How to Change the Safari Background on a Mac

Personalising Your Browsing Experience

By default, when you open a new tab or window in Safari on a Mac, you are greeted with a plain, slightly translucent grey background. While this minimalist design is clean and unobtrusive, it can also feel incredibly boring, especially if you spend hours every day staring at it.

In recent versions of macOS, Apple quietly introduced a feature allowing users to heavily customise the Safari Start Page. Not only can you rearrange the links and menus that appear, but you can also replace that boring grey background with any high-resolution image you choose.

Whether you want a calming landscape photograph, an abstract pattern, or a picture of your family, changing the Safari background takes only a few seconds and requires zero third-party browser extensions.

How to Change the Safari Start Page Background

To change the background, you must access the hidden customisation menu located directly on the Start Page itself.

1. Open the Safari web browser on your Mac.
2. Open a completely new tab (press Cmd + T) to ensure you are looking at the default Start Page, not a website.
3. Look in the absolute bottom right corner of the Safari window. You will see an icon that looks like three sliders (often called a “Settings” or “Preferences” icon). Click it.
4. A small menu will pop up showing the different elements you can toggle on or off (like Favourites, Privacy Report, and Siri Suggestions).
5. At the very bottom of this list, check the box next to Background Image.

Once you check this box, a horizontally scrolling gallery of images will appear.

Choosing Your Image

You now have two options for selecting a background image.

Option 1: Use Apple’s Built-In Wallpapers

Apple provides a curated selection of beautiful, high-resolution wallpapers perfectly sized for the Safari window. Simply click on any of the thumbnail images in the scrolling gallery, and the background will change instantly. You can click through them until you find one you like.

Option 2: Use Your Own Custom Photo

If you prefer a more personal touch, you can upload any image file saved on your hard drive.

1. In that same Background Image menu, click the square button with a large Plus (+) sign inside it.
2. A Finder window will open. Navigate through your files to locate the image you want to use (for example, a photo saved in your Pictures folder or on your Desktop).
3. Select the image file and click Choose.

The image will instantly become your new Safari background.

Pro Tip: For the best visual results, try to choose an image with a horizontal (landscape) orientation and a resolution of at least 1920×1080 pixels. If you choose a small, low-resolution image, Safari will stretch it to fit the window, making it look blurry and pixelated.

How to Remove the Background Image

If you decide the custom image is too distracting and you want to return to Apple’s clean, minimalist default design, removing it is just as easy.

1. Open a new tab to view the Start Page.
2. Click the Settings icon in the bottom right corner again.
3. Click the small ‘X’ in the corner of your currently selected background thumbnail to delete it.
4. Alternatively, just untick the main Background Image checkbox to disable the feature entirely.

Your Safari window will instantly revert to the standard grey background.