Comment from niclet
Time: February 22, 2007, 7:57 pm

Hit command-control-G to bring up the “Go to Folder”

Isn’t shift-command-G instead?

Comment from OS X Daily
Time: February 22, 2007, 10:59 pm

oops, thanks niclet

Comment from anon
Time: February 22, 2007, 11:02 pm

great tip. i wonder if there is a “more elegant” way to do this without changing the background to “Aqua Blue.jpg.” I’m thinking that there is probably a way to set a file pointing somewhere to “Crazy Reflection.jpg” or whatever your background file might be.

Either way it doesn’t matter but just thinking aloud.

Comment from adurdin
Time: February 25, 2007, 8:23 am

Yes, open up Terminal.app and write

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow DesktopPicture /Users/Shared/Wallpaper-Serenity.jpg

Change /Users/Shared/Wallpaper-Serenity.jpg with the path to whatever wallpaper you want to use, of course — if you don’t know what the path will be, then just drag the file into the terminal and it’ll write out the path for you.

Comment from Vladimir
Time: March 7, 2007, 4:07 pm

adurdin that is awesome I much prefer that over replacing the original JPG file

Comment from Nathan
Time: March 10, 2007, 4:44 am

Could someone please send me all of there os x wallpapers to: natleahy@hotmail.com

Thanks

Comment from Nathan
Time: March 10, 2007, 4:45 am

Could someone please send me all of there os x wallpapers to: natleahy@hotmail.com

Thanks 0000000000000000000000

Pingback from » links for 2007-08-28 | Paul Cowles
Time: August 28, 2007, 2:56 pm

[...] Customize the Mac OS X Login Screen - an ugly but quick hack to change your login screen (tags: mac hacks) [...]

Pingback from box to book at mpty
Time: September 30, 2007, 3:58 am

[...] Login Window Tweak One thing I don’t quite like is the dull blue login window. Or the dull apple for that matter. I normally tweak that by going to location and simply replacing file and file. Firefox I’m on delicious and put it in my Firefox too. I added a custom downloadbar. I upgrade the search engines, which you can control in OSX by holding down the command key while using the up and down key. posted 29.09.07 21:54 PM by mpty tagged dummy stored here [...]

Comment from George Hozendorf
Time: October 30, 2007, 4:37 am

It appears to this novice the files have changed with Leopard. Does anyone have the directory paths for both theses hacks using Leopard? Thanks

Comment from Rick
Time: November 7, 2007, 3:08 am

works in Leopard too, get rid of that hideous purple cloud, sky, space, thing, yuk.

Comment from anon
Time: November 11, 2007, 2:00 pm

@George

The new file is in /System/Library/CoreServices/ and is called DefaultDesktop.jpg.

Always remember to backup files.

Comment from HOLOGRAPHICpizza
Time: November 16, 2007, 12:37 pm

The new path to change the apple logo is

/System/Library/CoreServices/SecurityAgentPlugins/loginwindow.bundle/Contents/Resources

Comment from Hans Lecaros
Time: November 23, 2007, 7:47 pm

Where do i get the Old Mac icon in the screenshot above?

Thanks

Comment from Jay Monk
Time: November 29, 2007, 9:18 am

i just realized the potential of being in the folder where the logo is in leopard. you can switch out peoples icons so that the close red ball is now green or any other colour. you can switch out the shut down and restart icons. just screw around with people lol. and yes thanks for the tips.

Comment from Jason Huebel
Time: December 15, 2007, 7:06 pm

Thanks so much for this set of tips. I upgraded to Leopard this evening and was flabbergasted that Apple would use such a hideous background on the login screen. I mean really, all that purple and the lame star field? Back to the nice, quiet, clean Aqua Blue background…

Pingback from dunull.org » MacOS X: Change Background
Time: December 18, 2007, 3:58 pm

[...] http://osxdaily.com/2007/02/22/customize-the-mac-os-x-login-screen/ [...]

Comment from nico
Time: December 21, 2007, 6:03 am

Easier way to change login screen wallpaper with 10.5.1:
- choose a .jpg image
- name it DefaultDesktop_org.jpg
- bring it in the core services folder (System/Library/CoreServices)
- authentify when system ask for it
- tip password
- choose “replace” …and it’s done, without working in Terminal

Comment from Rough Rookie
Time: December 25, 2007, 11:07 pm

I tried to change the Aurora image at login to a cooler image - Earth…

I did the following;
Change the Login Screen Wallpaper Image in Leopard 10.5
Launch the terminal and issue the following commands:

cd /System/Library/CoreServices
sudo mv DefaultDesktop.jpg DefaultDesktop_org.jpg
sudo cp /path/of/image.jpg DefaultDesktop.jpg

first of all, what is SUDO MV and CP? I presume it’s move and copy?

After doing the Command shift G thing and getting the prompt, I still couldn’t modify the art.

Seems simple…someone please help!

Comment from Rough Rookie
Time: December 25, 2007, 11:14 pm

Sorry for lat submittal…I just read NICO’s 12-21-07 tip and it worked like a freakin charm. No problem, no programming, and it worked perfectly the first time out.

Thanks Nico!

Comment from Seaneee
Time: December 30, 2007, 10:01 pm

So I was able to change the login pic in 10.5, but when I did the icon swap, no dice. Still shows the same old apple logo. Cleaned caches, repaired permissions, restarted. Still same logo. Any ideas?

Comment from Harlan
Time: March 13, 2008, 11:48 pm

@ Seaneee:

I got the same problem… I deleted caches too, and resaved the nib file, no success. Apple must be caching it somewhere….

