Change MacOS Monterey Login Screen Wallpaper

The long-running discussion will provide insite:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253314107

Can I change login screen with OS Monterey

Making that change will happen only if Apple adds that capability in a future update or upgrade.

I followed @jeffreythefrog's instructions & took @Ronnie DC's advice of toggling between preferences.

I made myself the sole user (turned off guest account that was on), & switch settings to 'Name & Password'. I also went under 'Security & Privacy' & turned off fire vault. I then chose to 'Lock Screen'. My Lock Screen wallpaper finally matched my desktop (home screen)! I then turned fire vault back on.

However, I was greedy & wanted to see if I could also add back my guest account. I logged back in & went back to 'User Group & Settings.' I turned on the guest account & toggled again between 'List of Users' & 'Name & Password.' I then chose 'Lock Screen' again & ta-dah! I now have a pretty lock screen & a guest account.

Thank you so much @jeffreythefrog & @Ronnie DC!!

Yes, putting the picture into /Library/Caches/com.apple.desktop.admin.png worked for me.

I wonder if it would also work if it were a symlink to the user picture in "/Library/Caches/Desktop Pictures/".../lockscreen.png

JeffreytheFrog's solution worked for me, though I'm not sure exactly how. I did a couple of extra steps.

I had to:

"unlock for further changes"

eliminate an extra admin account and turn off the guest login,

choose a png, rename it "com.apple.desktop.admin.png"

copy it into my Macintosh HD/Libraries/Caches folder

also copy it into my Macintosh HD/Libraries/Caches/Desktop Pictures folder

I named the same png "lockscreen.png"

and copied it into the same two folders

locked it back up.

I logged out and logged back in to only my admin login, with the vastly improved lock screen and login png.

I didn't see the "List of Users" option Jeffrey shows "until I removed the extra user and turn off the guest users option." Then this option came live.

Good luck with it.

0n3d3r3r wrote:

1. 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:

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.

Sounded promising, but doesn't work for me I'm afraid (MacBookPro 14", Monterey 12.1).

sorry to rain on your parade, but, that is expected behaviour, and does not address the topic of this thread. as you've seen, the "lock screen" will match whatever the desktop background is of the account you are logged into when you "lock" the screen. but the topic of this thread is the "login screen". that is the screen you get when you either restart the mac, or "log out" of an account. to change that requires a single user setup. not even a guest account.

I took a look at it and noticed that it only works when you're already signed in and you sign out into the Login screen, but not if you restart or power on. There must be a startup process that is picking a default background from somewhere else other than the Library Cache.

I already raised a feature request in the Product Feedback - Apple page, and I think it helps if more people do the same. It only takes 2 minutes. Hope they take it into consideration.

After getting this to work by following Jeffrey and Ronnie's advice, toggling off and on, I went back and enabled both Guest User and File Vault, restarted and saw the original Apple login screen. I disabled both, restarted and now my login screen matches my lock screen/desktop again. I'm not going to fool around with it any more for now. This is on a new MBP 14", latest Monterey update.

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.

I guess the difference may be in how one turns off the computer/ ends one's session on the computer?

I am the sole user of my computer, and turn it off by selecting "shut down" (rather than "log off (my name)"). When I start up again, I see the photo I installed as "lockscreen.png", with the login box on top of it. Once I log in, I see the regular desktop. If I do select "log off Jeffrey Plate", THEN I get the pink and purple thing. (I only just tried that for the first time.) But it never comes up in my day to day use. -- In any case, I'm not sure you're really clarifying things with "the Login Screen IS NOT the Lock Screen". The screen I see when I log in is, in fact, the photo named "lockscreen.png" that I installed in the above mentioned folder. From my experience, if you shut the machine down when you leave it, when you come back, whatever you install as "lockscreen.png" will be your login screen, and you will never have to see the pink business again.

it's not the login screen that makes problems - it's that ugly startscreen called Chroma Red.heic:

i 've never had chosen it.

wich is not in Macintosh HD/Library/Caches/Desktop Pictures/ - here are the lockscreens, wich I can

change easily by only change the desktop pictures of every user.

the start screen is placed in

Macintosh HD/System//Library/Desktop Pictures/Chroma Red.heic

there are no user ID named folders and the files can't be changed in any way (system area)

Log feedback with Apple, as the right folks at Apple may or may not see requests here: Product Feedback - Apple

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

This method did the trick for me and it works: https://www.howtoisolve.com/how-to-change-the-login-screen-background-mac-macbook/