Dynamic Mac wallpapers first arrived with macOS Mojave. Now with macOS Monterey, there are more built-in dynamic options than ever before. Let’s look at how to set dynamic Mac wallpapers, find additional ones online, make your own, and more.
Here’s how Apple describes dynamic Mac wallpapers:
With macOS Monterey, there are eight built-in dynamic wallpapers to choose from along with 15 that can automatically shift between light and dark.
Dynamic desktop pictures can automatically change throughout the course of the day based on your current location. If Location Services is turned off in Privacy preferences, the picture changes based on the time zone specified in Date & Time preferences.
Below we’ll also look at how to find more dynamic options online and even make your own.
How to use dynamic Mac wallpapers
Built-in options
- On your Mac, open System Preferences
- Choose Desktop & Screensaver (top left)
- At the top, you’ll find the eight dynamic options
- After choosing one, near the top click the drop-down to set it to Dynamic
- You may need to click Download near the top get the different wallpapers to show up on your desktop
- Just below the dynamic wallpapers, you’ll find the 15 light/dark options with auto switching
How to find and make dynamic Mac wallpapers
If you download a dynamic wallpaper from the web, you can right-click on the image and choose Set Desktop Picture. Here are a variety of options to get more dynamic wallpapers:
After choosing one, near the top click the drop-down to set it to Dynamic
You may need to click Download near the top get the different wallpapers to show up on your desktop
Dynamic Wallpaper Club – originally launched with macOS Mojave, this is a nice resource to browse, download, create, and share dynamic wallpapers
Here are the instructions to install dynamic wallpapers you download from the club (essentially make sure to have a built-in dynamic macOS wallpaper set before changing it to one from Dynamic Wallpaper Club
24 Hour Wallpaper – available on the web and as a Mac app
You can get three free dynamic wallpapers on the website, with more available from $1.29, the Mac app runs $9.99 and comes with 90+ dynamic wallpapers
Dynaper for Mac – You can use Dynaper app for free (with watermarks) to make your own dynamic Mac wallpapers. In-app purchases available to remove watermarks
Alternatively, learn more about how dynamic Mac wallpapers work and build your with this open-source GitHub resource
Another wallpaper resource
If you’re curious about more wallpaper resources, this won’t offer dynamic ones, but the Unsplash Wallpapers app for Mac is a great way to shuffle through and browse beautiful desktop images for free.
Here are the instructions to install dynamic wallpapers you download from the club (essentially make sure to have a built-in dynamic macOS wallpaper set before changing it to one from Dynamic Wallpaper Club
You can get three free dynamic wallpapers on the website, with more available from $1.29, the Mac app runs $9.99 and comes with 90+ dynamic wallpapers
Unsplash Wallpapers for Mac
Tips and tricks to fix Bluetooth connection issues on Mac
How to type the Apple logo on Mac, iPhone, and iPad
This gesture trick lets you share photos between iPhone, iPad, and Mac faster than AirDrop
Best USB-C and Thunderbolt displays for Mac
