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Level 1

30 points

Desktop & Screensaver preferences pane not storing changes

Okay, I've seen this issue mentioned in other discussions for older operating systems:

My Desktop & Screensaver preferences pane is not storing changes made to the "Folders" section in the left sidebar.

If I add a few folders to the list, they remain until I quit System Preferences. After restarting System Preferences I'll generally only see one of folders that were previously added. After that first change, I can remove all folders, replace the existing folder with different folders, anything really. Then once I quit and reopen System Preferences, I'm back to seeing that one folder from the first time I went through the process.

I initially tried to remove all .plist preference files related to System Preferences, Desktop, Screensaver, and Display settings, but nothing changed. This reset the settings, but as soon as I added folders back into the list, the issue reproduced itself.

I've confirmed the issue occurs in a second, brand new user account.

I tried repairing permission and repairing disk via Disk Utility.

I reset ACLs via the Password Reset dialog in the Recovery utility.

Any other ideas as to how I can resolve this issue? Is it a bug?

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), 16GB RAM, Samsung 512GB SSD

Posted on Apr 3, 2013 1:09 AM

20 replies

May 28, 2013 6:01 PM in response to mfvisuals

I'm also seeing this problem on 10.7.5 on the MacPros where I work.

s2b999

Level 1

0 points

May 29, 2013 9:22 AM in response to mfvisuals

I am running Lion 10.8.3 and have this problem. It started in Tiger and persisted when I upgraded to Lion.

Jun 12, 2013 4:58 AM in response to mfvisuals

Having the exact same issue with 10.8.4

Aug 11, 2013 4:43 PM in response to mfvisuals

I can reproduce this issue fairly consistently like this:

Create a folder of pictures under Pictures.
Open System Preferences -> Desktop & Screensaver.
Add this new folder using the + button.
Select a desktop picture from this folder.
Exit System Preferences.
Open System Preferences -> Desktop & Screensaver
Select a picture from the default set or the Pictures folder.
Exit System Preferences.
Start System Preferences -> Desktop & Screensaver
Note that the folder you added in step 3 is no longer listed.

At least this is how it seems to be behaving for me. I tend to keep a given picture for awhile so there's probably other things I am doing between steps 8 and 9. That said, my InterfaceLift-Retina folder is always missing if I'm not using a desktop picture from that folder when I go back to change the picture again.

My pseudo-workaround (which is annoying if not a dealbreaker) is to put my most frequently used pictures directly in the Pictures folder. That folder never seems to go missing.

Nov 23, 2014 10:22 AM in response to Christofer C. Bell

My problem is that the + button used to be there but since I upgraded to 10.9.5 that + button is gone. Not sure what to do now.

Any suggestion would be appreciated

Thank you

Desktop & Screensaver preferences pane not storing changes