In May 2022, Windows 11 preview builds received a somewhat questionable personalization feature that lets you place various stickers on your desktop. As it turned out, somewhere after build 25174, Microsoft added the option to draw custom stickers. Here is how you can enable it (via @PhantomOfEarth).
Note: Although stickers are available in Windows 11 22H2, drawing stickers is only possible in build 25174 and onward.
Caution: Unannounced features are often raw, unstable, or borderline unusable. Back up important data before using the ViveTool app. Remember that stable Windows 11 is the best way to ensure your system remains as bug-free as possible.
How to draw desktop stickers in Windows 11 preview builds?
- Start with updating your Windows 11 preview build to version 25174 or newer.
- Next, enable desktop stickers as described in our guide.
- Download ViveTool from GitHub and extract the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder. For example, C:\Vive.
- Launch Command Prompt as Administrator and go to the directory containing ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed files in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
- Type vivetool /enable /id:36165848 and press Enter.
- Restart your computer.
- Right-click on the desktop and select Add or edit stickers.
- Switch to the drawing mode and let loose your inner Claude Monet.
It is truly something! - Click Done once you finish drawing. Windows 11 will save your masterpiece as a new sticker you can move around or edit.
It is worth noting that the desktop stickers feature still has some notable limitations Microsoft has yet to figure out (besides announcing the thing). Your wallpaper must be set to fill the desktop, and stickers do not support multi-monitor setups.
Desktop stickers are not the only thing you can enable with a registry tweak. Users recently discovered a set of hidden Windows 11 themes for education markets. You can enable them on any Windows 11 SKU, such as Professional or Home.