How to Change the Desktop Picture (or Wallpaper) on a Mac

How to Use Desktop Pictures / Wallpapers on a Mac
How can I change the desktop picture (wallpaper) on my Mac?

The quickest way to customize the desktop picture on your Mac is to open your System Preferences from the Apple menu and click on Desktop & Screensaver.

Drag the image you want to use as your desktop picture onto the image well, the area at the top left where the current desktop picture is previewed.

That's it!

The illustration above shows the wallpaper A Sea of Scilla. Browse more wallpapers in the Freebies section.

As your collection of desktop pictures expands, you might like to create a folder for wallpapers so that you can find them easily.

For this, more organized approach, you can add the folder that contains your desktop pictures clicking the plus sign at the bottom of the System Preferences Pane and navigating to the folder you want to use.

Tip: For you can set the Mac OS X to change your desktop picture automatically by checking the option at the bottom of the Desktop and Screen Saver section of System Preferences. You can also specify which folders the pictures will come from, how long they will be displayed (such as every hour or every day) and whether or not to show them in a random order.
Back to Top
How can I find out what size my Mac desktop is?

If you aren't certain of the size (or resolution) of your monitor, you can find out by checking Displays in your System Preferences.

Back to Top

Articles