Galaxy S6 wallpapers (and S6 edge wallpapers as well) are quite impressive on the most (in 2015) beautiful QHD display.
But you may want to change Galaxy S6 wallpapers to something more personal or just something different.
This is not a problem.
Galaxy S6 and S6 edge is more customizable than previous generation phones (e.g., Galaxy S5 or Galaxy S4). This guide will show you how to change the “look” of your Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.
Although Galaxy S6 is used in the text, this guide equally applies to Galaxy S6 edge.
Use Galaxy S6 themes to change Galaxy S6 wallpapers and many other visual elements
Once of the most welcomed new features in Galaxy S6 is the Galaxy S6 themes.
As detailed in this guide, you can download and install Galaxy S6 themes to get a totally new look of the phone.
One advantage of Galaxy S6 themes over any other customization options available is that a few apps including Phone, Message, Contacts can also be customized with the theme.
So, changing Galaxy S6 wallpapers with Galaxy S6 themes is just very small portion of the customization. You also get new icons, new home screen, new lock screen, new quick settings panel and new notification panels panel.
After applying new Galaxy S6 themes, you can further change Galaxy S6 wallpapers if you want.
If you haven’t tried Galaxy S6 themes, you should follow this guide to try it first.
You will not be disappointed.
Step-by-step guide to change Galaxy S6 wallpapers
If you are not satisfied with the in-stock Galaxy S6 wallpapers, or you want to change Galaxy S6 wallpapers in Galaxy S6 themes, you can always do it easily.
To change Galaxy S6 wallpapers, please follow these steps.
Step 1: Return to the Galaxy S6 home screen
You can return to Galaxy S6 home screen in many ways. For example:
- Tap the Home button (see Galaxy S6 layout, and Galaxy S6 edge layout to find the buttons).
- Tap the Back button until you arrive at home screen.
Please note, it is NOT necessary to return to the Home panel of the home screen. You can return to any of the home screen pages.
Step 2: Enter Galaxy S6 home screen edit mode
Tap and hold (see this guide on using Galaxy S6 touch screen) any empty area (where there are no app icons or widgets) on the home screen.
The Galaxy S6 home screen now enters edit mode as shown below.
You get 4 home screen options in edit mode:
- change wallpapers
- add widgets to home screen;
- apply Galaxy S6 themes
- set screen grid.
Tap Wallpapers as shown below.
Step 3: Choose Galaxy S6 wallpapers
If you want to use your own pictures as Galaxy S6 wallpapers, you can tap From Gallery as shown above.
This will open Gallery app and let you choose any pictures on the phone as your new Galaxy S6 wallpapers.
You can also choose any pre-installed Galaxy S6 wallpapers as shown below.
Once the picture or wallpaper is selected, you can then tap Set as wallpaper in the bottom of the screen as shown below.
Step 4: Enjoy the new Galaxy S6 wallpapers.
The new Galaxy S6 wallpapers will be applied to your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge instantly.
How about Galaxy S6 wallpapers for lock screen?
Samsung allows you use different Galaxy S6 wallpapers on home screen and lock screen.
In other words, Galaxy S6 lock screen can use a different wallpaper from home screen.
In Step 3 mentioned above, before tapping Set as wallpaper, you can choose to use this picture as:
- the wallpaper for home screen;
- or, the wallpaper for lock screen;
- or, the wallpaper for both home and lock screen.
The default option is to change Galaxy S6 wallpapers for home screen.
If you want to use it as Galaxy S6 lock screen wallpaper or use it as Galaxy S6 wallpapers for both home screen and lock screen, you can tap Home screen in the top as illustrated in the green box shown above. Then choose the corresponding options as shown above.
Can you change Galaxy S6 wallpapers for your S6 or S6 edge?
Please let us know in the comment box below, if you have any questions or encounter any problems to change Galaxy S6 wallpapers for home screen or lock screen for your S6 or S6 edge.
The community will try to help you.
For other features of Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 online manual page.
For detailed guides on how to use Samsung Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 how-to guides page.
Lea M says
Hi,
Why can´t I use a Live Wallpaper on the lock screen, without also using it on the home screen? I can´t choose any live wallpapers, just for the lock screen.. I think it was possible a few updates ago?
(Samsung s6 Edge)
simon says
I think you cannot set a live wallpaper for Galaxy S6 lock screen only. You need set it as both home screen and lock screen. I remember this is an old restriction since jelly Bean 4.3 or KitKat 4.4, for Samsung devices.
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Lea m says
Hmm. It’s a bit funny, considering it’s quite irritating to look at a live wallpaper on the home screen.. Or at least that is my opinion.. 🙂
It would be better used only on lock screen instead of only on home screen or used together..
Thank you for the answer 🙂
brobro says
Hi there,
I was wondering if it is possible to customize a unique wallpaper for each contact and/or message conversation in the messages app. I know phones like the LG G3 can. Also, I know that you can go under settings in messages and change the background, but that applies to all conversations in the application.
Thanks for your help!
simon says
No, you cannot. The stock s6 messaging app doesn’t support this. You need try third party apps.
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Dwayne says
I previously had the Galaxy S5, and there was a feature in which I can customize my ” Contacts” whenever I wanted to send them messages, and the ” Avatar” was also another Interesting feature…so I wanted to know on the Galaxy S6, how can I customize my ” Contacts” via text messaging…looking for answers!
simon says
What customization are you talking about? Why can’t you do it in contacts app?
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Hannah says
I previously installed a theme on my Galaxy 6S but now I would like to use my own pictures for the home and lock screens. I could change the home screen wallpaper, but it won’t let me change the lock screen. How do I turn off themes so that I can use my own picture for the lock screen?
simon says
When you change wallpaper, you have the option to use it for home screen, lock screen or both. It’s not necessary to turn off theme.
Anyway, you can set theme to the default one.
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Tim says
When trying to set a downloaded image as the wallpaper for either lock, home or both screens, I get an error saying “unable to set as wallpaper, image deleted.” How do I fix this?
simon says
Can you view the picture in gallery app? What’s the format of the picture you want to use for wallpaper?
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Deborah Klee says
After marshmallow update my wallpapers reset to default on their own. How can I stop this?
simon says
Can you manually set it?
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nst says
On my Samsun S6, I installed the Jacob’s Ladder Android Experiment (https://www.androidexperiments.com/experiment/jacobs-ladder) but I can’t set the live wallpaper to this application (only the Samsung sources are listed, or the local photos).
How can I do it?
simon says
Not sure about the app. Did you check with the app developer?
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Barbara Lebow says
Can you crop a photo so it will fit better on the home screen? Currently it is a little too big.
simon says
Your can crop the photo on Gallery app. You can make the aspect ratio close to 16:9
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1-20 says
Hi there
So my wallpaper keep coming to default if i restar my phone is there any way to prevent my wallpaper to coming back to default after i change it?
simon says
It seems the settings were not saved properly. You can try to clear Galaxy S6 cache partition, then try again.
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