--- title: "How to Change the Lock Screen on Mac" description: "Change the Mac Lock Screen wallpaper, clock, login picture and message on macOS 27 and Tahoe, set when it locks, and put a video on it." canonical: "https://macwall.app/blog/how-to-change-lock-screen-on-mac" published: "2026-11-06" updated: "2026-11-06" keywords: - "how to change lock screen on mac" - "how to change lock screen wallpaper on mac" - "mac lock screen wallpaper" - "change login screen mac" - "mac lock screen message" - "mac lock screen clock" - "live lock screen mac" category: "Guides" readMinutes: "9" --- # How to Change the Lock Screen on a Mac Change the Mac Lock Screen wallpaper, clock, login picture and message on macOS 27 and Tahoe, set when it locks, and put a video on it. **To change the Lock Screen on a Mac, change your wallpaper in System Settings > Wallpaper: on current macOS the Lock Screen shows the same picture as the desktop, and Apple's settings have no separate Lock Screen wallpaper. The clock is under Clock Appearance in the same pane, your login picture is in Users & Groups, and the message, password and login window options are in System Settings > Lock Screen.** The steps below follow Apple's help pages for macOS 27 Golden Gate and macOS Tahoe 26, read on 6 November 2026, with notes where macOS Sequoia 15 differs. To see which version you have, choose Apple menu > About This Mac. A Lock Screen that plays video is not something System Settings offers; the last part of this guide covers it with [MacWall](https://macwall.app/download), which needs macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later for that. ## What you can change on the Mac Lock Screen | What you see | Where to change it | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Background picture | System Settings > Wallpaper | The same picture as your desktop | | Large clock | System Settings > Wallpaper > Clock Appearance | macOS 26 and 27: whether it shows, where, font and weight | | Login picture | System Settings > Users & Groups | Also your Apple Account picture and your My Card in Contacts | | Message | System Settings > Lock Screen > Show message when locked | Shown in the login window, for example contact details for a lost Mac | | When a password is needed | System Settings > Lock Screen | Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off | | Screen saver | System Settings > Wallpaper > Screen Saver | Starts after the idle time you choose | | Login window layout | System Settings > Lock Screen > Login window shows | A list of users, or name and password fields | | A moving video | Not in System Settings | MacWall Pro on macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later | From Apple Support's Mac User Guide for macOS 27 and macOS Tahoe 26, read 6 November 2026. The last row is MacWall. ## Change the Lock Screen wallpaper 1. Choose Apple menu > **System Settings**, then click **Wallpaper** in the sidebar. Apple notes you may need to scroll down to see it. 2. Pick a wallpaper from one of Apple's categories: Dynamic Wallpapers, the Landscape, Cityscape, Underwater and Earth aerials, Shuffle Aerials, Pictures or Colors. macOS 27 also has a Mac category. 3. For your own picture, scroll to **Your Photos**, click **Add Photo**, then choose **Choose from Photos**, **Choose File** or **Choose Folder**. 4. Lock your Mac to check it: press **Control-Command-Q**, or choose Apple menu > **Lock Screen**. Apple describes the aerials as images that animate as you lock or unlock your Mac, and by default the aerial you choose is also your screen saver. That is the closest System Settings comes to a moving Lock Screen. Every other way to set a wallpaper, from Photos, Finder or Safari, changes the Lock Screen too, because it is the same picture; [how to change wallpaper on Mac](https://macwall.app/blog/how-to-change-wallpaper-on-mac) covers all of them. ### Can the Lock Screen have a different picture from the desktop? Not with Apple's settings. The Wallpaper pages for macOS 26 and 27 describe one current wallpaper, with no separate Lock Screen picture, and macOS uses that one wallpaper for both places. MacWall can split them in its MacWall App playback mode, where MacWall draws the desktop itself: open a wallpaper, click the arrow next to **Set Wallpaper** and choose **Lock Screen Only**, and the Lock Screen plays that one while the desktop keeps its own. ## Change the clock on the Lock Screen On macOS 26 and 27, Wallpaper settings has a **Clock Appearance** section. Apple says it lets you choose whether the large clock appears and where it appears: on the Lock Screen only, or on both the screen saver and the Lock Screen. You can also choose the clock's font and its weight, meaning how light or heavy the numbers look. A thin clock suits a busy picture; a heavy one stays readable over a bright one. ## Change your login picture 1. Choose Apple menu > **System Settings**, then click **Users & Groups** in the sidebar. 