, You could use WPSecure to deploy multiple image designs of only those sizes.
The most popular aspect ratios are 16:9 (Landscape) and 9:16 (Portrait). I recommend designing for this aspect ratio.
I hope that helped. The best way to test it is to try the Packager.