Wallpaper Turns Black On iPhone In iOS 16? (Fixed?)
Last updated on January 27th, 2023 at 01:59 am
Posted in Errors and Issues by Patricia on October 30, 2022Wallpaper turns black on iPhone after iOS 16 update? Both Lock Screen and Home Screen backgrounds unexpectedly go black even after the iOS 16.1 release? Apps continue to show up normally but the predefined wallpaper is missing?
Wallpaper Turns Black In iOS 16?
This error has been reported by Mattie (iPhone XR) in the comments section of our iOS 16.1 review page:
“The background of the home and Lock Screen have turned black. Icons are still visible.”
and confirmed by Dawn (iPhone 12):
“Same thing is happening to me. Black screen. Sometimes I get it back but then turns black again.”
We couldn’t replicate the issue but have found similar complaints on Reddit ever since the early iOS 16 beta test stages:
“I can’t change my wallpaper anymore and its black all the time.”
How To Fix Black Wallpaper Error
A temporary fix requires you to reboot your iPhone. Wallpaper displays normally after the restart but the issue might reoccur sooner or later.
Tip: We recommend you to apply the force restart combo for quicker results.
(Update, January 20)
2. Update To iOS 16.3
According to the release notes, Apple has fixed the black Lock Screen bug in iOS 16.3:
Important: iOS 16.3 has been released! Please update and comment if the black Lock Screen wallpaper still shows up!
Workaround For Black Wallpaper Issue
According to numerous reports we received from our readers, it appears that this problem is only occurring when one or more photos are used as background.
1. First, try to change the picture and see if it makes any difference. If the image is too old and stored in iCloud, the bug could prevent iOS 16 from properly accessing it and render it as wallpaper.
Tip: What also works is to resend the old photo is possible from your old iPhone via AirDrop, or another computer using email attachments.
2. If that doesn’t work, change the wallpaper style completely and avoid using photos, until Apple releases a software update that fixes this bug. You can go for: Collections, Color, Weather or more listed here.
Update For iOS 16 Black Wallpaper Issue
Thanks to the impressive feedback we got in the comments section we could pinpoint the problem even further. Apparently, old photos used as wallpaper are triggering the black background.
You can fix this, if you resend the old photo to your iPhone and save it in the Photos app. You can do it either via AirDrop from and older device, or from any other computer as mail attachment!
Once the photo is saved in Recents assign it again as Lock Screen and Home Screen wallpaper! Does it work?
iOS 16 Black Wallpaper Video Fix
The above fixes are showcased in this YouTube video:
Are you still experiencing this black background problem in iOS 16? Confirm it in the comments please. Do mention your iPhone model and the type of wallpaper that your device is using when the issue occurs.
Fact: We’ve reported this problem to Apple. Feedback number is FB11736569. We’ll keep you updated if we receive any reply or if a fix is in progress for the upcoming software update.
Let’s hope that Apple will fix this error in the upcoming software update!
Related: For more iOS 16.1 issues and available workarounds please check our extended review.
12 max pro
iOS 16.1
Photo wallpaper & Lock Screen
Only the wallpaper goes black. Initially only the top half of the photo was black. Rebooted. Photo came back. Now it is black again. Upgraded to this iOS last week.
My sister had updated her phone IOS 16.1 now her wallpaper and lock screen changed from her pictures of her recently deceased husband to black. She has tried all the the suggestions given to fix this issue to no avail. She is frustrated and upset about this issue. Considering that phones has become not just a device but a possession that we need to have with us at all times.
She is also going to our local Corte Madera Apple store to get it fixed.
Thanks for the feedback Terry. If she has the pictures one some other device, send them again to the iPhone and create a new Lock Screen with the recently transferred images.
Had same problem. Found that it was happening on a picture that was recentered from original (used to be able to when setting wallpaper, but doesn’t seem like this is an option anymore). If I put original photo as wallpaper the problem is solved, don’t think it’s a re-load picture problem but how the former picture was centered on wallpaper.
Thanks for the feedback Dave. That’s an interesting new detail. Let’s see if other can confirm it.
Having the same issue!
I am not using an old picture for my wallpaper. I am using the stock wallpaper of an ocean. My screen/background is still black even after rebooting. Is there a work around until a solution is created?
First ever iPhone issue for me. So glad to have found this site. Now feeling somewhat comforted that it is not an issue peculiar to just my phone. Have changed the wallpaper to a recent photo and all seems to be fine.
Thanks for the feedback. You can also resend the old photo if available on some other device or download it from an email until Apple fixes it.
