Where can you still find good screensavers and desktop backgrounds?

If you're looking for something more specialized than just photos - you'll find a lot on Behance and DeviantArt from creative people uploading their own designs, often in high resolutions. There are also animated screensavers there if that interests you. Are you after more minimalist designs or something like nature photography?

If you need fresh stuff regularly, it's worth checking out Reddit - subreddits like r/wallpaper or r/ScreenSavers have an active community that constantly posts and discusses things, plus you get direct feedback on what's actually good. Alternatively, you can also just look at Itch.io, where people upload not just games but also colorful pixel art screensavers and animated backgrounds, often as open source too - perfect if you're looking for something with style that doesn't feel as generic as the usual photo sites.

I'd say most people don't really need that much choice - often it's enough to just find one good source and check back there regularly. For screensavers specifically, I'd recommend MyNiceScreensaver or Screensaver.com, they've got a whole collection of classic to modern stuff, even if the sites don't look super fresh visually anymore. But most of it still works great and it's free.

Check out local wallpaper communities on Discord - people regularly share their designs there and also give tips on tools like Wallpaper Engine, where you can download animated backgrounds directly from the Steam shop. One thing nobody mentioned: use the search function on Pixiv specifically for background tags - you'll often find artistic stuff that's not as mainstream as what you get on Unsplash. If you're into screensavers specifically, old demo scene videos might be interesting too - you can still find them on various retro sites and they just look cool.

Check out archive.org - you can browse old websites of screensaver collections that don't exist anymore today. Sounds weird, but you actually find classic stuff there that's completely disappeared everywhere else. And important: with older sites or torrents, always be careful that the files aren't infected - screensavers in particular have a bigger risk than regular photos.

Otherwise, I'd also recommend checking out Itch.io. The platform's really known for indie games, but there's also a whole section with custom screensavers and atmospheric desktop backgrounds by artists. Often they're more creative and less generic than the standard stock photos floating around everywhere. Quality varies of course, but you regularly find real gems there.

Another approach: if you like specific themes (cats, nature, synthwave or whatever), you can search Google Images for "[your theme] wallpaper 4K" and look directly at the sources. A lot of designers post their work on Twitter or their own websites - that's more direct and you're supporting the artist directly instead of just going through a platform.

Check out Windows Spotlight if you're using Windows - it automatically pulls new, high-quality images from Microsoft to your lockscreen every day. They're usually really nice and you don't have to worry about anything.

As for screensavers specifically, I'll be honest - most people don't really use them anymore these days. Monitors won't break if they're dark. But if you're specifically looking for something: you can still find stuff on websites like screensavers.com or with the classic Windows screensavers, though some of them feel a bit outdated. I personally find animated wallpapers way more interesting - you can set those up with tools like Wallpaper Engine or Lively. You get regular new stuff from the community that way too.

Windows 10 and later actually have decent native screensavers built in - but I get that you want something more personal!

One source that hasn't been mentioned here yet: Artstation! Artists upload their digital works there, and you can often find really impressive fantasy, sci-fi, or more abstract stuff in high resolution. Many artists offer their work for free download, you just have to browse a bit. It's also worth checking out for animated screensavers - some creators post video loops that work perfectly as screensavers.

What I do myself all the time: I just regularly save photos of my plants and from my garden - they look kind of relaxing on screen! It's completely free and personal, of course. But if you'd rather have professional designs, try combining Unsplash for photos and Artstation for more digital artwork - that way you've got pretty good chances of finding something that fits.

A lot of people forget you can also just check out stock photo sites like Pixabay directly - they've got a good balance between quantity and quality without all the extra stuff. For screensavers specifically, it's worth taking a look at specialized Windows or Mac communities too, since people often share homemade or optimized versions there that actually work really well instead of just looking pretty.

Good point about the free sites, but for screensavers specifically it's also worth checking out Windows 11/10 directly - the settings have a pretty decent selection of animated 3D scenes nowadays that don't even need extra software. Otherwise you can also search YouTube for "4K screensaver" and find hours-long videos with nature shots or abstract stuff that you can just save locally - works with any player you can set up in the autostart folder.