Need help changing wallpaper on my iPhone

Tips
1

I’m trying to customize my iPhone by changing the wallpaper on the Home and Lock screens, but I can’t seem to find all the right settings. I’m not sure if it’s different with the latest iOS update or if I’m just missing a step. Can someone walk me through the correct way to change and adjust wallpapers, including live and photo options?

2

Yeah, Apple moved stuff a bit with the newer iOS, so it feels kinda hidden now. Here’s how to do it step by step.

To change Lock Screen and Home Screen from the Lock Screen:

  1. Wake your iPhone, stay on the Lock Screen.
  2. Press and hold on the Lock Screen wallpaper.
  3. You should see a “Customize” button under the current wallpaper.
  4. Tap “Customize”.
  5. Pick “Lock Screen” or “Home Screen”.
  6. For Home Screen, you can pick:
    • Same as Lock Screen
    • Color
    • Gradient
    • Photo
    • Blur
  7. Tap “Done” in the top right.

To add a new wallpaper setup:

  1. On the Lock Screen, press and hold again.
  2. Swipe to the right until you see a plus icon.
  3. Tap the plus.
  4. Choose:
    • Photos
    • People
    • Photo Shuffle
    • Emoji
    • Weather
    • Astronomy
  5. Set up the Lock Screen first.
  6. When it asks for Home Screen, choose “Customize Home Screen” if you want it different.
  7. Tap “Done”.

From Settings instead:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap “Wallpaper”.
  3. Tap “Add New Wallpaper”.
  4. Same deal, pick a style, then adjust.
  5. At the bottom, tap “Set as Wallpaper Pair” or “Customize Home Screen” to separate them.

If you do not see the press and hold menu on the Lock Screen, check:

  1. iOS version: Settings > General > Software Update. The Lock Screen editor shows up from iOS 16 and up.
  2. Focus modes: Some Focus profiles tie to specific Lock Screens. If the wallpaper keeps changing, check Settings > Focus and see if any Focus is linked to a certain Lock Screen.

Quick tips:

  • If you want a clean Home Screen with readable icons, pick a slightly blurred version of your Lock Screen photo.
  • For OLED iPhones (like 12, 13, 14, 15), darker wallpapers reduce battery use a bit. Not huge, but measurable in tests.
  • Live Photos only animate on the Lock Screen when you press and hold. They stay static on Home Screen.

If something feels off, describe what you see on screen. For example if “Customize” does not show at all or the plus icon is missing, that usually points to either not updated iOS or a focus/wallpaper profile bug, and there are a couple of resets for that.

3

@espritlibre covered the “normal” ways pretty well, so I’ll just hit the weird edge cases that usually trip people up when the wallpaper settings seem to be hiding.

  1. If “Customize” doesn’t show on the Lock Screen

    • Make sure you actually unlock the phone first (Face ID/Touch ID or passcode), then press and hold on the Lock Screen.
    • If you’re on iPhone with Face ID, sometimes it unlocks so fast you think you’re still on the Lock Screen but you’re actually on the Home Screen. Long‑press only works on the real Lock Screen, not the Home Screen.

  2. If the wallpaper keeps changing “by itself”

    • Go to Settings > Focus.
    • Open each Focus (Do Not Disturb, Sleep, etc.) and see if any of them say “Choose” or “Edit” under the Lock Screen section.
    • If one is linked, it will auto swap your wallpaper when that Focus turns on. Turn that link off if you want a single consistent wallpaper.

  3. If your Home Screen never looks like the Lock Screen, even when you choose “Set as Wallpaper Pair”

    • Long-press the Lock Screen
    • Tap Customize > choose Home Screen
    • At the bottom, make sure you’re not stuck on “Color” or “Gradient” with some random color. Switch to “Photo” and reselect the same pic.
    • A lot of people accidentally chose a solid color once and iOS just keeps reusing it.

  4. If you want an old-school “just set a photo and be done” feel

    • Skip the Lock Screen editor entirely.
    • Go to Photos > pick your image > Share icon > Use as Wallpaper.
    • In newer iOS this still hands you into the editor, but it feels a bit more straightforward if you’re used to the pre‑iOS 16 workflow.

