Can't change desktop background

I can't change the desktop background on my primary display. My second display works fine, but my primary display stays solid gray no matter what I choose. It looks a little washed out.
I've deleted my com.apple.desktop.plist but that obviously didn't help.
thanks for any other advice.

Remove the com.apple.preference.desktopscreeneffect.plist, log out, and back in.

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Can't change desktop background OS 10.5.6

Hi,
I'm on a Macbook 2.0Ghz-4 gig Ram-OS 10.5.6
When I go into preferences and attempt to change my desktop/background it freezes and crashes system preferences. If I double-click on the desktop the same thing happens. I read on an answered question that I might be able to trash "com.apple.systempreferences.plist" file from my ~/Library/Preferences/ folder. I tried that but it didn't work. Does anybody know what is going on? What can I do to fix this? Thanks in advance for any help.

It should allow you to just drag the User preference folder to the desktop. When you reboot, it creates a new one. If you can copy the folder to the desktop, try dragging the original to the trash and reboot. Then test.
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support' (designed exclusively for an iPhone/iPod touch)

Can't change Desktop background in System Preferences

Hi. When I try to change my desktop background, either by right-clicking on the desktop or by opening System Preferences, the screen for Desktop options is blank. None of the options show up, grayed out or otherwise. While in System Preferences, if I click on Screen Saver, everything there works fine. But the button for Desktop becomes grey and I can't click on it.
I've tried Repair Permissions and this didn't work. I've seen similar posts here, but they don't seem to have the same problem I do, nothing freezes up, the Desktop screen is just blank. Do you have any ideas?
Thanks!
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

1. OK, let's try some more trashing: 1. Quit System Preferences if it is open.
2. Open your Home > Library > Caches folder, then trash the following two files therein:
- com.apple.preferencepanes.cache
- com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache
3. Trash the file
com.apple.systempreferences.plist
in your Home > Library > Preferences folder.
4. Trash the file
com.apple.systempreferences.xxx.plist
in your Home > Library > Preferences > ByHost folder, where xxx is an alphanumeric string.
5. Empty Trash.
6. Launch System Preferences and see if the problem is resolved.2. You wrote"I still have my Desktop Pictures folder."I presume you mean the Macintosh HD > Library > Desktop Pictures folder I cited previously. How about the contents of that folder? It should contain five folders:• Abstract
• Black & White
• Nature
• Plants
• Solid Colorsand a collection of .jpg images for a total of 28 objects.
3. I know you earlier said you ran Repair Permissions. I presume the permissions on Macintosh HD > Library > Desktop Pictures are:You can: Read & Write
Owner: system
Access: Read & Write
Group: admin
Access: Read & Write
Others: Read OnlyYes?
4. If none of the above sorts it out, let's see if it's isolated to your account. Do you have a second user account defined on your system? If so, log in to it and see if the problem happens there. If it does, it is probably a system-wide problem. If not, it is something with your user account. If you don't have a second account on your system, you can create a new one using System Preferences > Accounts. See "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Adding a new user account to your computer."
5. Immediately after the problem occurs — i.e. you open Desktop & Screen Saver preferences and either cannot select Desktop or Desktop is blank — check the ends of these Console logs for clues. Let's see if console can tell us if the Desktop preference pane is corrupted.
6. Do you have any personal Web space? If so, can you take a screen shot of the problem and upload it to your personal Web space? If so, post a link back here to the image. It may help if I can see what you're seeing, though I think I understand it from your description, "a picture is worth..." etc.
7. As a general check, run the procedure specified in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ. Perform the steps therein in the order specified.
8. To what was / is your Desktop image presently set? One of the Apple collections or images? Something from your iPhoto Library?
FYI: I number my points so you can respond by number.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

HT2478 how do you make the setting to change desktop background every time you shut down your mac

how to make setting to change desktop background every time you close your mac
because i want to make it if anybody tries to change my dekstop picture i want it to go backto set desktop picture

Don't let other people access your Mac in admin mode - they might change something a lot more important than the Desktop picture.
However you can use Automator: create an Application in it, and select 'Set the Desktop Picture' from the Library. Choose the picture you want. Save the application, then go to System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items and select the Automator application you just created. This will then run at startup and set your chosen picture.

Change Desktop Background Broken 10.8

When I "2 finger (right click)" click on the desktop and select "Change Desktop Background", System Preferences comes up and I can change my background. I then close System Preferences and try it again and System Prefrences doesnt open. It will work the 1st time after a reboot, but not work anytime after.
Is anyone else having this issue?
Is there anyway to see what that command is doing on the context menu? "Change Desktop Background"

I'm having a similar problem after installing Mountain Lion on a new MBP Retina. Sorry I didn't see your post before I duplicated it (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4217330?tstart=30).

How can I change the background of a running webpage on my own. Example Facebook I want to change its backround color from white to black just in my view not for all

How can I change the background of a running webpage on my own. Example Facebook I want to change its background color from white to black just in my view, not for all. Cause I really hate some site with white background because as I read for an hour it aches my eyes but not on those with darker background color.

