Most people leave their Chrome new tab page blank without a second thought. Synthwave Sunset Live Wallpaper gives it something worth stopping for instead: an animated HD scene of a neon grid landscape stretching toward the horizon, a huge retro sun setting between glowing wireframe mountains.
It’s a free Chrome extension for anyone who wants their browser to carry that same 80s dream aesthetic every time they open a tab.
Features
Animated Synthwave Sunset wallpaper. The centerpiece of the extension. The neon grid pulses faintly, the sun glows steady on the horizon, nothing about it sits frozen the way a still image would.
HD and 4K quality. Sharp on a laptop screen, sharper still on anything bigger.
A wider retrowave wallpaper gallery. Beyond this scene, the collection includes other synthwave, neon grid, and 80s-inspired backgrounds.
Shuffle mode. Flip it on and a new scene loads with every tab, so the page keeps changing instead of sitting on one sunset all day.
Custom uploads. Drop in your own image whenever you want a break from the built-in gallery.
A clock, date, and search bar layered over the scene, so the new tab page still does its job.
Quick links to bookmarks, browsing history, and your most visited sites.
A notes and to-do panel for jotting things down without switching tabs.
Weather, shown right on the page.
Offline support. Once a wallpaper’s cached, it loads with no connection needed.
Barely any weight. Chrome opens at the same speed with this running as it did before.
How to Download
- Search for Synthwave Sunset Live Wallpaper on the Chrome Web Store.
- Click Add to Chrome.
- Approve the permissions prompt.
- Open a new tab. The scene loads on its own.
No account to set up, no separate app, nothing standing between clicking install and seeing the sunset on your next tab.
How to Use
The wallpaper appears the moment you install it. From there:
- Click the gallery icon in the corner of the new tab page.
- Look through the synthwave, retrowave, and wider 80s categories.
- Pick a scene to set it, or switch on shuffle and let the gallery rotate through the collection on its own.
Prefer your own image instead? Use the upload option in that same panel. Ready to remove the extension? Right-click its icon in the Chrome toolbar and choose Remove from Chrome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it free? Yes. Every wallpaper, shuffle mode, and the rest of the gallery come with no cost attached.
Does it slow down my browser? No. Wallpapers cache locally after the first load, so new tabs open at the usual speed.
Can I use it without an internet connection? Yes, once the scene has loaded at least once. From there it’s stored on your device.
What information does it collect? Only what it needs to display a wallpaper on your new tab. No login required, no access to unrelated browsing.
Can I upload my own image? Yes, through the upload option inside the gallery panel.
Is this based on a specific game, album, or film? No. It’s an original retrowave scene built in the general 80s synthwave aesthetic, not tied to any particular franchise or artist.
Why Fans Keep This One Installed
A neon grid stretching toward a retro sun is one of those images that carries most of its charm in the sense of movement — the grid pulling you forward, the light softening as it hits the horizon. Freeze it and it flattens into an album cover you’ve seen a hundred times. Let the grid keep pulsing and the sun keep glowing, and it turns into something closer to actually driving into that sunset rather than just looking at a poster of it.
The rest of the page stays out of the way. No dashboard of widgets crowding the view, no pop-up asking for an email, nothing pulling attention off the scene itself. Just a clock, a search bar, quick links, and a rotating set of synthwave and retrowave wallpapers doing what a new tab background is supposed to do.
For anyone who grew up on 80s soundtracks or fell into the retrowave scene later, that’s the whole appeal.
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