My Wife saved an emailed picture as her desktop. She deleted the original. She now wants the pic in iPhoto. Where is the desktop image saved?
It is NOT in > Library > Desktop Pictures.
Thanks, Dave
iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
I just tried this with OS X 10.5.8 by hitting the + button and selecting an image of mine.
My tests indicate that it puts an alias to the image in:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist
It does not move the original image from its location but it does copy it to a database file in:
~/Library/Caches/Desktop
The cache survives a shutdown but I suspect that you will have difficulty extracting anything from it.
If it came by email I suspect it could still be in any / all of these:
I hope this helps
Hi Dave, see if it's like these...
/Users/ThatUser/Library/Safari/Safari Desktop Picture.jpg
/Users/ThatUser/Library/Safari/Safari Desktop Picture.png
But could be .gif or a few more as far as extensions.
I cannot see how to do this with my Safari 5.0.6.
I would be grateful if you could explain.
Hi Neville, used to be Right Click would show Use as Desktop Pic, at some point it was moved to the Services Menu... about the point Apple thought the OS should imitate Monty Python's... Now for something completely different ! đ
Hi BDAqua,
You got it exactly right. I'm now the hero around here, again
Thanks, Dave
Great news, thanks Dave! đ
Even better the wife likes you now... past grievences will be forgiven/forgotten for upto 48 hrs! đ
Thanks BDAqua - just tried it with the nearest image I could find and now have a Desktop like this:
I checked further and discovered that it updated:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist
but did not update:
~/Library/Caches/Desktop
Perhaps fortunate that Safari does not use a database for these images.
I must remember to ask if email was accessed via a browser.
I still suspect the original is stored in email somewhere.
Good work the pair of you - well done.
Strange - I deleted the image in the Safari folder and restarted. It is still my background image!
Plist and image databases show no signs of being changed.
Either hibernate is working or the image is stored elsewhere.
Now that is strange!?
I'd change it again & see if Find Any File>Find all>Files modified in last 2 minutes helps locate it.
I took your advice with one minute and found it:
/private/var/folders/xb/xb22DX2nE6Gc0mBb+fpjRk+++TI/-Caches-/com.apple.desktoppi cture.42487c4
There are many caches here - most restricted - some quite old - a few appear important.
Ah, it looks like you're on a newer OS than 10.5.x, likely 10.7.x?
Hmmm, thanks for the info, strange how varied the name & location can be!?
location for save as desktop
