Customizing your desktop background doesn’t have to just mean static photos and art. If you’re in the mood for something a bit more dynamic featuring helpful widgets, why not try outfitting your desktop with a Rainmeter skin? Rainmeter is a free, open-source desktop program that lets you adorn and customize your desktop background with skins that are often fun, aesthetically-pleasing, and functional. The software is only available for Windows PCs (specifically Windows 7 to Windows 10).
If you’ve downloaded Rainmeter but don’t know which skin you want to try first (or you’re not interested in using any of the skins the software comes with), we can help spark your imagination a bit with our list of the best Rainmeter skins we’ve found online.
A word of caution: Be careful about downloading and using skins from third-party websites and vendors (even the ones featured on this list). Always use your chosen antivirus software to scan anything you download, and make sure to do so before you choose to install a skin or anything else you download.
Nelamint is a great skin for those who want an elegant, minimalist desktop background but don’t want to cheat themselves out of having a few useful widgets on hand to help keep them updated on the world around them and on the world inside their machine. You can keep track of what’s going on with your computer with widgets for CPU and RAM usage and Wi-Fi. There’s also a music player, a time and date widget, a visualizer, and a weather widget. The skin itself is customizable: You can change its background and text colors, use a different temperature unit, and even change the language.
Developer: HipHopium (name listed on VisualSkins.com), but the DeviantArt profile link leads to ApexXx-SenSei.
If you still want something minimalist but you’d rather have a bit more color, Robik is for you. You can still keep track of the inner workings of your computer with this skin, but the look is clutter-free overall. In terms of features, you’ll also get the time and date, a weather widget, a music player, and a visualizer.
Developer: HipHopium (name listed on VisualSkins.com), but the DeviantArt profile link leads to ApexXx-SenSei.
Doctor Who fans can celebrate their favorite show and get updates on their favorite apps as well, all in one Rainmeter skin. This skin comes with computer system stat widgets, a visualizer, and four app-launcher buttons, among other features. The app-launcher buttons are particularly interesting because they not only open certain apps, but they can display RSS feed updates about those apps if you mouse over the launchers.
Developer: BassSpleen
Are you a Legend of Zelda fan? Then you might enjoy this Rainmeter skin that prominently features a Gate of Time from the popular video game series. The best part? The gate will rotate to “match the speed of your computer fan.”
Developer: Zeog2010
We’re starting to veer away from minimalist designs and jumping straight into more ornate ones. This homage to Skyrim doesn’t disappoint, and it’s chock-full of features: A battery life bar, a clock, system stat widgets, a 10-button launcher, a music player, and more. This Skyrim skin would be at home in any gamer’s battle-station setup.
Developer: Axerron
Eker_lina is a very modern-looking Rainmeter skin with fun pops of color in all the right places. Need to stay organized? Eker_lina might be the right choice for you. It comes with a laundry list of features to help you do just that while keeping your desktop looking stylish, including time and date, Google search, RSS feeds, a gallery viewer, and a media player.
Developer: hpluslabels
If you’re looking for something a little quirky for your desktop, and you’d like your skin to literally update you on the news of the day (in the form of an interactive personalized newspaper), the Newspaper skin is perfect for you. This campy little newspaper skin comes with four RSS feeds, a mailbox for Gmail, a weather widget, 14 launchers, a notepad, and a system stats widget. There’s even an animated pocket watch and an animated cigarette (that burns).
Developer: DYIDDO
If you just want something cozy and simple with an adorable animated cat, look no further than the Personal Space Rainmeter skin. There’s app/folder launcher buttons, date and time, and a system stat widget are among its features. It’s a clean design that will give you a quick at-a-glance view of your day.
Developer: Iroaseta
Super Blood Moon is proof that you don’t need a cluttered design with tons of bells and whistles to capture people’s attention. This skin is beautifully designed with contrasting bright neon colors and cooler darker colors. It comes with a visualizer that blends a bit into its landscape background and elegant-looking time, date, and weather widgets.
Developer: KeithStoodley
The title of this skin should’ve already been a dead giveaway that this design brings the drama. And it is drama and action well done. And yet, it’s not too cluttered with widgets. You’re still getting a lot, though, including weather and system stat widgets, a Wi-Fi widget, an audio player, a power control panel, and an app dock.
Developer: ionstorm01
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