Comment from Harlan
Time: March 13, 2008, 11:50 pm

Wait! I made it work. I swapped the resources in the 10.4 directory, instead of the 10.5, it worked straight away. Wierd.

Comment from Flynn
Time: May 28, 2008, 10:23 am

Where can i get some tif logos?

Comment from ewrwerw
Time: June 9, 2008, 12:35 pm

sdfdsfs

Comment from show
Time: June 14, 2008, 2:00 am

Thanks so much for this set of tips.

Comment from whoops
Time: July 16, 2008, 9:52 pm

can someone tell me how to restore the login wallpaper to exactly how it was before. Please

Comment from Sean
Time: July 22, 2008, 12:01 pm

anyone know how to change the apple picture in the menu bar at the top of the screen?

I wanna use a rainbow apple I have.

Comment from Sean
Time: July 22, 2008, 12:01 pm

anyone know how to change the apple picture in the menu bar at the top of the screen?

I wanna use a rainbow apple I have.

email me at cid.randell@gmail.com if you know please.

Comment from Flynn
Time: August 2, 2008, 10:08 am

the logo thing worked amazingly but the backround image thing was a catastrophie!

Comment from juju
Time: August 9, 2008, 4:02 pm

Where can you get the old mac icon???? The one from the screenshot above

Comment from Randall
Time: August 14, 2008, 4:05 pm

Bad.

I tried changing the login wallpaper and it went to a default aqua instead of my picture and the original file got misplaced. Now I even tried downloading a program to set the wall paper and it still stays aqua.
Sorely disappointed.

Comment from Chris Davis
Time: September 29, 2008, 6:00 pm

Hey bro’s. Need some help here. I do EVERYTHING that the login background tutorial tells me, but everytime I head over to the login window it stays blue. What up?!?!

Comment from Chris Davis
Time: September 29, 2008, 6:00 pm

Hey bro’s. Need some help here. I do EVERYTHING that the login background tutorial tells me, but everytime I head over to the login window it stays blue. What up?!?!

Please email

cjpdavis@bigpond.net.au

Comment from deBaer
Time: October 21, 2008, 4:57 pm

Make sure that the applelogo.tif is exactly 72×72dpi, else it will be scaled in the most horrible way. (Under X.5)

Comment from cybercarl
Time: November 27, 2008, 3:11 am

In Leopard, does anyone know how, or a site that explains how to change the panel the Apple logo and buttons sit on? I suspect it means altering one of the nib files somewhere, but not sure.

Comment from Peacekeepr
Time: January 2, 2009, 2:04 am

Is there anyway to change the “box” (for lack of a better word) color? I know you can change both the txt and the background image, but i am interested in changing the color and design of the actual login window box.

Comment from cardreader
Time: January 12, 2009, 1:42 pm

I’m having the same problem as chris davis. Followed the tutorial but now, no matter what I do I get a solid blue login screen. The login box is still there, of course. Any help on this?

Comment from Jessicakayla
Time: January 12, 2009, 2:24 pm

The tutorial didn’t work for me, but i have the Aurora screen. And I did it doing both and neither worked, it just stayed the Aurora. Help?

Comment from cardreader
Time: January 13, 2009, 10:17 pm

Jessica…Try here: http://lifehacker.com/355609/customize-your-macs-logon-screen#c4202846 It gives a pretty good explanation.

Comment from Sam
Time: January 23, 2009, 12:19 pm

i changed the nib files and put a quartz composition on it but now whenever i startup my mac it keeps cycling through a blue screen and a blue screen with a loading icon rotating thing. how do i login and reset it or would i have to reinstall os x. please help!

Comment from jesse
Time: March 1, 2009, 8:20 pm

Sam you can probably log in through Single user and restore any nib files that you changed. i just messed up my mac by basically erasing my login window, so i couldnt log in at all. luckily i was able to fix it through booting in single user. i think you just have to hold command S as the computer is booting

Comment from pop
Time: March 5, 2009, 8:04 am

This Is only working when I log out. But when I booting I get only blue screen and poor resolution as well. Does any body know, where could be problem?

Comment from John Jansen
Time: March 12, 2009, 1:29 pm

1 tiny tip for changing you login screen background.

The image you are trying to use must not be in a user specific directory i.e. your “Documents” directory etc. Put it somewhere common to all users

Comment from mEan.MAC
Time: March 17, 2009, 11:02 am

Important Tip:

If you create your images on a PC - it will not work. This maybe one of the reasons this trick does not work.

I created my images on a PC (using Photoshop). I was then able to use Graphic Converter on my Mac and re-save the images. Once I did that it worked.

Comment from Michael Pescetto
Time: March 30, 2009, 10:22 pm

Does anyone know how to take a screenshot of the login window like they did above? I tried the command+shift+3, but it has no desktop to save to, and I’m pretty sure that it’s a launchd that doesn’t start till you’re logged in.

thanks.

Pingback from My OS X Login Screen ;) « Brandon’s Blog
Time: April 2, 2009, 12:28 am

[...] want to back this up, copy it somewhere safe in case you need it again. Another method is described HERE if you don’t want to replace the original file and you don’t mind using your [...]

Comment from jacob
Time: April 9, 2009, 7:20 am

jacobandellis

Comment from jacob
Time: April 26, 2009, 5:35 pm

djhdfhddbfb

Pingback from Loginox | Urban Mainframe
Time: May 16, 2009, 2:31 am

[...] login image of your Macintosh can get boring after a while. While it has always been possible to change the login wallpaper, it’s a convoluted process and a little intimidating for the [...]