With changes to Catalina where the system files are read only, changing the login wallpaper has become a bit more challenging.
I have been successful in changing the Catalina login wallpaper and have (easy) instructions below that I think will be helpful. I compiled these instructions from several others, so I deserve/take no credit for this.
Before you begin, find the wallpaper/picture you want to use as the new login wallpaper, copy it to an easy to find location (like the desktop), and rename it Catalina.heic
1. Boot into recovery mode by holding down Command R when booting the computer (hold down Command R until you see the Apple logo)
2. When in recovery mode, click on the top drop down menu "Utilities" and launch Terminal
3. In terminal, type the following command and press Return:
csrutil disable
This turns off System Integrity Protection
4. Restart your Mac
5. Launch Terminal and enter the following command:
sudo mount -t apfs -wu /dev/disk1s5 /Volumes
Replace disk1s5 with the identifier for your system partition (you can find this in Disk Utility by clicking Info with the partition selected, then looking next to BSD device node). You’ll need to enter your password.
6. In Terminal, enter the following command:
sudo mount -wu /; killall Finder
7. Using the Finder, navigate to Macintosh HD > System > Library->Desktop Pictures and rename Catalina.heic to Catalina.orig.heic (be careful and make sure you pick the correct one, there are a lot of “Catalina” pictures/files).
8. Copy (drag) Catalina.heic from your desktop into Macintosh HD > System > Library->Desktop Pictures
9. Reboot – you should now see the new login wallpaper. SIP will be turned back on by default when you reboot so you don’t need to re-enable it. You can verify this by going to Macintosh HD > System > Library->Desktop Pictures after the reboot and confirming you cannot rename any files.
Hope this works for you!!
I have been successful in changing the Catalina login wallpaper and have (easy) instructions below that I think will be helpful. I compiled these instructions from several others, so I deserve/take no credit for this.
Before you begin, find the wallpaper/picture you want to use as the new login wallpaper, copy it to an easy to find location (like the desktop), and rename it Catalina.heic
1. Boot into recovery mode by holding down Command R when booting the computer (hold down Command R until you see the Apple logo)
2. When in recovery mode, click on the top drop down menu "Utilities" and launch Terminal
3. In terminal, type the following command and press Return:
csrutil disable
This turns off System Integrity Protection
4. Restart your Mac
5. Launch Terminal and enter the following command:
sudo mount -t apfs -wu /dev/disk1s5 /Volumes
Replace disk1s5 with the identifier for your system partition (you can find this in Disk Utility by clicking Info with the partition selected, then looking next to BSD device node). You’ll need to enter your password.
6. In Terminal, enter the following command:
sudo mount -wu /; killall Finder
7. Using the Finder, navigate to Macintosh HD > System > Library->Desktop Pictures and rename Catalina.heic to Catalina.orig.heic (be careful and make sure you pick the correct one, there are a lot of “Catalina” pictures/files).
8. Copy (drag) Catalina.heic from your desktop into Macintosh HD > System > Library->Desktop Pictures
9. Reboot – you should now see the new login wallpaper. SIP will be turned back on by default when you reboot so you don’t need to re-enable it. You can verify this by going to Macintosh HD > System > Library->Desktop Pictures after the reboot and confirming you cannot rename any files.
Hope this works for you!!
