To change the wallpaper on your Mac, follow these steps:
- Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings.
- In System Settings, scroll down the sidebar and click Wallpaper.
- Choose a wallpaper category from the options such as:
- Dynamic Wallpapers (which change based on time of day)
- Landscape, Cityscape, Underwater, Earth aerials
- Shuffle Aerials (which rotate images at set intervals)
- Pictures (static images)
- Colors (solid color backgrounds)
- To use a built-in wallpaper, simply click the image you want, and it will be set immediately.
- To add your own image as wallpaper:
- Click Add Photo and select an image from your Photos library or choose a file from your Mac.
- You can also drag an image file from Finder or your desktop directly onto the wallpaper preview area.
- Alternatively, right-click (Control-click) an image file in Finder and select Set Desktop Picture.
- You can customize wallpaper settings such as image position, shuffle intervals, and light/dark mode versions depending on the wallpaper chosen.
- Close System Settings when done; your new wallpaper will be applied instantly.
This method works on recent macOS versions and allows easy switching between Apple’s default wallpapers and your personal photos
Quick alternative:
Right-click on your desktop and choose Change Wallpaper to open the wallpaper settings directly
. This process also changes the lock screen wallpaper, as macOS mirrors the desktop background there
