Written by
Vain Rowe
Summary: This post from iBoysoft guides you to figure out what the wallpaper.image.extension is on earth and explore how to troubleshoot this annoying folder to stop it from generating thousands of copies of the pictures you pick out as the screensaver.
I have noticed a new problem with the "extension-com.apple.wallpaper.extension.image" folder in the hidden folder (accessible by using Command-Shift-Period) called private -> var -> folders -> 64 -> C -> com.apple.wallpapers.caches continually generate and save new files. There are (currently) about 47,000 files in each). This occurs on both an M1 Ultra Studio and an M1 Max PB Pro, both running Sonoma 14.0. It consumes (so far, it's constantly growing, about 2GB/hour) about 260 GB of space on each of the HDs. I have noticed the HD available space shrinking for about 3 (maybe about Oct. 1) days without any increase in the visible files. Can I just delete the "extension-com.apple.wallpaper.extension.image" folder? Any other recommendations to resolve this trouble completely?
This folder called "extension-com.apple.wallpaper.extension.image" definitely causes big trouble for users who run a Mac with macOS Sonoma installed, which repopulates loads of copies of the pictures you set as the screensaver and eats up the hard drive space without stopping. This picture-increasing movement damages your SSD due to ceaseless writing and insufficient memory on your Mac.
Let's figure out what the wallpaper image extension is and how to stop it from creating numerous copies of the screen pictures.
wallpaper.image.extension on Mac: definition
wallpaper.image.extension is a folder that stores the pictures you pick for the screensaver. Mac changes the screensaver from this folder with chosen pictures randomly or regularly based on your settings.
Each time Mac changes the screensaver, the wallpaper.image.extension folder stores it automatically. That's why there are so many pictures created on your Mac, making the available space on your Mac declining. Especially when you have two or more monitors connected to your Mac, the pictures will be created multiply.
This folder seems to only happen on macOS Sonoma, according to a verified study, earlier operating systems like macOS Ventura and later operating systems like macOS Sequoia don't have such trouble.
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wallpaper.image.extension on Mac: solutions
Although loads of users have encountered such strange wallpaper.image.extension folder on their Mac, Apple has released no workable solution or suggestion till now. We here gather all effective workarounds that are proven by advanced Mac users and geeks aiming to get this annoying folder fixed!
Solution 1: Change the wallpaper.image.extension folder's permission
It's useful to limit the permission of the wallpaper.image.extension folder to read-only in fixing its repeated picture creation. Here is how to perform:
1. Control-select the wallpaper.image.extension folder on your device.
2. Click Get Info from the dropdown menu.
3. Scroll down to the Sharing & Permissions tab and change Read & Write to Read only. You may be required to input your account password to unlock to padlock for the permission change.
If you have more than one account on your Mac, you can change their permissions to Read only in one go.
Solution 2: Downgrade or upgrade your Mac OS
Provided that earlier macOS like macOS Ventura and later macOS like macOS Sequoia haven't run into such trouble, you can try to downgrade macOS or update your macOS to macOS Sequoia.
macOS downgrade needs you to wipe your Mac first, so please make sure you get a full backup of your Mac to avoid any chance of data loss.
While if you wanna have a taste of macOS Sequoia, please check whether your Mac model is supported by Apple to run it. Otherwise, you might make an effort to install macOS Sequoia on your unsupported Mac.
Final words
This post explores the definition of the wallpaper.image.extension on Mac and provides workable solutions to stop its repeated picture copy. If you're annoyed at this folder, try to change its permission or change your macOS!
Also don't forget to file a report to Apple to remind them of the significance of dealing with this trouble!
