Missing option for 'Your Photos' as custom wallpaper in MacOS Tahoe

Alright i'm on MAcOs Taho 26.0.1 and was having the same issue. Where only the default images are showing (Arials, solid color options only).

My Photos library is also on my external SSD.

To fix it for me i opened a photo in the photos app and pressed the share icon and selected "Set Wallpaper". This took a good minute before anything happened but the photo was then set on the desktop AND all the missing photos options appeared!

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Can you at least select a photo in the Photos.app, then ctrl-click it or right-click it and use the Share command to set the Desktop picture? Or is this also missing?

I had this problem with the Tahoe 26.1 update. Safe mode reboot fixed it.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what exactly solved this for me, but it is working again - what I did do is run MacPilot's 'erase non-essential Mac-specific hidden files' which is in the File Tools utility. After that, I had the option once again to add my own photos and folders. It was not painless however - for at least three restarts the background reverted to the first dynamic wallpaper, and even after changing that, it kept reverting. Took like three restarts like I said, but it's working again. Caveat- not at all sure MacPilot was the answer.*

Same problem on all three of my Macs. If I log in as a different user on the machine, however, it appears.

This is macOS Sequoia, not macOS Tahoe.

It is looking exactly the same for me as OT's screenshot on macOS 26 Tahoe, when I select one of the Sequoia desktop pictures. We can use the Sequoia Desktops, if we prefer them to the Tahoe pictures.

It is a bit confusing that the option to select a folder is hidden away behind the option to add a single picture.

On my MacBook Air with M2 chip I can select an album in Fotos or a folder in the system settings like this:

• System Settings > Wallpaper > Your Photos: Add a Photo
• In the dropdown menu I can select a folder in the Finder or open the System Photos Library and select an album.

I had this problem 11/23/25 in 26.1, but the next day the option is there. I suspect I might have missed it, but I was looking al over the community for an answer. Today Your Photos was there; I chose a folder and saw faded versions of my photos that I couldn't choose, but noticed later that the photos appeared in the Wallpaper tab at bottom below Colors.

the “your photo” section is right after the “dynamic wallpapers” for me, so the second line. My problem is that I can choose ONE picture and that’s it. Whereas before the update, I was using a Shared Album to shuffle through. And it is not the fact that it’s a shared album, because even choosing an album on my MacBook doesn’t work. It doesn’t open, as if I hadn’t clicked on anything. Anybody else?

By wallpaper you're referring to the Desktop picture, right?

If that's the case you're in the wrong settings pane. You want the Wallpaper settings pane where you can choose a folder on your boot drive or an album in your Photos library:

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