2. Click the picture next to your login name. 3. Choose a source: **Memoji**, **Emoji**, **Monogram** (a background color and your initials), **Camera**, **Photos** or **Suggestions**. You can also drag an image from the Finder onto the current picture. 4. Drag the picture inside the circle to position it, use the slider to zoom, then click **Save**. Apple notes that the login picture is also your Apple Account picture and your My Card in Contacts, and that you can't change the picture of another user who is logged in at the time. ## Show a message on the Lock Screen In System Settings > **Lock Screen**, turn on **Show message when locked** and enter a short message. Apple says it appears in the login window to anyone who tries to log in while your Mac is locked, and suggests using it for contact details in case the Mac is lost. Keep it to a line, such as an email address, rather than anything private. ## Set when your Mac locks and asks for a password Three settings decide how quickly the Lock Screen appears. Two of them are in System Settings > Lock Screen, and the screen saver's own timer is in Wallpaper settings: - **Turn display off on battery when inactive** and **Turn display off on power adapter when inactive**: how long the Mac can sit idle before the display turns off, set separately for battery and power. - **Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off**: how long after the screen saver starts, or the Mac sleeps, before your password is needed. - **Start Screen Saver** (Wallpaper > Screen Saver): how long the Mac can be inactive before the screen saver starts. To lock right away, press Control-Command-Q or choose Apple menu > Lock Screen. To start the screen saver by moving the pointer into a corner, go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock and click **Hot Corners**. Pressing a key, moving the mouse or touching the trackpad stops the screen saver. ## Change the login window - **Login window shows**: **List of users** lets people pick their name; **Name and password** makes them type both, which reveals less about who uses the Mac. - **Show the Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down buttons**: shows or hides those buttons in the login window. - **Show password hints**: Apple says the hint appears if someone clicks the question mark in the password field or enters a wrong password three times in a row. - **Accessibility Options**: settings that make it easier to log in to your Mac. ## Choose the screen saver The screen saver plays before the Lock Screen when you step away, so it is part of the same look. Open System Settings > Wallpaper, click **Screen Saver**, select **Custom**, and choose from Apple's categories: macOS slow-motion images, the Landscape, Cityscape, Underwater and Earth aerials, Shuffle Aerials, and Other, which holds your photos, Message and Word of the Day. macOS 27 adds Mac, gradient pill shapes that spell the word "Mac". The full walkthrough is in [how to change the screen saver on Mac](https://macwall.app/blog/how-to-change-screen-saver-mac). ## Put a video on the Lock Screen with MacWall Apple's aerials move only as you lock or unlock. To have your own video, or one of MacWall's 1,000+ catalog loops, play on the Lock Screen and as the screen saver, you need [MacWall](https://macwall.app/download) on macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later, macOS 27 included, with Pro or the free 24-hour trial. On macOS 15 MacWall plays the desktop only, and the Lock Screen shows a still from your wallpaper. How it works depends on the playback mode in **Settings → Wallpaper → Playback**: - **System Wallpaper** (new installs on macOS 26 and later start here): set a wallpaper as usual and the Lock Screen and screen saver play it too, sound included, even while MacWall is closed. Turn on **Play only on the Lock Screen** in Settings → Lock Screen and the desktop rests on a still frame while the wallpaper moves when you lock, like Apple's aerials. Turn off **Play the wallpaper while locked** and the Lock Screen holds its frame, which saves battery. - **MacWall App**: in Settings → Lock Screen, turn on **Show on Lock Screen and screen saver**. Then the menu next to **Set Wallpaper** picks Desktop & Lock Screen, Desktop Only or Lock Screen Only. Lock with Control-Command-Q to see it. Setup details are in [live Lock Screen and Screen Saver](https://macwall.app/docs/live-lock-screen-and-screen-saver), what changed in macOS 27 is in [Lock Screen live wallpaper on macOS 27](https://macwall.app/blog/macos-27-lock-screen-live-wallpaper), and if the video stopped after an update, see [live wallpaper stopped after a macOS update](https://macwall.app/blog/macos-27-beta-live-wallpaper-not-working). ## On macOS Sequoia 15 Sequoia arranges a few of