You can use the NoSquint extension to set font sizes (text/page zoom) and text colors on web pages.
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The image which appears in some podcasts in the bottom left-hand corner of iTunes when subscribing is not referenced in the feed but has to be actually embedded into the media file: please see this page:
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I've attached the screen shots and the .iba file [link to .iba file].
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Themes work in Thunderbird - duggabe was not refering to Firefox.
Another useful addon is theme and font changer:
* https://addons.mozilla.org/fr/thunderbird/addon/theme-font-size-changer/
However, Thunderbird allows you to modify all sorts of things.
Make hidden files and folders visible:
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders
Help > Troubleshooting Information
Click on 'show Folder' button
a window opens shwoing profile folder name
Close Thunderbird now - this is important
In the profile name folder, Create a new folder called '''chrome''' - note the spelling
It should be in the same place as the 'Mail' folder.
see first image below.
Open Notepad
Can be located : Start > Programs > accessories
Copy everything shown between the lines below.
Paste into Notepad.
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see second image below.
Restart Thunderbird.
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<pre>
#f6f58c = a yellow....it is a hex code for a colour.
</pre>
You can change it if required. Remember when updating anything in the profile folders, you must close Thunderbird first.
More info on colours.
* http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/namedcolours.html
<pre>
* Do not remove the @namespace line -- it's required for correct functioning
@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul");
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#threadTree > treechildren::-moz-tree-row {
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</pre>
-------------------------------------------

Can I change the background color when I'm in a brochure layout?

can I change the background color when I'm in a brochure layout? I've tried making a box in desired color but cannot push it to the back(not an option, it's greyed out)

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Wallpaper not showing up in "Change Desktop Background" window

I just noticed an odd issue today on my Mac Pro. When browsing the built-in wallpaper folders (Nature, Plants, etc) in the Change Desktop Background window they are empty. My "Pictures Folder" one shows all the images correctly as well as browsing the ones from iPhoto. (I also have Aperture 2.1.2 installed but no projects yet so that part is empty.)
I performed a permissions repair, checked that the actual files were there in /Library and removed the com.apple.desktop.plist pref's file. After doing that all the pictures showed up again UNTIL I browsed around the picture folders in the Change Desktop Background window then they stopped showing again.
Could something in my Pictures Folder be causing the issue? Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Jim

Thanks for clarifying. I don't do right or left click, but occasionally do CONTROL-click and doing that brings up the contextual menu item "change desktop background" which leads to the Desktop prefPane. Now, why you're having issues, I have no idea. However, I suggest creating a new admin user account, logging into it, and seeing if changing the desktop picture works there.

How can i change my background color in "albums" mode back to black in iTunes 11

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Themes work in Thunderbird - duggabe was not refering to Firefox.
Another useful addon is theme and font changer:
* https://addons.mozilla.org/fr/thunderbird/addon/theme-font-size-changer/
However, Thunderbird allows you to modify all sorts of things.
Make hidden files and folders visible:
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders
Help > Troubleshooting Information
Click on 'show Folder' button
a window opens shwoing profile folder name
Close Thunderbird now - this is important
In the profile name folder, Create a new folder called '''chrome''' - note the spelling
It should be in the same place as the 'Mail' folder.
see first image below.
Open Notepad
Can be located : Start > Programs > accessories
Copy everything shown between the lines below.
Paste into Notepad.
Save as '''userChrome.css''' - note the spelling (edit updated - this was a typo error)
This should be saved in the '''chrome''' folder.
see second image below.
Restart Thunderbird.
I have chosen a yellow for you
<pre>
#f6f58c = a yellow....it is a hex code for a colour.
</pre>
You can change it if required. Remember when updating anything in the profile folders, you must close Thunderbird first.
More info on colours.
* http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/namedcolours.html
<pre>
* Do not remove the @namespace line -- it's required for correct functioning
@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul");
/*Background colour for message list*/
#threadTree > treechildren::-moz-tree-row {
background-color: #f6f58c !important;
</pre>
-------------------------------------------

Can you change the background in music player or d...

I have a N80
Can you change the background imge to your own? or is there any skins for the app?
or even beeter cn you display your album art on it?
cheers
My N80 is on Orange purchased in June 2006 firmware v 3.0617.06 03-05-2006
Cheers
Andy

You can change the music player background image but you need to make a theme. You can do it on a website just do a search as i'm not aloud to put a link on here to the site, as there are some adult themes there that peeps have made, and fair does this site has kids coming on it to. But it can be done m8 as mine is changed but you carnt do it from in the phone buy just changing the image.
Thx tingull
Phone History: NK702, NK6210, NK6310i, SamyV200, SamyD500, LG U880, SE W800i, NK N80, and now NK N95

Can we change the background color of a sub menu?

In swing, can we change the background color of a sub menu. it is working fine for the main menu, but doesn't work for sub menu.

Hey hi,
just an append to the previous reply.
The subMenu needs to be setOpaque() to true. i.e.
subMenu.setOpaque(true);

"Change desktop background" instantly hides when opened

I have a rather strange issue that's a nuisance. When I right click on the desktop and select "Change Desktop Background," the system preferences pane opens, but automatically is hidden (similar to if you press cmd+H). I have to click the icon to restore the window.
This does NOT occur if I first open System Preferences and then select "Desktop & Screen Saver," or if I open "DesktopScreenEffectsPref.prefpane" from quicksilver.
I have tried deleting com.apple.desktop.plist and restarting, but this did not solve my problem. I think I may have experienced this problem in Lion as well, but I currently experience it on Mountain Lion.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

This same thing happens to me, and while not the end of the world, it is defintely annoying. Have you figured it out? Thanks!

Can't change desktop background

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