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Monitored Folders

Learn how Canvas automatically synchronizes your wallpaper library in real-time.

Instead of forcing you to import wallpapers one by one, Canvas features an intelligent "Monitored Folders" system. By pointing Canvas to a specific directory on your Mac, it will dynamically build and update your wallpaper library based on the contents of that folder.

Setting Up a Monitored Folder

To configure a monitored folder:

  1. Open the Canvas preferences window from the menu bar.
  2. Navigate to the Library tab.
  3. Click the + Add Folder button.
  4. Select the directory containing your video and image files.

Canvas will immediately scan the folder for supported formats (MP4, GIF, WebP, etc.) and generate thumbnails for each item, populating your in-app catalog.

Real-Time Synchronization

Canvas uses macOS FSEvents (File System Events) to monitor the folder in real-time. This means that if you download a new live wallpaper from the web and drop it into your monitored folder using Finder, it will instantaneously appear inside the Canvas app catalog without requiring you to restart or refresh the application.

Using iCloud Drive

A powerful workflow is to set your Monitored Folder to a directory inside your iCloud Drive. By doing this across multiple Macs, any wallpaper you save on your MacBook will automatically download and appear in the Canvas library on your Mac Studio. Canvas handles the background iCloud downloading natively.