You're staring at that default blue swirl again. It’s fine, I guess. But honestly, your iPad is probably the most personal computer you own, and leaving the stock wallpaper on there is like moving into a new apartment and never taking the plastic off the couch. It feels cold.
Learning how to change background in ipad is one of those things that seems dead simple until you’re actually doing it and realize Apple has tucked a bunch of weird "Depth Effect" settings and "Focus Mode" triggers behind three different menus. It's not just about picking a pretty picture. It's about making sure your clock isn't blocking your kid's face or your cat's ears.
Let's fix it.
The Fast Way to Swap Your Wallpaper
Most people go digging through the Settings app. You can do that, sure. But if you’re already looking at your Lock Screen, there’s a much faster trick. Just long-press on any empty space on your Lock Screen.
The screen will shrink back. You’ll see a blue plus icon in the bottom right corner. Tap that, and suddenly you’re in the wallpaper gallery. This is where Apple tries to sell you on their "featured" designs, but if you want your own stuff, you just hit the "Photos" button at the top.
Picking a photo is only half the battle. Once you select one, use two fingers to pinch and crop. This is where people get frustrated. Sometimes the iPad won't let you zoom out as far as you want because it’s trying to account for the "Depth Effect." That’s the feature where the clock sits behind the subject of your photo. It looks cool, but it’s picky. If your subject is too high up or too large, the iPad disables the effect. You’ll know it’s working if you see the clock partially obscured. If you hate it, tap the three little dots in the bottom right and toggle "Depth Effect" off.
Why Your iPad Background Keeps Changing on Its Own
Have you ever set a perfect photo, only to wake up the next morning and see a different one? You aren't losing your mind. Apple introduced a feature called "Photo Shuffle" that catches a lot of users off guard.
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When you’re in the wallpaper selection screen, "Photo Shuffle" is an option right at the top. If you select this, the iPad uses on-device AI to grab what it thinks are your best shots—usually "People," "Nature," or "Pets"—and rotates them. You can set the frequency to change every time you lock the screen, every hour, or even daily.
If your background is changing and you want it to stop, it’s likely tied to a Focus Mode. Since iPadOS 16, you can link specific wallpapers to modes like "Work," "Sleep," or "Do Not Disturb."
Go to Settings > Focus. Tap on "Work." Look for the "Customize Screens" section. If there's a wallpaper assigned there, your iPad will automatically switch to that background the second your work timer kicks in or you arrive at the office. It's actually a pretty great way to separate your "professional" tablet time from your "scrolling-at-night" time, but it’s a massive headache if you set it up by accident and can’t figure out why your vacation photos keep disappearing at 9:00 AM.
Customizing the Home Screen vs. The Lock Screen
Apple treats these two things as a pair, but they don't have to be. This is where the nuance of how to change background in ipad really comes into play.
Once you’ve finished setting up your Lock Screen and you hit "Add" or "Done" in the top right, a pop-up will ask if you want to "Set as Wallpaper Pair."
If you click that, your Home Screen (where all your apps live) will be a blurred version of your Lock Screen. It’s a clean look. It makes your app icons pop. But maybe you want a solid color for your Home Screen to keep things minimalist, or maybe a different photo entirely.
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To change just the Home Screen:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Wallpaper.
- You’ll see two previews. Tap the one on the right (the Home Screen).
- From here, you can choose "Color," "Gradient," or "Photos."
- Pro tip: If you use a very busy photo for your Home Screen background, it becomes impossible to read the names of your folders. Seriously. Try a gradient if you’re a power user with a hundred apps.
Dealing with Aspect Ratio and Orientation
Here is the thing about iPads: they rotate. Your iPhone stays vertical 99% of the time, but your iPad might be in a Magic Keyboard one minute and held like a book the next.
This creates a "Wallpaper Gravity" problem. When you pick a photo, the iPad centers it based on the middle of the image. When you flip from Portrait to Landscape, the iPad crops the top and bottom to make it fit the wider screen.
If you’re using a photo of a person, try to keep them dead center. If they are off to the far left, they might get chopped off entirely when you rotate the device. There isn't a way to set a separate "Landscape Wallpaper" and "Portrait Wallpaper"—Apple just isn't there yet. You have to find a "goldilocks" crop that works for both.
The "Secret" Dynamic Wallpapers
If you scroll down far enough in the wallpaper gallery, you’ll find the "Astronomy" and "Weather" sections. These are more than just static images.
The Weather background is actually a live render of the current conditions outside your window. If it’s raining in Seattle, it’s raining on your Lock Screen. If there's a thunderstorm, you’ll see flashes of light behind your icons. It’s incredibly immersive, though it does chew through a tiny bit more battery than a static JPEG.
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The Astronomy ones are even cooler. You can choose Earth, Mars, the Moon, or the whole Solar System. The coolest part? It shows your actual location on the globe with a little green dot. As the day turns to night, the shadow on the planet moves in real-time. When you swipe up to unlock, the camera "zooms in" from space down to the surface. It’s a neat party trick that makes the hardware feel more expensive than it is.
Fixing the "Blurry" Wallpaper Bug
Sometimes, you’ll set a background and notice the top of the image looks weirdly washed out or blurry. This isn't a glitch. It’s Apple’s "Extend Wallpaper" feature.
If the photo you picked isn't tall enough to fill the iPad’s screen, the software tries to fill the gap by blurring and stretching the top edge of the photo. It looks terrible most of the time.
To fix this, you have to pinch-to-zoom into the photo during the setup process until the blur disappears. If you want the whole photo to show without it being zoomed in, you’ll need to use a third-party app like Canva or even just the "Markup" tool in Photos to add more "canvas" to the top or bottom of your image so it matches the iPad’s aspect ratio.
Actionable Next Steps for a Pro Setup
Don't just settle for one photo. If you really want to master your iPad's look, try these three things right now:
- Create a "Photo Shuffle" using only "Nature" photos. It keeps the device feeling fresh without the clutter of seeing old selfies every time you check the time.
- Set a different wallpaper for "Sleep" mode. Go to Settings > Focus > Sleep and pick something dark and monochromatic. Your eyes will thank you when you check your iPad at 2:00 AM.
- Turn off "Legibility Blur" on your Home Screen. If you’ve set a custom photo but it looks foggy, go to Settings > Wallpaper, tap the Home Screen preview, and toggle the "Blur" button at the bottom right.
You've spent a lot of money on that liquid retina display. Might as well put something on it that actually looks good. Use high-resolution images—anything under 2048 x 2732 pixels is going to look slightly soft on a modern iPad Pro or Air.
Check your photo library for anything shot in "Portrait Mode." Those photos usually work best for the Depth Effect because the iPad already has the "map" of what is foreground and what is background. It makes the transition much smoother.