Hi, I have turned my iPhone to dark mode and it seems to sort it
Thanks for sharing. It’s hit and miss. Dark mode was the trigger for mine going back in the first place. But, let’s see if it helps others.
Same problem, since update, clears on reboot, but will go black again
Thanks for confirming.
Same problem iphone 13
** I had 2 different photos being used… one for my ‘lock screen’ and one for my ‘home screen’ — my lock screen remained the same but Had same issue with my HOME SCREEN (where the apps are)
Restarted phone, same thing. I could NOT do the previous selection of going to a photo and then easily selecting ‘set as wallpaper’ or ‘set as home screen’. I messed around, with new wallpaper setting and kept on getting a blur… (very poor setup on the designers part to initially do blur and not easily see the ability to select a photo… that made me think it was still messed up), but Instead now the below worked for me.
1 – go to settings / wallpaper
2 – Swipe till you get to “NEW” with a picture of a side by side (left with no light grey is your lock screen and the one on right is your home screen)
3 – it will bring you to PHOTOS (i found my photos and put them in a new album called – wallpaper for easy finding)
4 – Select your photo and then in top right, click SAVE.
5 – the selection “Set as wallpaper Pair” or “Customize Home Screen” –> if you go to “CUSTOMIZE home screen” it brings you to a BLURRED image — click on the little ‘photos’ circle at the bottom, then it will bring you back to find ‘another’ picture and click on top right ‘DONE”.
6 – it brings you to the image now with the little grey (apps) over the picture you just chose — click ‘Done’ again in top right corner
7 – it now brings you back to ‘wallpaper’ with the two side by sides (left is lock screen & right is home screen”
Hope this helps!
Your steps worked! However the step about the blurred image can be fixed by clicking on the little “blur” circle to turn it off. When the little “blur” circle is blue it means it’s on. Tap it to turn it off and pic will be clear. I had to do these steps twice to get it to work. Because I wanted one picture for the Lock Screen and a different picture for the Home Screen.
Had to make sure that on the customize screen that at the bottom left that the image I selected was in the little circle as it was going to be paired with the second image that is in the little circle on the right. Then click blur circle to turn blur off. Lastly, click on Done in upper right corner.
Thanks for the feedback Regina. Glad that you managed to set it up properly.
So like, I have had an iPhone since 2007, The background has always been the same, the photo I use is no longer in my library. Am I just out of luck? Am I being forced to use the new wallpaper feature even if I don’t want to? Why am I still paying for a phone, when I can’t even use it the way I wish? Loyalty, nope! Just buy a new one!
Sorry to hear this. I would recommend you to remain patient and wait until the next software update.
The most annoying thing is that if I go to Settings/Wallpaper….there are my photos. (I use the same for Lock Screen and Background.) So presumably it knows what photo to use, but just isn’t doing it. This problem seemed to be intermittent for awhile; a reboot might or not bring up the background photo. But now it just seems to be stuck on black.
Are you able to find the pictures in the Photos app?
Same issue. I have a 13 Pro Max and I’m using a photo from a year ago. If I restart the photo returns. It goes black again in a short amount of time.
Thanks for confirming. Are you able to locate the picture in the Photos app? Send it to another device and re-send it back to your iPhone. Use the new entry as Lock Screen. Let us know if it helps.
Switched to dark mode and back to light mode. Problem is corrected, but may only be temporary.
Thanks for sharing. Yeah, noticed that too. However, for me switching manually from Dark to Light has started it.
I’m using iPhone 14 Pro Max and iOS 16.1. My issue is slightly different. Ever since iOS 16 my wallpaper changes automatically (not set the dymnamic wallpaper), still it changes to another one. It used to happen every time I put my phone on charge but now it’s happening randomly throughout the day at any time. It’s really strange.
And yes I am using an older picture as my wallpaper from my photo library taken from my previous iPhone.
Thanks for reporting. You’re sure that you’re not using the Photo Shuffle wallpaper option that’s intentionally changing the wallpaper?
Yes I’m sure, coz it doesn’t just change the wallpaper photo, it changes the wallpaper with all the different settings like the widgets/complications set on the others.
Thanks for the clarification. We’re looking into this.
Same thing happens to me continuously since I started the update IOS 16 on my IPhone Max 12. The photo is new.
What’s the story?
Sorry I updated
same problem iPhone 12pro
iOS 16.1.1 has been released with bug fixes. Does it help?
no it doesnt help… mines been updated and still goes black
Thanks for confirming. Try to create a new Lock Screen and use a recent picture or send the old picture again if you have it on some other device.
I have a new iPhone 14. Same problem. Keep having to restart to get rid of the black. It started after my phone overheated during my commute home, some sort of app – CarPlay competition which caused the phone to overexert itself.