  5. Quick sanity check for version issues

    • Settings > General > About
    • If iOS is below 16, none of the long‑press Lock Screen stuff will exist. In that case, it’s only Settings > Wallpaper or Photos > Share > Use as Wallpaper.

If you describe exactly what you see when you long‑press on the Lock Screen (no “Customize” button, or it says something odd, or Focus icon at the bottom), it’s usually possible to tell if it’s a version thing, a Focus link, or just iOS being iOS and needing a quick restart.

4

Quick add-on to what @nachtschatten and @espritlibre already covered, focusing more on “why is this so confusing” and how to make it less annoying long term rather than just which buttons to tap.

1. Check what mode you are actually in

A lot of people think they are “on the Lock Screen” but are really on the Home Screen after Face ID unlocks.

  • Real Lock Screen: shows clock and notifications, swipe up to get Home.
  • Home Screen: shows app icons and dock.

The long press to edit wallpapers works only on the real Lock Screen. If nothing happens when you press and hold, briefly tap the side button to lock, wake the phone, then press and hold before it unlocks with Face ID.

I disagree slightly with the idea that it is always an iOS version or Focus issue when you do not see Customize. In practice, 9 out of 10 times it is just the “I’m secretly already on the Home Screen” thing.

2. Decide your “strategy” first: one setup or several?

iOS now treats wallpapers like “profiles.” That is what makes it feel messy.

Ask yourself:

  • Do you want one wallpaper forever and never think about it?
  • Or different looks for work, sleep, etc.?

If you want just one and keep it simple:

  • Create only one Lock Screen setup.
  • Avoid linking wallpapers to Focus modes at all.
  • Delete spare Lock Screens:
    • Long press on the Lock Screen carousel
    • Swipe up on any extra setups and delete them.

This alone fixes the “why did my wallpaper change again” feeling for a lot of people.

3. Kill surprise changes from Focus, but keep Focus itself

You do not have to stop using Focus just because it messes with wallpapers:

  • Go to Settings > Focus.
  • Open each Focus.
  • Turn off any Lock Screen / Home Screen linking without disabling the Focus itself.

That gives you notifications control without the wallpaper roulette.

4. Tame the “busy” Home Screen look

Even when you pick the right photo, icons can get unreadable. Two tricks that work better than constantly switching wallpapers:

  1. Photo but slightly blurred
    • From the Home Screen editor, pick Photo, then tap “Blur” so icons stand out.
  2. Consistent theme
    • Use similar colors for Lock and Home instead of wildly different images. Your eye stops fighting with the background.

If you care about battery on OLED models, darker, less saturated photos on the Home Screen do help a bit, although not as dramatically as some posts claim.

5. Old behavior vs new behavior

If you are nostalgic for the pre iOS 16 feel where setting a wallpaper was a one-off:

  • Use Photos > share button > Use as Wallpaper.
  • Accept that it still throws you into the editor, but do the minimum:
    • Adjust, then pick “Set as Wallpaper Pair.”
    • Avoid adding extra Lock Screens after that.

You can treat the new system as “pretend it is the old one and never touch the Lock Screen editor again.”

6. Pros & cons of the current wallpaper system

People often treat it like a product in itself, so:

Pros

  • Powerful combos with Focus (work Lock Screen, sleep Lock Screen, etc.).
  • Lots of styles: Astronomy, Weather, Emoji, Photo Shuffle.
  • Per Lock Screen widget layouts if you like customizing.

Cons

  • Feels scattered: Lock Screen editor, Settings > Wallpaper, Photos > Use as Wallpaper all collide.
  • Easy to create multiple setups accidentally.
  • New users expect “one switch” and instead get a whole management UI.

Compared with what @nachtschatten and @espritlibre described:

  • Their step lists are spot on for how to do things.
  • The missing piece is usually deciding what you actually want out of wallpapers so you do not end up wrestling the system every few days.

If you post what exactly happens when you long press (no Customize, different wallpapers than you expect, or Focus icons popping up), it is usually possible to point at the exact toggle or Lock Screen setup that is causing the confusion.