Apple’s Mac allows for a variety of customization options. Perhaps the quickest way to make your desktop your own is to change the Desktop background to a favorite color or photo.
1.) Right-click, Control-Click, or two-finger click anywhere in a blank area of your Mac’s Desktop. Left-click “Change Desktop Background…” in the pop-up menu that appears.
2.) In the “Desktop & Screen Saver” window that appears, you’ll see 12 colors displayed in a grid. You can click one of the colors to change the color of your desktop to that particular shade.
3.) If none of those colors appeal to you, then click the “Custom Color…” button. You’ll see the “Colors” window appear. Click any of the colors in the color wheel and your Mac’s Desktop will change to that color.
OK, maybe solid colors aren’t the way you roll. Not even fuchsia does it for you. All right my budding Desktop decorator, let’s see what you think of having your favorite image as your background…
Note: Even though you may enjoy “busy” photos with bright colors and wild designs, remember, you’re going to be staring at that every day. You also want a background that doesn’t make it tough to make out your Desktop icons.
I find the easiest way to set a photo as my Mac’s Desktop background is to do the following.
1.) Make sure the photo you want to use is on your Mac’s hard drive. DUH!
2.) Navigate to where you have the photo saved, and Right-click, Control-Click, or two-finger click on the image.
3.) On the pop-up menu that appears, bring your mouse pointer down to “Services.”
4.) Left-click on the “Set Desktop Picture” menu option.
5.) Enjoy your new background.
macOS has some great wallpapers built-in by default. Here’s how to use one of those wallpapers, or one of your own from a folder.
1.) Right-click, Control-Click, or two-finger click anywhere in a blank area of your Mac’s Desktop. Left-click “Change Desktop Background…” in the pop-up menu that appears.
2.) In the “Desktop & Screen Saver” window that appears, you’ll see folders listed in the left pane of the window.
3.) Click any of the folders in the left pane of the window and the photos in that folder will appear in the larger right-hand pane.
4.) Click any of the images in the right-hand pane, and the background will display that image.
5.) To change things up a bit, you can also drag-and-drop an image into the preview window, (highlighted in the screenshot above in the upper left-hand corner), and your Mac Desktop will automatically be set to that image.
This last method is quite handy if you see an image while browsing the web in the Safari browser that you’d like to use as a Desktop image.
1.) While browsing the web in Safari, right-click the photo you’d like to use while it’s displayed in your Safari window.
2.) From the menu that appears, left-click on “Use Image as Desktop Picture.” The image will immediately be downloaded to your Mac and will automatically be used as your Desktop picture.
Note: Make sure the photo is a high enough resolution to fill your Mac’s Desktop. If it’s too small, it’ll look blocky and not at all attractive. Try it with a few photos and you’ll get the hang of it.
For more tips and tricks on how to make better use of your Mac, iOS device, Apple Watch, or Apple TV, be sure to visit the “How To” section of our website.
