Change MacOS Monterey Login Screen Wallpaper

if you are the sole user (not even a guest account) AND file vault is turned off you can go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Options and set "Display login window as" to "List of users". then your login screen matches your desktop background.

if you are using file vault or have multiple users, the above will not work.  if that's your situation, you will need to wait for apple to address this. it may be worth your time to send feedback directly to apple. Feedback - macOS - Apple. 

I have used this App Called Deeper. https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/deeper.html

I have set up a picture for the logon Screen on the app and now its set up. Regardless if File vault is On or Off.

This is a screen shot of the Deeper App where I choose to change the background on the logon/Lock Screen.

anita249 wrote:

I am talking about the login screen When you first turn on your computer and log on.

That can't be done. It's built into the read only portion of the drive and can't be changed. Tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added to the system via Feedback - macOS - Apple.  

i think you need to read my reply again. it was apple recommended because it DIRECTLY addresses changing the LOGIN WINDOW background. you can ONLY make it MATCH your DESKTOP BACKGROUND ( not a different image than desktop background ) and ONLY if you are the SOLE USER and file vault MUST be turned off. if your setup is not exactly that, you need to send apple some feedback, and i am NOT apple.

@jeffreythefrog's solution worked for me (if you want the same background as you desktop for your lock screen) - but, I had to toggle from my default setting "List of users" to "Name and password" then log out and back ind and change it back to "List of Users" and log out. Then my lock screen had the same image as my Desktop background.

Hi everyone.

Was having the same issue, but looked for possible solutions in the web and found these steps that actually fixed it very quickly, even though they were probably meant for a previous version of macOS:

1. Copy the PNG you want as login window wallpaper to the /Library/Caches folder
2. Make sure the above mentioned file name is set to "com.apple.desktop.admin.png"
3. Log Out

The new background should be there by then.

Keep the following in mind:

• I'm using Macbook Pro (16-inch, 2021) with the latest version of macOS Monterey (12.1) as of today
• My current screen resolution is 2056x1329 which is the higher scaled resolution available in Display Settings for the built-in Retina XDR display
• Try to make sure the image has the same dimensions as a standard macOS static lock screen background - you can use the one in "/Library/Caches/Desktop Pictures/<your UID>/lockscreen.png" as an example
• FileVault has been turned on since the macbook was initialized so that shouldn't be an issue in this case like it was mentioned in previous posts

Not sure if any of these have an impact in it working, but just sharing for reference. I hope it helps.

I'm on a 2015 MacBook Pro, running on macOS Monterey version 12.3 and this worked!

I copied the JPG (in my case) into the /Library/Caches folder and into the Desktop Pictures folder, there was another folder in there with a long name and when I clicked it I saw the "lockscreen.png", I saved my new JPG as the name you said and PRESTO! It worked. Thank you! That was driving me insane.

As a side note, I feel that Apple is headed in the wrong direction. What used to feel so user friendly is now complicated. I had to jump through all sorts of looks just to find the /Library/Caches folder because it didn't appear when I clicked Finder. I had to add the Location to the finder since updating to Monterey. Needless to say, I'm not impressed :(

Following all advice this thread did not produce any solutions. Spoke with Apple Support. Confirmed that the functionality is specific not the OS but the specific machine. e.g.

On some Mac models, the default desktop picture and login window background are based on the color or finish of the Mac. For example, the default desktop picture on a Space Gray MacBook Pro (2021) is "Chroma Red", and the default desktop picture on a Blue iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) is "Hello Blue".

If you are seeing "Other..." on the login screen, you can't change the wallpaper. To disable "Other..." and thus see your wallpaper, see here:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/232449/remove-other-from-login-screen

You can't find the lockscreen by a search, but the path is Macintosh HD/Library/Caches/Desktop Pictures/893AE19A-26F2-4783-A3C8-31AEBD6DF191 (the string of characters is a folder name). Inside the folder is lockscreen.png. It's 2880x1800 pixels. I just dragged it out and replaced it with a photo of my own, same size, also in .png format. Works fine.

Somehow just stumbled on the location, wandering around looking for something with a name like "Desktop" or "Desktop pictures" after nothing else worked. It's utterly simple, don't know why it's hidden away.

Fidipaldi99 wrote:

Here is a video on Youtube that explains how to easely change your lock screen picture with the one you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fFNVlpM-Tw

yes, that method does work as well. but for that to work, you need to turn off FileVault and also the mac needs to be a single user setup. (you can see in the video, they are single user setup) and if your machine is set up that way then you can just set "Display login window as:" to "List of users." to get the login window to match your desktop.

I'm on a 2015 MacBook Pro, running on macOS Monterey version 12.3 and this worked!

I copied the JPG (in my case) into the /Library/Caches folder and into the Desktop Pictures folder, there was another folder in there with a long name and when I clicked it I saw the "lockscreen.png", I saved my new JPG as the name you said and PRESTO! It worked. Thank you! That was driving me insane.

As a side note, I feel that Apple is headed in the wrong direction. What used to feel so user friendly is now complicated. I had to jump through all sorts of looks just to find the /Library/Caches folder because it didn't appear when I clicked Finder. I had to add the Location to the finder since updating to Monterey. Needless to say, I'm not impressed :(

To Javier, who wrote on Mar 31, 2022:

"I just changed it in settings. Or go to help and write wallpaper. Changing the wallpaper takes away all the purple goes away. Oh, I got it. You have to go to "Desktrop and screensaver" in your settings. There you can choose amongst a bunch of looks."

That's not actually what the question here is about, unfortunately. The semantics of this are a bit annoying/awkward, but it comes down to the difference between LOGIN SCREEN and LOCK SCREEN.

When you change your desktop background in the Desktop & Screensaver settings, the desktop background you choose will by default carry over to the LOCK SCREEN, which you see if you remain logged in but either lock the computer manually or let it lock automatically [after whatever amount of time it is set for in System Preferences>Security & Privacy>General].

The question here is about the LOGIN SCREEN, which appears when the computer is first started. Somebody mentioned here that you should see the same login screen if you simply log out (without shutting down the computer). That doesn't appear to be the case on my computer. If I just log out, I do briefly see the default colorful LOGIN SCREEN for a second or two, but then it switches to my LOCK SCREEN (which I currently have set to just a solid black).

I think I've tried all of the suggestions offered in this thread and in every other forum I can find where this is being discussed, and none of the suggestions offered appear to make a difference on EITHER my LOGIN screen OR my LOCK screen.

So I'll continue to search and submit this feature request to Apple, because I also really hate the startup login screen (and even worse, I hate just not having control over it). :\

The above still works on 12.3.1 so I assume it works still. Let me provide some insight. The file needs to go into "system" to work.

#1 Pick a background you like.

#2 Go to /Library/Caches/Desktop Pictures/<your UID>/lockscreen.png.

#3 Copy to desktop and rename to com.apple.desktop.admin.png

#4 Goto to /System/Library/Caches/

#5 Place the newly named "com.apple.desktop.admin.png" in there.

#6 Log out or restart.

Thank you for figuring this out, this was really crazy, how could this be. So so so ugly and shocking.

No it doesn't work.. (at first I thought it did too) but then I realised it only work when you log out instead of shutting it down and open it again..

The system at the beginning is by default.. And you need the developer to do something about it.. (but its seems like they've been ignoring people for years regarding this monterrey thingy..