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Searched didn't find this bug... wallpaper inverted?

S

Scott-n-Houston

macrumors 65816
Original poster
On both my iMac (M1) and my MacBook Pro (M3 Pro), I get this issue after updating to 26.3.
Some wallpapers are upside down!

The original picture both in Photos and when I go directly to show in finder and open with Preview, has it correct... but when I try and make it a wallpaper it's upside down. Or like Top Gun, "Inverted".

I've used this wallpaper for almost 10 years with no issue, so the source file didn't change.

Anyone else see this?

PS. It's with like 1/4 of my photos that it does this... all of which appear to be objects or landscapes. People photos seem to be fine.
Also, when in settings > wallpaper the image shows upright... it's only on the actual wallpaper that it's inverted.

IMG_0191.jpeg
 
Of course it isn't, but OP's flipped pic could almost be seen as a reflection in a perfectly still body of water.
 
Exhibit B.
Jeep and my house... lol
You can see how it's right-side-up in settings, but on screen... WHOOP....
"We were inverted!"

Image 2-17-26 at 6.03 PM.jpeg
 
What happens if you flip it in Photos, and save? Does the wallpaper also flip, becoming right-side up?

If the wallpaper remains upside-down, then flip it back to normal in Photos, and see if wallpaper tracks that.
 
chown33 said:
What happens if you flip it in Photos, and save? Does the wallpaper also flip, becoming right-side up?

If the wallpaper remains upside-down, then flip it back to normal in Photos, and see if wallpaper tracks that.
Click to expand...
Good question!
I haven't tried because I didn't want my photos to be messed up too, but I will create a copy, flip it and test it in wallpaper. I'll report back. Thanks!
 
chown33 said:
What happens if you flip it in Photos, and save? Does the wallpaper also flip, becoming right-side up?

If the wallpaper remains upside-down, then flip it back to normal in Photos, and see if wallpaper tracks that.
Click to expand...
OMG... tried that, and guess what?? It keeps BOTH upside down! The photo that is normal, gets flipped... the photo that is upside down, doesn't flip! If it did, it would look right, but nope! WTH???
Most bizarre bug I've ever had... also minimally consequential... but just stupid and annoying!
 
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Nermal said:
My guess is that the photo is "natively" upside down, but has a flag to rotate it 180 degrees when displayed. It would appear that the desktop background is ignoring the flag.
Click to expand...
Why did it just start now? (Not expecting you to know... more rhetorical)
I've used this photo for almost 10 years as wallpaper... this plus many others has this issue.
 
Wallpapers in Tahoe are definitely buggy. I have mine set to rotate through a folder of images. For years when it transitions to a new image there is a nice smooth fade to the next image. Now it sort of starts to fade and then 'pop!' new image. Sometimes you don't even get the beginning of the fade it just jarringly switches to new image. Sometimes it works though. Its definitely bugged.

The inverted issue is definitely next level though. Crazy.
 
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Has anyone found a fix for inverted wallpaper after upgrading to Tahoe 26.3? Ever-so-trusty AI suggests I "located the Rotation button" in displays, but I find no such thing. Suggestions?
 
I think your monitor needs to support rotation for it to appear. Just tried it on mine and it obviously rotates literally everything not just the wallpaper. Not really sure what purpose rotating a screen 90 or 180 degrees would accomplish anyway?!

You haven't set the Siri voice to Australian have you? Maybe she's changed the pic around so she feels better at home. One thing she can do. 🙄 😛
 
Last edited by a moderator:
macfacts said:
jpgs have meta data (exif) that tell apps to rotate the picture.
Click to expand...
I found out this week that MacOS converts the JPEGs to BMP for faster loading wallpapers. If you look in Library > Containers > Wallpaper and drill down a bit you'll find a cache file and they're all BMPs of the images you chose for the wallpaper. The folder I choose is full of JPEGs but the cache is full of the same files but in BMP.

Maybe try and 'export / save as..' the image so it creates a copy (don't just copy it though) and maybe if it is flag related the export process might fix it.
 
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TumbleDryer said:
Maybe try and 'export / save as..' the image so it creates a copy (don't just copy it though) and maybe if it is flag related the export process might fix it.
Click to expand...
Exporting to a different format would almost certainly ensure it wasn't just rewritten with the same EXIF metadata.

And if it's going to be converted to BMP by the wallpaper engine anyway, might as well try that.
 
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