desktop wallpaper resets on reboot

did not need to Repair Permissions here, and deleting the desktoppicture.db file works on macOS Sierra (10.12.5)--

P.S. there is no [com.apple.]Desktop.plist file on 10.12

thanks for pointing me to the desktoppicture.db file. 😎😎😎

Have you tried deleting the "wave" from your desktop pictures folder?

It CAN'T default to an image that doesn't exist...

Try to delete com.apple.desktop.plist from Preferences folder into your user library.

While you have the Finder's "GO" menu open, press "Option" : a Library item will appear in the list – That's the one that has the .plist in its Preferences folder. Delete the file

Then close your current session, and restart it. You'll always have the "wave" wallpaper.

Change the wallpaper, then shut down your computer and restart it.

Empty the trash in secure mode to delete the old .plist file

It has worked for me

I tried that and it didn't work, but I have no idea how to:

Empty the trash in secure mode to delete the old .plist file

Also, now, I don't have that plist file anymore, but 1 on 3 of my wallpapers is messed up, always the first one.

Is it a bug?

Also, I should add that in my case, it's not the Wave wallpaper that comes back, it's one of mine XD But I wnat to change it now.

Of course I could delete or move the file, but it's not a long term solution in my opinion.

I have experienced exactly the same problem. Deleting the "Wave" photo just gives a blue screen on restart. The .plist suggestion is no good as the desktop.plist does not appear in the prferences folder of my libray, plenty of others though. Is it just missing in Mavericks or is it called something else?

In addition when going to reset the desktop picture in System Preferences, my chosen picture is selected and shown, but will only appear if I select another option from the drop down menu e.g. fit screen and then go back and select full screen.

It is usually OK after sleep mode although sometimes it comes out of sleep mode with the screensaver running or a blank screen which disappears as soon as you move the mouse. These issues are all post Mavericks.

OK so tried a different tack. Found the desktop.plist file in the hidden files library, (my mistake), followed the instructions above. No luck, still comes back as the "wave" picture.

The solution is to copy your desired wallpaper into the Pictures folder on your Mini's HD and then select it as your desktop in System Preferences from the Folders file. The photo I was using had been stored on an external drive, so it takes time for the drive to mount, so desktop on automatic login can't immediately find the file and so automatically goes to the default, the first picture in the desktop pictures folder I presume, when it can't find the desktop.plist file.

The other alternative might be to turn off the automatic login as this seems to be the root of the problem.

The solution proposed in that discussion:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4748255?answerId=21047382022#21047382022

worked for me. Another file has to be removed.

Thanks Simonced. I spotted that .plist and wondered if it might be involved. I will give it a go.

So it appears that if the image is stored on an external HD, it does not detect the drive before it applies the wallpaper. Try adding it to your photos folder on your mac, and setting that as your wallpaper in System Preferences.

I think Mike has it mostly right, but this bug isn't relegated to just network drives. In my case, the desktop backgrounds went away unless the original photos were in the same spot on reboot. For example, if the photos were on my desktop when I selected them as my backgrounds, and then I moved them into a subfolder on the desktop, they would disappear on reboot. It seems like the dev is just storing a file path, rather than making a local copy of the file, (or some alternative way of referencing the file that doesn't depend on its path, like utilizing an inode or something) and in the case of the file having been moved, or the network drive not having been reconnected yet, the background is lost.

It seems I have the same problem with wallpaper not remaining perminent. However, none of the suggestions fixed the problem. What I discovered was associated to multiple users. That is, I have two user accounts, ecah with their own wallpaper setting. The problem occurs when both users are logged into the system. The first user's wallpaper is always loaded. However, the second user's wallpaper will only load successfully if the second user first switches to the "Login Window", that is, does not attempt to switch directly from the current users window. Further, sometimes application windows of the first logged in user will behave erractically if that user switches from the second user, directly back to the first user's window (does "not" switch users thru the login screen). The bottom line user envirnoment behavour is erractic if users do not switch "thru" the Login Window (aka clicking on the users name in the upper right corner of the screen). My guess is the process of saving the environment is not fully functional when switching users directly, aka a bug.

Chris,

Did you find a solution?. I have this exact same problem since upgrading to 10.9.

After discussing the problem with Apple support., I have a permanent fix that works for me. It seems the desktop.plst is not actually involved. Firstly I was asked to repair the permissions on the Mini's hard drive. To do this you need to shut down the computer and when restarting using the On/Off switch at the same time keep the Command and R keys pressed on the keyboard until the OS X Utilities screen comes up. This may take a few seconds and you need to keep the two keys pressed until it does.

Select the Disc Utilities option and then the Mac HD. Click on the repair permissions. I am not entirely sure this is part of the solution, but I am relaying the sequence of actions that led to the problem being fixed. Whilst in the disc utilities I also checked the external drive that my desktop photo is stored on. It was fine.

After restarting the computer I restored the correct desktop and openned Finder and used the Go menu to access the Library as before. Then I was told to open the Applications Support folder and then look for the Dock folder and open that. There are two files, one of which is "desktoppicture.db". Move this file to the trash and securely delete it. Restart the computer. A new "desltoppicture.db" will be created on startup.

Finally, reset your desktop picture again using System Preferences. It has from that time on worked fine. I hope this works for everyone else.

Thanks to Martin and Thomas in Apple support for talking me through it successfully first time.

I find this an easier fix: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5023223?answerId=21975175022#21975175022
Much less complicated, and it works for me.