How to change the Dashboard background in Mac OS X Mountain Lion?

Are you looking to change your Dashboard’s boring lego-like grey background? Does your current Dashboard background look like this? If yes, you have come to the right place. This short tutorial will show you ‘How to change the Dashboard background in Mac OS X’. This tutorial has been tried and tested on 10.8 Mountain Lion, but if you have older versions, it should work too. (Let us know in the comments section if it doesn’t).

So without further ado, let’s get started.

Before anything else, find a decent wallpaper that you want as your Dashboard background. By the way, if your Mac is a 1920 by 1080 res, we have a freebie for you. Click here to download a full HD wallpaper package for free. If you are in a hurry, grab a decent wallpaper (based on your current screen res) from Interfacelift.com. Make sure it ends with a .png. Ok, once you have got the Wallpaper of your choice, let’s move on. Step 2.
Now, click the Finder icon on your Dock (the left most icon). Once you are in your Finder, Press Command+Shift+G. This should bring up a Go To Folder snippet from Above. Just type the text in green: /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/
Now, once you are in the folder, find the file called pirelli.png. Rename it to pirelli-old.png and copy your new wallpaper. Rename your new wallpaper pirelli.png. You might be asked for your administrator password. Don’t worry, just type it in. That finishes the authentication and we are nearly done.
Now, open the Terminal app. You can open the Terminal app easily by pressing Command+Spacebar and typing in Terminal into the Spotlight window. Open the Terminal app and type in killall Dock.
You are done. Check your Dashboard by pressing the F4 key on your Mac keyboard. Here’s mine by the way, decent isn’t it?

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About Ali Gajani

Hi. I am Ali Gajani. I started Mr. Geek in early 2012 as a result of my growing enthusiasm and passion for technology. I love sharing my knowledge and helping out the community by creating useful, engaging and compelling content. If you want to write for Mr. Geek, just PM me on my Facebook profile.

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THIS IS AMAZING
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  Thanks mate.
Anon

Uhm, my mac doesn’t have a folder called /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/ ? And I have Mac Version10.8.1? So am I supposed to have that folder?
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  Yes you should have. Try going to the Finder>Go>Go to Folder.
- http://twitter.com/lancer1993 lancer1993
  
  Control click on Dock.app the “Show Package Contents’
  - http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
    
    Right
Jill

just tried to do this and some random background came up instead of the one i chose. what should i do?
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  You must rename and replace the file instead of copying it simply. It should do the trick.
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  What doesn’t work?
JT

Hey thanks much this works great – one question: is there a way to stretch the image of the new file? My new background shows up in a tiled format. Either way thanks.
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  Make the image 1080p
Edy Mayen

Works excellent, Thanks Bro!!
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  Welcome
http://www.facebook.com/michirure.miyuki Michirure Miyuki

I followed the steps, but my wallpaper ended up splitting into half with the top and bottom swapping positions. What could be the problem? I’m using Macbook Air (11″). Hope to hear from you soon!
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  That’s probably the resolution of the wallpaper. I believe you download a 11 inch MB air compatible wallpaper from Interfacelift.com
http://www.facebook.com/natalia.tachian Natalia Tachian

Hello! I believe I’ve done everything right, but my dashboard background remains the same!
- http://www.facebook.com/natalia.tachian Natalia Tachian
  
  I got it! My macbook is retina, so there’s another file called “pirelli@2x.png” only for retina, so just renamed it and done!
  - http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
    
    Lovely. hope I helped
NightwatchNL

Strange, my background image doesn’t display correctly; the top 1/3th part is all vertical stripes and only the bottom 2/3th part is the actual image. Also, when moving widgets around, big ghosting black squares remain….
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  This might be because of the resolution of the wallpaper and the device.
Lizzy H

I’m really excited to get started on this, but I was just wondering how i would get back to the original lego background? just incase i would like to change it back
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  Save it somewhere safe.
clundgren

Thanks it worked just fine for removing the background as well. Just rename the file but don’t add any new wallpaper and it will again be possible to use your widgets while seeing your other programs in the background.
Lauren

I followed the instructions, but instead of doing the walppaper I chose/saved it made it the basic space one that all macs have? How do I get rid of that one and add the new one? Thanks
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  Didn’t get it.
Rita Gimenez

I don’t have the pirelli.png file. What should I do?
- http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
  
  It should be there ? Or it might have a different name
  - Rita Gimenez
    
    What other name could it have??
    - http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
      
      Identify it from the image rather than the name ?
      - Rita Gimenez
        
        I don’t want to sound dumb, but is it the grid or the db?
      - http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
        
        What OS version are you using ?
      - Rita Gimenez
        
        OS X 10.9.4
      - http://www.mrgeek.me/ Ali Gajani
        
        That isn’t ML is it? ML is 10.8.4 (and this tutorial mentions that clearly in the title)
      - Rita Gimenez
        
        that’s right, sorry!! Thanks for the follow-up though!
imogen

the killall dock part doesnt work for me

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How to change the Dashboard background in Mac OS X Mountain Lion?

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