Lo-res, blurry desktop pictures in macOS

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68 points

Lo-res, blurry desktop pictures in macOS

I have made my desktop picture a random selection of a Photos album containing photographs with a tag "desktop" that I've applied. This has worked for years.

Recently, something happened so that the images that are displayed are low-resolution or blurry, as shown on the screen shot below. I'm not sure what I did.

I've tried switching to an Apple-provided desktop and back; restarting; rebuilding the Photos library; restarting in safe mode (to rebuild caches), to no avail.

macOS 11.5.2, on an iMac (retina 5K, 27-inch, late 2015).

Any advice? Thanks!

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 6, 2021 6:10 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 7, 2021 2:00 PM in response to mikelach2

I believe you turn off iCloud for a while, then turn it back on.

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Answer 2

Oct 13, 2021 6:03 AM in response to mikelach2

Try starting in safe mode.

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Answer 3

mikelach2 Author

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Sep 7, 2021 1:10 PM in response to Keith Barkley

Yes. Photos is clicked on in the Apple ID preference pane for iCloud.

My hunch is that the system caches these photos out of Photos to use for desktops, and something went amiss when that cache was created. Anyone know a way to clear that cache and start over?

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Answer 4

mikelach2 Author

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68 points

Sep 7, 2021 4:44 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Thanks. Yes, I've tried both of those to no avail.

Closing both that particular preference pane and the whole system preferences app doesn't seem to do anything. I've tried a regular restart and a safe restart (which cleans out some caches) to no avail.

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Answer 5

mikelach2 Author

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68 points

Oct 12, 2021 7:56 PM in response to mikelach2

Resurfacing, as this problem is still around. I've tried all the recommendations here, to no avail. I keep thinking there's a cache that contains the desktop pictures, and that when I select the change at random button, it doesn't get refreshed. Any insight?

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Answer 6

mikelach2 Author

Level 1

68 points

Sep 6, 2021 2:50 PM in response to mikelach2

As an update, this behavior only occurs when I select "change picture" and any interval. If that option is unchecked, the static desktop picture is at regular (full) resolution.

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