Change your iPhone wallpaper

You can choose a suggested wallpaper or one of your own photos for your Lock Screen and Home Screen wallpapers. You can also customise your Lock Screen by adding widgets, applying a 3D effect or changing the controls.

Add a new wallpaper for your Lock Screen or Home Screen

1. In the Settings app, tap Wallpaper.

2. Tap Add New Wallpaper.

3. Tap Photos or Photo Shuffle to choose your own photo. You can also select a wallpaper from categories, such as Weather & Astronomy, Emoji or Colour.

4. If you want to, you can customise your wallpaper Then tap Add.

5. Tap Set as Wallpaper Pair and your selection will appear on both the Home Screen and Lock Screen. Tap Customise Home Screen to create a separate Home Screen wallpaper that you can edit.

Delete a wallpaper on your iPhone in iOS 16 or later

Change your wallpaper from the Lock Screen

1. On the Lock Screen, touch and hold your screen to open your wallpaper gallery.

2. To select a wallpaper you already created, swipe left or right and tap the one you want. To add a new wallpaper, tap the Add button.

   

From the Lock Screen gallery, you can also tap the Focus button on a wallpaper to link a Focus, tap the Customise button below an existing wallpaper to edit it, or swipe up on any wallpaper and tap the trash icon to delete it.

Create a 3D photo wallpaper for your Lock Screen

On iPhone 12 or later with iOS 26, you can turn certain photos into 3D spatial wallpapers:

1. In the Settings app, tap Wallpaper.

2. Tap Add New Wallpaper.

3. Tap Photos.

4. Scroll to the right in the top bar and tap the Spatial Scene tab.

   

5. Select a photo in this category. A "Generating Spatial Scene" message appears and disappears once the 3D effect is ready.

6. Tap Add and then tap Set as Wallpaper Pair or Customise Home Screen. With either, only your Lock Screen will display the 3D effect.

You can select photos outside the Spatial Scene category, but only certain photos are eligible for the 3D effect. Eligible photos typically feature high-quality lighting, a clear separation between the subject and background or a landscape orientation.

If a photo is eligible, you can tap the Spatial Scene button during Lock Screen wallpaper customisation to turn the 3D effect on and off.

Customise a Lock Screen wallpaper with filters, widgets, styles and controls

1. In the Settings app, tap Wallpaper.

2. Within the preview of your Lock Screen, tap Customise.

From here, you can add widgets, change how the time is displayed, try different styles for your wallpaper image, and remove controls such as Flashlight or Camera and add different ones.

Find out more about customising your Lock Screen in iOS 16 and later

Shuffle multiple photos as your Lock Screen wallpaper

1. In the Settings app, tap Wallpaper.

2. Tap Add New Wallpaper.

3. Select Photo Shuffle from the top row of options.

4. Choose one or more categories such as People, Nature or Cities, or choose an existing album.

5. Choose a shuffle frequency (On Tap, On Lock, Hourly or Daily).

6. Tap the Use Album button or Use Featured Photos button when finished (the button text depends on your Photo Shuffle).

You can also select photos manually:

1. From the Photo Shuffle screen, tap Select Photos Manually.

2. Pick your collection of images and tap the tick button.

3. Tap the ellipsis button to choose a shuffle frequency.

4. Tap Add when done.