To make a calendar wallpaper on iPhone, you create one image that has the month on it, sized to your screen, and set it as your Lock Screen wallpaper. The Lock Screen can't do it on its own: it shows today's date above the clock, and its widgets are small tiles, so there's no built-in way to see the whole month there. The calendar has to be part of the picture.
This guide covers the size to use, the parts of the screen to keep clear, a free way to build the image, how to set it, and a routine for changing it each month. If you'd rather have a calendar that turns the page by itself, a Home Screen widget does that, and we cover it in how to add a photo calendar widget.
Step 1: Get the size right
Your wallpaper should be a tall portrait image in the same shape as your screen, about 9 by 19.5. If it's smaller or a different shape, iPhone scales and crops it, and the small numbers in a calendar grid are the first thing to go soft or get cut off.
| iPhone | Wallpaper size (pixels) |
|---|---|
| iPhone 15, iPhone 16 | 1179 × 2556 |
| Pro Max and Plus-size models | about 1290–1320 × 2796–2868 |
| Any iPhone | the size of a screenshot from that phone |
The last row is the reliable one. Press the buttons to take a screenshot, and it's saved at your screen's full resolution. Open it in Photos, swipe up or tap the info button, and you'll see its exact dimensions. Build your wallpaper at that size.
Step 2: Keep the month out of the clock's way
The Lock Screen lays its own things on top of your wallpaper, and a calendar grid is easy to bury under them. Roughly, from top to bottom:
- The top third holds the date line, the big clock and any widgets under it. Put your photo or a plain area here, not the grid.
- The middle band, from a little under halfway to about three-quarters of the way down, is the clearest space. This is where the month grid belongs.
- The bottom edge has the flashlight and camera buttons in the corners and the bar you swipe up on. Notifications also stack up from the bottom, so leave a margin.
Give the grid a solid or lightly frosted backing so the dates stay readable over a photo, and make the numbers larger than you think you need. You'll be reading them at a glance, often in daylight. When you set the wallpaper, turn off the depth effect if iPhone offers it, so part of the photo doesn't get lifted over the clock.
Step 3: Build the image for free
You don't need special software, just something that can put a photo and a grid of numbers on one canvas at your screen's size.
- Start a canvas at your screenshot's size. Any design or photo-editing app that lets you set a custom canvas size will do. Many free design apps also have phone-wallpaper calendar templates, which saves typing the dates.
- Put your photo in the top half. It sits behind the clock, so pick one with sky, a wall or other quiet space at the top.
- Add the month in the middle band. Month name, the weekday initials, then the dates in seven columns. Check which weekday the 1st falls on.
- Mark the days that matter with a circle or a color, but only a few. A wallpaper with every appointment on it is a to-do list you can't tick off.
- Export it as a PNG or high-quality JPG and save it to Photos.
Doing this by hand takes ten or fifteen minutes the first time. The fiddly part is the date grid: getting the 1st on the right weekday, and keeping the columns lined up.
Step 4: Set it as your Lock Screen
- Open Settings and tap Wallpaper.
- Tap Add New Wallpaper, then tap Photos at the top and choose your calendar image.
- Pinch and drag to line it up. If you made it at your screenshot's size, it should already fit without zooming.
- Tap Add, then choose Set as Wallpaper Pair to use it on both screens, or Customize Home Screen to give the Home Screen a blur or a plain color so your apps stay easy to see.
You can also start from the Lock Screen itself: touch and hold it, tap the add button to create a new Lock Screen, and choose your photo there.
Step 5: Change it on the 1st
A wallpaper is a still image, so October stays October until you change it. Two habits make that painless:
- Make the next month early. iPhone lets you keep several Lock Screens and switch between them. Add next month's calendar as a new Lock Screen at the end of the month. On the 1st, touch and hold the Lock Screen, swipe to the new one and tap it.
- Make all twelve at once if you're doing them by hand. It's quicker to line up twelve grids in one sitting than to start from scratch every month. Keep them in their own album in Photos.
Delete last month's Lock Screen when you switch, or the list fills up: touch and hold the Lock Screen, swipe to the old one, swipe up on it and tap the trash button.
A faster way: let your photos choose the month
The slow part of the manual method is picking a photo and typing out a grid twelve times. Photo Calendar, which we make, does both from your camera roll. It reads the date each photo was taken and sorts a year into twelve months with a suggested cover for each, so March's trip lands on March. You can swap any month's photo, choose a layout and a filter, and circle the days that matter.
With Premium, Set as Lock Screen Wallpaper renders the month at your screen's exact resolution and saves it to Photos, so the grid stays sharp. Pick a Live Photo as the cover and it saves as a Live wallpaper. You still set it in Settings and change it each month, as in Steps 4 and 5. Everything runs on the phone, with no account, and your photos aren't uploaded.
The Home Screen widget is part of the free version, and unlike a wallpaper it turns to the next month on the 1st by itself. Premium is weekly, monthly or yearly, or a one-time lifetime purchase.
Which route should you take?
| Route | Shows the whole month | Changes by itself | Effort | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in Lock Screen date and widgets | No, today and your next event | Yes | None | Free |
| Wallpaper made by hand | Yes | No, swap it monthly | About 15 minutes a month | Free |
| Photo Calendar wallpaper | Yes, with a photo from that month | No, swap it monthly | About a minute | Premium |
| Photo Calendar widget | Yes, on the Home Screen | Yes, on the 1st | Set up once | Free |
If you'd like the same months on paper as well, our guide to making a photo calendar on iPhone covers printing at home or at a print shop.
Frequently asked questions
How do I put a calendar on my iPhone Lock Screen?
Make an image that has the month on it and set it as your Lock Screen wallpaper. Open Settings, tap Wallpaper, tap Add New Wallpaper, tap Photos and choose the image. Pinch and drag to position it, tap Add, then choose Set as Wallpaper Pair or Customize Home Screen. Keep the month grid out of the top of the image, where the clock sits.
Can the iPhone Lock Screen show a monthly calendar?
Not by itself. The Lock Screen shows the date above the clock, and its small widgets can show things like your next event, but there is no month-grid option. To see the whole month on the Lock Screen, the calendar has to be part of the wallpaper image.
What size should a calendar wallpaper be for iPhone?
Use a tall portrait image in the shape of your screen, about 9 by 19.5. On current iPhones that is 2,556 to 2,868 pixels on the long side, for example 1179 by 2556 on an iPhone 15 or 16. A quick way to get your exact size is to take a screenshot: it is saved at your screen's full resolution.
Does a calendar wallpaper change by itself each month?
No. A wallpaper is a still image, so you need a new one each month. The easiest routine is to make next month's Lock Screen ahead of time, since iPhone lets you keep several, and switch to it on the 1st. If you want a calendar that turns the page by itself, use a Home Screen widget instead, such as the free Photo Calendar widget.
Twelve months from your own photos
Photo Calendar sorts your year by when each photo was taken and puts the month on your Home Screen, your Lock Screen or your wall.
Download Photo Calendar on the App Store →Related: How to Add a Photo Calendar Widget on iPhone · How to Make a Photo Calendar on iPhone. Questions? Email us.
