Why does my desktop picture not change correctly?

If I go into the Desktop & Screensaver preference pane to change my desktop background.

The result is that my normal desktop has the old picture I wanted to change:

Desktop

If, however, I go into Mission Control to change to another virtual desktop, both thumbnails show the correct wallpaper.

Mission Control

How can I correct this issue?


  • Open Finder and press the keyboard combination: ShiftCommandG
  • From the "Go To Folder" popup window that appears, enter the following bolded path (just copy and paste it):

~/Library/Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db

  • Move the file to your Trash.
  • Log out of the account and log back in.

Explanation: There's no property list for Desktop settings in Mavericks, as there was in previous OSXs. Instead, the Desktop values are stored in the database file mentioned above, which I assumed (correctly, here) was corrupted. Deleting it is non-destructive, as it automatically regenerates once you log out and log back in.