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Steam Workshop
The Workshop tab lets you browse, search and download Wallpaper Engine wallpapers from the Steam Workshop without leaving the app. Downloads go through SteamCMD with your Steam account, which must own Wallpaper Engine.
| You need | Why | Where |
|---|---|---|
| SteamCMD | Downloads | Installed automatically; see SteamCMD and Steam login |
| A Steam login | Downloads | The login form on the Workshop tab, or Terminal |
| A Steam Web API key | Browsing and searching | See below |
The Discover tab shows Wallpaper Engine's curated Workshop lists, each a row of cards; See More opens one as a grid. Its cards work like the Workshop tab's.
- The first visit searches automatically.
- Type in the search field and press Return to search from page 1; clearing the field searches again.
- Sort: Trending, Most Recent, Most Popular (highest rated) or Most Subscribed. Changing it searches from page 1.
- Results are paged; use the page numbers or Previous Page / Next Page.
- Click an author (in a card or in Details) to see only their items; the Author Workshop chip shows this, and its clear button removes it.
- Each card shows its preview, title, tags and a download control.
Open the filter sidebar with the toolbar's sidebar button. It shares its open/closed state with the Installed tab. Reset Filters clears everything; every change starts a new search.
| Section | Options |
|---|---|
| Show Only | Approved, My Favourites, Mobile Compatible, Audio Responsive, Customizable (the same five as the Installed tab) |
| Rating | Everyone, Questionable, Mature. Defaults to Everyone only. |
| Type | Scene, Video, Web, Application |
| Resolution | WE's groups: Widescreen, Ultra Widescreen, Dual Monitor, Triple Monitor, Portrait Monitor / Phone, Other, each with All/None |
| Genre | WE's genres, with a Match all (AND) / Match any (OR) toggle in the header |
How they combine:
- Within Show Only, Rating, Type and Resolution, any checked option matches.
- Genres combine by the toggle: AND needs every checked genre, OR any of them.
- The sections narrow the results together.
- A section with nothing or everything checked doesn't filter.
Note
Steam's API can't combine several required tags reliably, so OWE sends what Steam handles well and checks the rest on the results itself. Only the newest search shows its results, so ticking several genres quickly narrows correctly.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Download one | The download button on its card, or right-click › Download |
| Download several | Select cards (click, ⌘-click, ⇧-click), then Download Selected (N); more than one asks for confirmation. Clear selection deselects. |
| Preview first | Double-click a card. The preview window plays the wallpaper live, with play/pause and volume for videos and Set Wallpaper. |
| Add to a playlist or favourites | Right-click the card |
Each card shows the state: preparing, downloading (with status and progress), done (Downloaded), failed (with the message) or "Log in to download".
A preview you apply is moved into your library without downloading it again.
The Downloads tab lists every Workshop download in queue order: preview, title, creator, subscribers, size, a progress bar with percentage and status, and the Workshop ID. Failed downloads have a Retry download button whose help text shows the error. Status steps include authenticating, downloading, validating and copying.
Some Workshop wallpapers need other Workshop items (asset packs, shared effects).
- Missing dependencies download automatically. Details also shows a banner ("This wallpaper needs N other Workshop items to render correctly.") with Download All and each item's status.
- Items downloaded only as a dependency are kept on disk but not listed in Installed. Download one yourself and it becomes yours and is listed.
- When you delete a wallpaper, dependency-only items that nothing else uses are removed.
- Every download, dependencies included, lands in the storage folder.
Browsing and searching the Workshop needs a free Steam Web API key.
- Get one at https://steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey.
- Enter it when the Workshop tab asks, or in Settings › Assets › Steam Web API Key, then click Check & Save.
- OWE checks it with Steam before saving, and stores it in your macOS Keychain. The settings show Key set with Replace… and Remove.
Important
The key is sent to Steam in a request header, never in a URL. Without it, author names come from public Steam profiles, and Installed can't fetch Workshop tags.
Read more (for developers): Workshop and Steam integration