# How to Set a GIF as Your Wallpaper on Mac

Updated: November 12, 2026

Plash: Price: Free. Platforms: macOS. Get it from: [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1494023538). Requires macOS 26.4 or later. Free older versions for macOS 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, and 10.15: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/plash#older-versions).

URL: https://sindresorhus.com/guides/gif-wallpaper-mac

The wallpaper settings of macOS have pictures, colors, and aerials, but no animated GIF. Add the link of the GIF to the free [Plash](https://sindresorhus.com/plash) app, and the animated GIF fills the screen behind your windows and desktop icons.

## With Plash

1. Copy the link of the GIF. It must be the link of the image itself, which usually ends in `.gif`, not the link of a page that shows it. In a browser, Control-click the GIF, and choose “Copy Image Address” or “Copy Image Link”.
1. Open [Plash](https://sindresorhus.com/plash). Its icon is in the menu bar.
1. Click the icon, and choose “Add Website…”.
1. Paste the link in “URL”, and click “Add”.

Plash makes the GIF fill the screen, and crops the edges when the shape is different from the screen. So a large GIF with the shape of your screen looks best.

- An animated wallpaper uses power. On a MacBook, open the Plash settings, click “Advanced”, and turn on “Deactivate while on battery”.
- Add several GIFs, and switch between them in the menu.
- For a GIF file on your Mac, put it in a folder together with a file named `index.html` that shows the GIF. When you add the website, click “Local Website…”, and choose the folder.

Plash can show any website as the wallpaper, not only a GIF. See [how to use a website as your wallpaper](https://sindresorhus.com/guides/website-wallpaper-mac).

## Without an app

macOS has no animated GIF wallpaper. In “[System Settings › Wallpaper](x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.Wallpaper-Settings.extension)”, you can choose a dynamic wallpaper, which changes during the day, or an aerial, which moves slowly when you lock or unlock the Mac. [Apple’s instructions.](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp3013/mac)

These are good when you only want some motion. To use your own animation, you need an app.