By default, the Mac login screen shows a blurred version of your desktop’s background. While this blurred version of desktop background often looks very nice, there are users who want to change Login Screen Wallpaper on Mac with Photos and images of their own choice, in order to personalize their Mac.
Change Login Screen Wallpaper on Mac
Your current Login Screen Background image is an image File (com.apple.desktop.admin.png) located in the Caches Folder on your Mac.
In theory, it should be possible to Change Login Screen Wallpaper on Mac by deleting “com.apple.desktop.admin.png” from within the Caches Folder and replacing it with another image File with the same name.
However, this does not work on Mac and you may end up losing your current Login Desktop Background, in case you happen to delete the existing “com.apple.desktop.admin.png” File on your Mac.
Hence, it is strongly recommended not to delete the existing “com.apple.desktop.admin.png” file in the Caches Folder and exactly follow the steps as provided below.
- Make Two Copies of Current Login Screen Wallpaper
- Update Current Login Screen Wallpaper File (Copy) with New Image
- Replace Current Login Screen Wallpaper File in Caches Folder with updated Login Screen Wallpaper File
Make Copies of Current Login Screen Wallpaper
Login to your Admin Account on your Mac and follow the steps below to create two copies of your current desktop login screen wallpaper located in the Library Folder of your Mac.
1. Click on the Finder icon in the Dock of your Mac to launch the Go Menu in the top menu bar of your Mac.
2. Next, click on the Go option in the Go Menu bar and then click on Go to Folder… option in the drop-down menu (See image below).
3. In the Go to Folder window, type /Library/Caches/ and then click on the Go button or hit the Enter key on the keyboard of your Mac (See image below).
4. From the Caches Folder, copy the File named com.apple.desktop.admin.png onto your desktop and also to any safe Folder on your Mac.
Note: In case you cannot find this file, make sure that you are logged-in to your Admin Account.
Important: Make sure that you make two copies of “com.apple.desktop.admin.png” File. The extra copy is required, in case you want to go back to your current or default Login Screen Background.
Update Current Login Screen Wallpaper File (Copy) With New Image
After making two copies of your current Login Screen Background Image File, the next step is to update the Desktop copy of your current Login Screen Background Image File with a Photo or image of your own choice.
1. Find the image that you wish to set as your new Login Screen Wallpaper
2. Once you have located the image, double click on the image in order to open it in the Preview App.
In case Preview is not your default photo viewer, right-click on the image and then click on Open with Preview option in the menu that appears (See image below).
3. After the image opens, select the entire image by dragging your mouse from the top left corner of the image to the bottom right corner of the image (See image below)
4. After selecting the entire image, press Command + C keys on the Keyboard of your Mac in order to copy the image to clipboard.
5. Now, open the copied com.apple.desktop.admin.png File located on the desktop of your Mac by double clicking on it and press Command + V keys on the keyboard of your Mac to paste the image from the clipboard (copied in step #4 above) to this File.
6. Once the New image is pasted, rearrange and resize the image as required and close the window.
Replace Current Login Screen Background Image File in Caches Folder
Finally, it is time now to replace your current Login Screen Background Image File in Caches Folder with the updated Login Screen Background Image File as available on your desktop in order to change Login Screen wallpaper on Mac.
1. Make sure that Caches Folder is open – If not, you can repeat steps 1,2,3 as provided above in section “Make Copies of Current Login Screen” to open the Caches Folder.
2. Next, drag the updated com.apple.desktop.admin.png File located on the desktop of your Mac into the Caches Folder.
3. You will see a pop-up, click on the Replace option in the pop-up to replace your current Login Screen Background Image File with your own Photo/image (See image below)
4. Logout of your Mac and you should see the New Login Screen Background on your Mac.
Change Login Screen Wallpaper Back to Default on Mac
In case you do not like the New Login Screen Wallpaper, you can change it back to the default Login Screen Wallpaper at any time by following the steps below.
1. Click on the Finder icon in the Dock of your Mac to launch the Go Menu in the top menu bar of your Mac.
2. Next, click on the Go option in the top Menu bar of your Mac and then click on Go to Folder… option in the drop-down menu (See image below).
3. In the Go to Folder window, type /Library/Caches/ and then click on the Go button to open the Caches Folder on your Mac (See image below).
4. Now, drag the Backup copy of the original Login Screen Background image File (com.apple.desktop.admin.png) into the Caches Folder.
5. You will see a pop-up message, click on the Replace option in the pop-up to replace your current Login Screen Background image with the original Mac default Login Screen Background image (See image below)
6. Logout of your Mac
This time you will see the familiar Mac Default Login Screen Background on your computer.