Cozy Winter Wallpapers: Snowy, Warm and Not Too Christmassy

The trick: winter, not Christmas

A full-on Christmas wallpaper looks wrong on 27 December. A cozy *winter* scene (snow outside, warm light inside) works from the first frost until February, and you can still lean festive with a few string lights.

5 cozy winter wallpaper ideas

1. A snowy cabin at night

Glowing windows, smoke from the chimney, pines all around. The dark sky and snow give you calm areas for desktop icons.

2. Hot cocoa by a frosted window

A mug with marshmallows, knitted mittens and a blurred snowy village outside. The blur makes it one of the easiest scenes to keep icons readable on.

3. Northern lights over a snowy forest

Green and violet aurora above a line of pines. It suits dark mode, and on a phone the sky leaves plenty of room for the clock.

4. A snowy village street at blue hour

String lights between old houses and a small decorated tree. This is the most festive of the five, but it's still a winter street rather than a Christmas card.

5. A cold blue gradient

Ice blue fading into deep navy. The most minimal way to go wintery.

Tips for making it look right

• ●Balance cool and warm. All-blue scenes can feel cold on screen. A few warm windows or lights make winter feel cozy instead of bleak.
• ●Check the top of your phone wallpaper. The lock-screen clock sits there, so a sky or a dark tree line works better than bright lights.
• ●Use the same scene on desktop and phone. Look for packs with a phone version framed for a tall screen, rather than letting your phone crop a widescreen image.

Where to find them

The Cozy Winter Wallpaper Pack has the first four scenes above, each with a desktop and a phone version. For autumn, see the Cozy Autumn Wallpaper Pack or our cozy autumn wallpaper ideas.

New to changing wallpapers? Here's how to set a wallpaper on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.