Windows Spotlight lock screen picture won't change

Anonymous
2018-02-09T16:26:33+00:00

Hello,

I have an HP laptop running Windows 10, and usually when my laptop is locked, the picture changes every now and then on my lock screen and I really enjoyed that. But recently for the past month or two, it's been stuck on the same picture and it stopped changing to new pictures. I checked my settings and I still have "Windows Spotlight" set as my lock screen but still nothing happens. It just stopped working and changing pictures for some reason.

If anyone can help, please do!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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Anonymous
2018-05-22T00:04:55+00:00

Just follow these steps of Windows Central:

How to fix Windows Spotlight Lock screen errors Is Windows Spotlight broken or stuck on the same image? If so, this guide details the steps to fix the issue.

Windows Spotlight is a feature included with Windows 10 that uses Bing to automatically download and set new background images on the Lock screen, to keep your experience fresh every time you sign in.

The only caveat with Windows Spotlight is that sometimes it will stop working, or you'll notice that it gets stuck on the same image. Unfortunately, Windows 10 doesn't include an option to reset this feature. However, it's possible to fix the Windows Spotlight settings with this simple workaround.

In this Windows 10 guide, we show you the steps to fix Windows Spotlight on your computer and keep getting fresh images from Bing on your Lock screen.

How to reset Windows Spotlight

If the Windows Spotlight feature is stuck on the same image, or it's not working at all, you can use the following steps to fix the issue:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Personalization.
  3. Click on Lock screen.
  4. Under "Background," make sure Windows Spotlight is NOT selected and change the option to Picture or Slideshow.
  5. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
  6. Type the following path and click OK. %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets
  7. Select all the files (Ctrl + A) and hit the Delete key to clear all old images (if applicable).
  8. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command again.
  9. Type the following path to where the Windows Spotlight settings are stored and click OK. %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings
  10. Right-click settings.dat and roaming.lock individually, then click Rename and name them settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak.
  11. Restart your computer.
  12. Open Settings.
  13. Click on Personalization.
  14. Click on Lock screen.
  15. Under "Background," make sure to enable Windows Spotlight.

Once you complete these steps, you can lock your PC (Windows key + L), and the Lock screen should show new Bing images.

If everything worked as expected, remember to go back to the Settings folders where Windows Spotlight stores the settings and delete the settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak files.

Alternative method to fix Windows Spotlight

If the steps mentioned above didn't fix Windows Spotlight, you can try to reset the settings using the following steps:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Personalization.
  3. Click on Lock screen.
  4. Under "Background," make sure to enable Windows Spotlight. (If you don't enable the feature, you're likely to get an error while running the PowerShell command.)
  5. Open Start.
  6. Search for Windows PowerShell, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator.
  7. Enter the following command and press Enter to reset the Windows Spotlight: Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach {Add-AppxPackage "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -register }
  8. Restart your computer.

After completing these steps, you should be able to lock your PC (Windows key + L), and the Lock screen should show new Bing images.

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-windows-spotlight-stuck-same-image-windows-10?passport=1526946645

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-02-10T12:49:45+00:00

    Hi, happy to give this a go, as I had the same problem nothing worked.

    Just toclarify, for the settings file is that in settings folder? ie not the folder itself just the settings.dat file. I think I have some files missing in the folder from other attempts. Thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-02-10T12:26:17+00:00

    Alright finally i managed to fix this

    None of these methods worked in my case.

    What i did: 

    Installed 1.1.1.1 app on windows and connected with warp.

    Then search how to disable windows spotlight completely via registry and do it.

    Then go to assets folder and delete all files and delete settings file too.

    Then restart the system and after that reenable spotlight in registry and enable it in windows settings with warp app connected.

    Voila! It will apply new pictures!

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-02-06T03:00:55+00:00

    The 2nd solution involving the Powershell worked.  Do I still need to delete the settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak files?

    Thanks!

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-02-05T09:22:48+00:00

    I have a newer Dell laptop that has a working Spotight with me a Admin and 2 other users and the old HP laptopwithout the working Spotlght, both Win10, both 20H2 version, both OS Build 19042.746

    The folder C:\Users%User%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy seems crucial to many fix suggestions so I did an analysis of the differences between the Spotlight working and non Spotlight working laptop in the hope it might prompt a lightbulb moment for someone.

    Where the box is empty in both it basically is the same on both machines, in effect the notes are the differences.

    Folder Folder File/s Working -newer Files/s Not working
    AC \BackgroundTransferApi 59 DOWN_META<br> & UP_META_SECURE & UP_META_BODY files 938 DOWN_META<br> & UP_META_SCURE & UP_META_BODY files
    AC \BackgroundTransferApi INETCache\container.dat Missing
    \BackgroundTransferApi INETcookies\ESE\container.dat Missing
    \BackgroundTransferApi INETHistory\ BackgroundTransferApi<br> container.dat<br><br>INETHistory \BackgroundTransferApiGroup&lt;empty> Missing<br><br><br><br>Missing
    AC \Microsoft CryptUrlCache\Content<br> <5 files incl last day used day before yesterday<br><br>CryptUrlCache\MetaData<br> 6 files incl today<br><br><br><br>Missing<br><br>Missing CryptUrlCache\Content<br> <5 files but latest last week<br><br>CryptUrlCache\MetaData<br> 6 files incl today as well -same<br><br>\System Certificates<br><br>\Windows
    AC \Temp <empty<br><br>\TokenBroker
    \AppData <empty>
    \LocalCache <empy>
    \LocalState\ Assets 29 items <empty><br> (Manually done)
    \LocalState \ContentManagementSDK\Creatives 18 folders 38 folders<br><br>Some One<br> drive extra folder
    \LocalState \ContentManagementSDK\Favicon<br> <empty>
    \LocalState \Features Du.bin Du bin file<br> but with icon
    \LocalState \MobilityExperience\ImageCache<br> <empty>
    \LocalState \MobilityExperience\StagedAssets<br> <empty> 1 file from<br> 2018
    \LocalState \MobilityExperience\OldStuff Missing Copy of old<br> ContentDeliveryxxxfolder
    \LocalState \OnSettingResonseCache Missing Onesettingsfeaturemanagement<br> file
    \LocalState \TargetedContentCache\v3 12 folders 4 folders
    \LocalState \Tips <empty> 8 XML docs<br> from 2017
    RoamingState <empty>
    Settings roaming.lock<br><br>settings.dat<br><br>settings.dat.LOG1<br><br>settings.dat.LOG2 roaming.lock<br><br>settings.dat<br> (icon)<br><br>missing<br><br>missing
    SystemAppData <empty
    TempState <empty

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