When it comes to customization, macOS gives users plenty of ways to personalize their Apple-branded technology. One part of the UI you can change is the account image that appears on your MacBook’s lock screen. This is also the same photo that appears on the login screen, in system settings, and in most other places where your Apple account information is displayed. Apple even gives you several ways to change your profile picture, and it all starts with System Settings (or System Preferences if you’re using macOS 12 or earlier). Here are the step-by-step instructions:
- Launch System Settings and select Users & Groups.
- Select the photo that appears next to your profile name.
- You should see three customization options: “Select Memoji”, “Select Emoji”, and “Select Monogram”. For the first two, click the plus icon to choose a new Memoji or emoji.
- After choosing an image, you will be able to change its exact location within the cropped circle. You will also be able to zoom in and out using the on-screen cursor.
- Choose “Save” to finish your changes.
One thing to keep in mind is that you will not be able to edit the photo of a secondary user who is already logged in to their profile. To do this, the other user must be actively logged in. They will also need to be logged out so that another user can change their account image.
Here are three more ways to customize your account image in macOS
If you want to go beyond Memojis and emojis, Apple offers three other methods for customizing your user profile picture, the first being via Photo Booth. This is a built-in macOS app that uses your Mac’s camera to take a photo. To get started, open the Camera app, frame your photo the way you want it taken, then click the camera button when you’re ready.
You can also select an image in your Mac’s Photos app to replace your user photo. To do this, you can simply use Finder to locate an image and then drag the image to the user’s image circle. Finally, if you prefer to leave the thinking to macOS, you can click on Suggestions and then choose an image. Similar to Memojis, emojis and monograms, you can move your new image within the cropped circle or use the slider to zoom in and out.
Apple works hard to keep macOS running smoothly, whether you switch between open apps or make a cosmetic change to the profile picture associated with your Apple account. The latter process also hasn’t changed much over the years, so even a macOS using an older operating system will find it just as easy to change the user image as someone using the latest version of macOS.
