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Where wallpaper settings live on each macOS version, from Ventura to today
Updated · Lucas Viegas · 6 min read
On macOS Ventura 13 and later, wallpaper lives in System Settings, Wallpaper in the sidebar. On Monterey 12 it was System Preferences, Desktop & Screen Saver. The address has held since Ventura; the labels inside it have not.
That is why a screenshot from someone else’s Mac so often fails to match yours. Every row below is a separate fetch of Apple’s Mac User Guide, made on 7 September 2026, in five editions, listed under Sources. Where an edition names no control, this page says so rather than borrowing the label next door.
Where is the Wallpaper pane on your macOS version?
Each cell quotes Apple’s article for that release, fetched 7 September 2026. Not named means Apple documents no such control, not that the Mac lacks one.
| macOS | Where the pane is | Adding your own picture | Rotation control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey 12 | System Preferences, Desktop & Screen Saver, Desktop | The Desktop tab’s source list | Change picture, with an interval |
| Ventura 13 | System Settings, Wallpaper in the sidebar | Add Folder and Add Photo Album, separately | Auto-Rotate, plus a Change picture menu |
| Sonoma 14 | System Settings, Wallpaper in the sidebar | Add Photo and Add Folder or Album | Not named |
| Sequoia 15 | System Settings, Wallpaper in the sidebar | Add Photo, then From Photos; Add Folder or Album, then Choose Folder | Not named |
| Tahoe 26 | System Settings, Wallpaper in the sidebar | Add Photo, then Choose from Photos, Choose File or Choose Folder; Photo Sets | Shuffle, with an interval menu |
Sources, all fetched 7 September 2026
- 1. Apple: Customize the desktop picture on your Mac (Monterey 12)
- 2. Apple: Customize the desktop picture on your Mac (Ventura 13)
- 3. Apple: Change Wallpaper settings on Mac (Ventura 13)
- 4. Apple: Customize the wallpaper on your Mac (Sonoma 14)
- 5. Apple: Wallpaper settings on Mac (Sonoma 14)
- 6. Apple: Customize the wallpaper on your Mac (Sequoia 15)
- 7. Apple: Wallpaper settings on Mac (Sequoia 15)
- 8. Apple: Customize the wallpaper on your Mac (Tahoe 26)
- 9. Apple: Wallpaper settings on Mac (Tahoe 26)
- 10. VisionWall guide: Shuffle intervals read off macOS 26.5.2 (Tahoe)
What changed in Ventura, and why does the old name still haunt search?
Ventura 13 replaced System Preferences with System Settings, and the single Desktop & Screen Saverpane became two sidebar items. Apple’s Monterey 12 article reads: choose Apple menu, System Preferences, click Desktop & Screen Saver, then click Desktop. Its Ventura 13 replacement reads: choose Apple menu, System Settings, then click Wallpaper in the sidebar.
Years of articles and forum answers were written against the old wording, which is why people still search for a pane retired in 2022. If instructions say Desktop & Screen Saver, they predate Ventura and the rest is likely stale too.
Is the rotation control called Auto-Rotate or Shuffle?
This label has drifted furthest, so be precise per edition.
- Monterey 12: a Change picture control with a time interval, inside the Desktop tab.
- Ventura 13: Auto-Rotate, described by Apple as cycling through the pictures in a folder or photo album, or through the colors, with the timing set at the top of the pane. The settings reference lists a Change picture interval menu too.
- Sonoma 14 and Sequoia 15: no rotation control is named for your own pictures in either article. Both name Shuffle Aerials, a different thing: it rotates Apple’s aerial catalogue, not your folder.
- Tahoe 26: Shuffle, with its interval menu beside it. On macOS 26.5.2 (Tahoe) it runs from Every 5 Seconds to Every Day, plus On Login and On Wakeup, with nothing between Every Hour and Every Day.
That is a documentation gap, and this post will not fill it by assuming. What the control does is covered in our guide to the built-in rotation, read off a live Mac.
How do you get there on any version?
Five steps that hold from Ventura 13 to Tahoe 26.
- 1Open System Settings. Choose Apple menu → System Settings. On Monterey 12 and earlier that item reads System Preferences, and the route differs.
- 2Find Wallpaper in the sidebar. Click Wallpaper in the sidebar. Apple’s own step warns you may need to scroll down.
- 3Scroll past Apple’s categories. Dynamic Wallpapers, the aerials, Pictures and Colors come first. Your own sources sit below, under a heading Tahoe 26 calls Your Photos.
- 4Add a source with your version’s button. On Tahoe 26, Add Photo, then Choose from Photos, Choose File or Choose Folder. On Ventura 13, Add Folder or Add Photo Album.
- 5Click it, then set the rotation. Click the source so it becomes the active wallpaper. On Tahoe 26 set Shuffle to an interval; on Ventura 13 click Auto-Rotate.
Which other labels differ, exactly?
Three more, each sending people hunting for a command already on screen.
The Safari command
Use Image as Desktop Picture on Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14. Use Image as Desktop Wallpaper on Sequoia 15 and Tahoe 26.
The Photos source
Tahoe 26 groups albums and folders from Photos under a heading called Photo Sets. No earlier edition uses the phrase.
The settings article
Change Wallpaper settings on Mac in Ventura 13, Wallpaper settings on Mac from Sonoma 14. Only Tahoe 26 mentions screen saver options.
One thing has not moved: Show on all Spaces, described by Apple as using the same wallpaper on every desktop space and display. The panes around Wallpaper were renamed on the same schedule, which matters if you follow a setup guide; our six-setting walkthrough names both the Tahoe and the Sequoia label.
One place, whatever Apple renames.
VisionWall is a macOS menu-bar app that turns any public Pinterest board into a live, rotating desktop wallpaper: a masonry composition reshuffled on every refresh, every 30 minutes by default and anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours, set as a normal still wallpaper image, one per display. About 1.4 MB, 0% idle CPU, $9.99 once, macOS 13.3 Ventura or later, public boards only.
Get VisionWallCheck your version against the requirements page.
FAQ
Is there still a Desktop & Screen Saver pane?
No. Apple’s Monterey 12 edition is the last that sends you to System Preferences, Desktop & Screen Saver, then Desktop. From Ventura 13 on, every edition says: choose Apple menu, System Settings, then click Wallpaper in the sidebar.
My Mac says Auto-Rotate but every article says Shuffle. Which is right?
Both, on different systems. Auto-Rotate is the Ventura 13 name, described by Apple as cycling through the pictures in a folder or photo album, or through the colors, with the timing set at the top of the pane. Shuffle is the Tahoe 26 name and carries the interval menu itself. Sonoma 14 and Sequoia 15 name neither, a documentation gap rather than a missing feature.
Why does the article title change between versions?
Apple renamed the feature. Monterey 12 and Ventura 13 title the task article Customize the desktop picture on your Mac; Sonoma 14 onward, Customize the wallpaper on your Mac. The settings reference moved from Change Wallpaper settings on Mac to Wallpaper settings on Mac.
Did screen saver settings move as well?
Partly, and the guides differ. The Tahoe 26 Wallpaper settings article says the pane is also where you choose screen saver options for hiding the desktop. The Ventura 13 article does not. This post did not check the separate Screen Saver articles, so it claims nothing about them.
I am on macOS 13.3. Which labels apply to me?
The Ventura 13 ones: System Settings, Wallpaper in the sidebar, Add Folder, Add Photo Album, Auto-Rotate. macOS 13.3 is a Ventura release, and Apple’s Ventura edition covers the whole 13.x line.