Open Finder and go to Go > Go to Folder… or press the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-G.Įnter /Library/Caches/ and then click Go. Save your chosen image as a PNG called .png. While most images are JPGs, Apple uses PNGs for the login screen background. About This Mac tells you all you need to know about your display.

Go to Apple > About This Mac > Displays in the menu bar to find the resolution of the Mac's screen. I used Photoshop, but you can use any image editor you like, to crop one of my images to 2880x1800, the resolution of my 15” MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It won’t look as good if you leave the resizing up to the Mac. Prepping an Image to Useįor the new login background, you need to use an image that matches the resolution of the screen. If you’re a big sci-fi fan, you could change it to a picture of the Matrix or the USS Enterprise, for instance. I love taking photos so it’s nice to have one front and centre when I boot up my Mac. My custom login.Īnother reason is just to customise the Mac to show off your work or personality. If you’re got two MacBook Pros lying around, having a different background on each will keep you from accidentally trying to log in to the wrong machine. While it’s hardly essential, there are a few reasons you might like to change the login background.Ī custom login background makes it easy to differentiate between multiple Macs of the same design. Whenever you log out or restart the computer, however, you’ll be presented with macOS’s default background at the login screen.įor most people, this probably isn’t an issue, but if you’re a massive agoraphobe (or just really like customising things) you might want to change it. You’ll never have to see the majestic mountains again… while you’re logged in. If you’re not a fan of the outdoors, you can change the background image by going to System Preferences > Desktop & Screensaver and picking a new Desktop background. These are all fantastic landscape images. The towering Dawn Wall in OS X El Capitan, the huge mass of Half Dome in OS X Yosemite, and most recently, the jagged peaks of the Sierra Nevadas in macOS Sierra. Apple has always had great taste when it comes to the default Mac backgrounds.

How to change mac background