these settings differently. Screen Saver is its own item in the System Settings sidebar, and its aerials and macOS images have a **Show as wallpaper** switch that uses a still version as the desktop picture. The clock and the screen saver timer are in System Settings > Lock Screen rather than Wallpaper: **Start Screen Saver when inactive**, **Show large clock** (with the screen saver and the Lock Screen, just the Lock Screen, or neither), **Show 24-hour time** and **Show user name and photo**. The message, password and login window options are the same as above. ## If the Lock Screen doesn't change - **Still the old picture**: set the wallpaper again in System Settings > Wallpaper, then lock with Control-Command-Q. - **A different screen saver than you expect**: on macOS 26 and 27, the aerial you pick as wallpaper is also the screen saver by default; choosing another one under Screen Saver replaces it, including one MacWall set. - **The screen goes dark too soon**: lengthen the two Turn display off settings in System Settings > Lock Screen. MacWall can't keep the display on. - **A MacWall video is frozen or blank on the Lock Screen**: update MacWall from Settings → About → Check Now, then set the wallpaper again. [How Lock Screen video works on macOS Tahoe](https://macwall.app/learn/how-macos-tahoe-lock-screen-video-works) explains the black screen after unlock. ## Sources - [Change Lock Screen settings on Mac (macOS 27)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh11784/mac), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Change Lock Screen settings on Mac (macOS Tahoe 26)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh11784/26/mac/26), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Change Lock Screen settings on Mac (macOS Sequoia 15)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh11784/15.0/mac/15.0), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Customize the wallpaper on your Mac (macOS 27)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp3013/mac), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Wallpaper settings on Mac (macOS 27)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1103/mac), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Wallpaper settings on Mac (macOS Tahoe 26)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1103/26/mac/26), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Wallpaper settings on Mac (macOS Sequoia 15)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1103/15.0/mac/15.0), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Change your login picture on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-your-login-picture-mtusr002/mac), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Use a screen saver on your Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-a-screen-saver-mchl4b68853d/mac), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Change Screen Saver settings on Mac (macOS 27)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-screen-saver-settings-mchlp1227/mac), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Change Screen Saver settings on Mac (macOS Sequoia 15)](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1227/15.0/mac/15.0), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 - [Find out which macOS your Mac is using](https://support.apple.com/en-us/109033), Apple Support, accessed 6 November 2026 ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I change my Lock Screen wallpaper on a Mac? Change your desktop wallpaper in System Settings > Wallpaper. On current macOS the Lock Screen shows the same picture, so there is no separate Lock Screen wallpaper to set. ### Can I have a different Lock Screen and desktop wallpaper on a Mac? Not with Apple's settings: macOS uses one wallpaper for both. MacWall can, in its MacWall App playback mode: open a wallpaper, click the arrow next to Set Wallpaper and choose Lock Screen Only. ### How do I change the clock on the Mac Lock Screen? On macOS 26 and 27, open System Settings > Wallpaper and use Clock Appearance to choose whether the large clock shows, where it shows, and its font and weight. ### How do I put a message on my Mac's Lock Screen? In System Settings > Lock Screen, turn on Show message when locked and type the message. Apple suggests contact details in case the Mac is lost. ### How do I change my login picture on a Mac? Open System Settings > Users & Groups, click the picture next to your login name, choose a Memoji, emoji, monogram, camera shot or photo, then click Save. ### Can a Mac Lock Screen play a video? Apple's aerials animate as you lock or unlock. For your own video or a looping wallpaper on the Lock Screen and screen saver, use MacWall Pro (or its free 24-hour trial) on macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later. --- Source: https://macwall.app/blog/how-to-change-lock-screen-on-mac