Mageia forum

I find that one can put a background image on but, specifically it must be in the Pictures folder.
I prefer another folder for desktop pictures namely pictures/desktop as this allows me a degree of flexibility.

Why is there no possibility for browsing?

You don't say which DE you are using. In KDE, using folder view desktop, Folder View options -> View includes a button "Open" at the bottom of the dialogue, which opens a file selection window, where it is possible to browse the entire filesystem.

Jim

I am using Gnome 3 fallback or classic