Thanks for reporting. You can try iOS 16.1.1 and let us know if it helps. It’s a bug fixing update.
After trying all the things suggested here and none fixing my problem I gave up.
However, I was trying to figure out why I wasn’t getting some notifications when I read about the new “focus” feature… for some reason it was on (I never knew that it existed) and that was why I wasn’t receiving notifications. As soon as I erased the focus setting on my phone the black screen disappeared and now my Lock Screen is 100% back to normal. Same with my iPad!
I really think this will fix the issue for most people!
Thanks for the contribution cavaphoto. This is an interesting find. However, I personally don’t use Focus and have still experienced this wallpaper bug once. I will add your suggestion in the main content of the article.
Btw. iOS 16.1.1 is available with bug fixes.
Mine just started happening today. iphone 13 pro max ios 16.1.1. If I reboot it comes back, but then as soon as any app is opened, it goes back to black.
Sorry to hear this. Thanks for confirming that the bug is still present in iOS 16.1.1.
Iphone 12. This problem didn’t happen for me until i downloaded the 16.1.1 update/’fix’. I’m finding it annoying as can”t get the screen back to quite how i like it. This ‘fix’ has also dimmed my screen, all the settings fixes suggested for that aren’t helping.
Thanks for reporting Ross. Sorry to hear this. Regarding the dimmed screen I can remember that we covered a similar issue a while ago. Can you check the Reduce White Point Setting as shown here:
https://www.iphonetricks.org/how-to-fix-iphone-12-pro-max-dimmed-screen/
Yes it’s happening in iPhone 13 even after updating it to 16.1.1
Thanks for confirming.
I had a chat on help Center of apple, they suggested me to visit store and as per them there could be a problem with my device and as per them it’s not a bug. Is that core!?
Thanks for reporting. I don’t think that the support person that you’ve talked with is aware of this bug. There are way too many users affected. If this is hardware they will have to recall a huge number of devices. He probably did not understand what you’re reporting. Share them the link of this article.
Same thing. 16.1 on an iPhone 12
Same issue for me. Two old photos as wallpaper and Lock Screen, both turning to black. iPhone XR
Thanks for confirming. Resend those photos to your iPhone if you have them available on some other device and configure a new Lock Screen using them.
I’m having same problem since updated software yesterday. Tried rebooting, tried reinstalling photo, fed up now as having to do it several times a day.
Yes, I’m having similar issue with my iPhone 13 Pro. Lock Screen is fine but Home Screen is black behind apps.
I’m having the same issue since the latest shitty update. IOS version 16.11 Model XR.
Thanks for confirming. They should release a fix soon.
same issue for me and XR, glad i have not bought a new phone yet, time to look at other options
Thanks for reporting. Not sure if this is that much of a bug that would justify ditching the iPhone, but it’s annoying indeed.
Same problem. iPhone 12 mini . Shows photo wallpaper after a reboot then changes back to black soon after.
Thanks for confirming. Apple is aware of this. A fix should be available soon.
Still having problem of black screen!
Thanks for confirming. If you have the photo on some other device, send it again to your iPhone and create a new Lock Screen.
Same problem with iPhone 13. iOS 16.1.1
Thanks for confirming.
Stop upgrading this crap everything is now screeed up leave spit alone we pay apple to give us headaches
Just stop it
The “old photo” claim is total Bs. I just took a pic tried to use it as wallpaper and it’s black on my screen.
Hmm. That’s strange. I never got the black wallpaper issue after resending the pic and reconfiguring it as wallpaper. Have you rebooted the device before assigning it as wallpaper?
Patricia,
HMMM Thats Strange…So you question my post but believe Matt’s, which is basically my post word for word.
Very strange
We are bulk moderating here, because there are a lot of comments. Your comment was first in the queue and it was highlighting a new behavior of this annoying bug (with a new picture involved).
Matt’s came after yours, so it was a confirmation to what you said, which made sense to change the approach.
Nevertheless, I’m puzzled because we can’t find the trigger here. We have 4 iPhones in the office running iOS 16.1, 16.1.1 and iOS 16.2 betas and none has replicated the black wallpaper issue since it initially started.
It’s not an old photo or iCloud issue. I’m using a recent photo that’s just stored on my phone and still having the same issues.
Thanks for the feedback Matt. Seeing a spike of complaints for this issue in the last few days. Not sure what changed, but none of our 4 iOS 16.1.1 devices has seen this bug again after we initially resent the old picture and assigned it as wallpaper.
iphone 11 pro max…wallpaper photo goes black since upgrade (haha! Not!) to ios16.
Please advise how to get it back. I hate when there are bugs in updates…
Resend the photo to your iPhone and set the newly sent file as wallpaper on a new Lock Screen.
thank you
Hi there, same problems as everyone.
However, I went to check wallpaper type and nothing there.
What I noticed, was yesterday it had disappeared, during the evening it had reappeared.
Same today, so I switched to dark mode and hey presto wallpaper restored.
May be stay in dark mode till Apple have fixed this bug
Thanks for this tip Richard. Keep us updated if it continues to work or it’s just a temporary solution. We will update it in the main content of the article if it proves itself helpful.
Thanks very much. What a piece of crap. I cringe ever time I need to upgrade
Same issue – IPhone 13
Just updated my iPhone 12 to 16.1 and am now having this issue. Rebooting brings the photo (from my camera roll) back briefly but then it reverts to black again. Happens with any photo. So annoying!
Someone suggested that you should play with the Dark Mode / Light Mode switch in the Control Center. Does it make any difference?
Thanks for this article. Same problem-the Lock Screen isn’t affected, but the wallpaper image (which is different from the Lock Screen image) disappears leaving just black.
Thanks for reporting. It must be an older image? Try to resend it to your iPhone if you still have it stored on some other device and re-assign it as Home Screen.
I just used a different (older) picture than the one I had. There was some progress. The lock picture is intact. However the background picture in the unlocked screen is blurry but it kept the background colors of the new picture.
I have iPhone 13 Max Pro 16.1.
The Home Screen picture can be unburied from settings too. Instead if picking ‘Set As Wallpaper Pair’ go for Customize Home Screen and turn off Blur, if you want to have it clear.
I found the solution. 💡 Touch the locked screen, choose customize, pick the picture for the lock screen and then pick the same or another picture for Home Screen. Et voilà.
Follow up: I just used a very new picture and got the same result as above. A Clear Lock Screen picture and a blurry background in the unlocked mode.
iPhone 13 Max Pro 16.1
Ok, so you mean it works now for you? The Home Screen picture can be unburied from settings too. Instead if picking ‘Set As Wallpaper Pair’ go for Customize Home Screen and turn off Blur, if you want to have it clear.
This happened to me today., after updating yesterday. Earlier today I looked at my
storage and accepted a recommendation about photos- basically store a smaller file version of photos on my phone but a larger file version in iCloud.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, that sounds as it could have an impact. Are you having the picture stored on your iPhone? Try to create a new Lock Screen using the same picture. Does it help?
I dont have this picture in my iCloud or phone anymore . I just have it my wallpaper . Can they fix it at some point???
Yes, we assume this will be fixed in an upcoming update. For now just create a new Lock Screen with a temporary picture and switch back to this one after the update.
I’m having the same issue with two pictures of my garden and sail boat on a iPhone XR 256GB.
After restart it looks temporarily normal but after awhile it suddenly is black again.
Will try reloading this foto’s to my iPhone.
Ok. Keep us updated.
The black screen happened to me, too. Turning the phone off/on would only help for a few minutes. I resaved the photos to my phone and reselected them in Settings, and it seems to be working now.
Same issue following IOS 16 update over the weekend.
I am having the same problem as everyone else. My wallpaper goes black. I reboot and it comes back only for a short while. Then goes black again. (But the apps are still visible.) I did update to 16 the other day. (I have an iPhone 11.) Let’s hope there is a bug fix fast! :)
My iPhone 13 Max Pro recently updated to IOS 16 and since this update the home screen is black and won’t display the background picture (the widgets remain unchanged and still display). My background picture was a photo stored on my phone. I tried a reboot and my background returned briefly before disappearing again and now it won’t let me change the background to anything (including the suggestions mentioned in the above thread). Very frustrating.
Having this issue as well on my iPhone 11 Pro since I updated to 16.1 yesterday. I thought it may be related to my service going in & out issue that started yesterday though (reason I made sure to update to newest software). Had anyone been experiencing both things?
You mean carrier signal dropping?
Same problem. iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Using a photo as background and it goes black but you can see two thin lines streaked across the bottom and you can tell it’s the photo in the background still.
The photo is only 2 weeks old, so it’s not an old photo issue.
Thanks for reporting. Create a new Lock Screen using that exact same photo. Does it help?
Same issue on my iphone 13 pro and is a family loc cannot finf and am guyted love ny lic urgh
I can no longer change my wallpaper at all since updating my phone, IPhone 12 Pro Max. I’ve tried everything I know. Please take this off!
Wake the iPhone and touch & hold the screen while it’s unlocked. Tap the ‘+’ icon to add a new Lock Screen, tweak the widgets and set the desired wallpaper.