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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

1100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

567 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2020-03-19T19:01:10+00:00

    It does not solve the problem. It does not give me the option of not seeing a picture. there are 3 options, none of them are to turn it off.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-21T01:01:04+00:00

    Attention everyone

    I don't know whether it has anything to do with the pandemic but when I came home tonight I turned on skype for messaging under privacy in settings and for unknown reasons I checked windows spotlight and miraculously it is now working. I made no changes to any other settings and I am not sure turning skype on made a difference but it is working now.

    I will let everyone know whether it continues or quits. Perhaps related to most recent windows upgrade. I would hope that Microsoft gives some feedback rather than fixing without telling us. 

    I would like feedback if other people have experienced that windows spotlight is fixed. Again, I did nothing significant to fix the problem.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-21T08:20:32+00:00

    Attention everyone

    I don't know whether it has anything to do with the pandemic but when I came home tonight I turned on skype for messaging under privacy in settings and for unknown reasons I checked windows spotlight and miraculously it is now working. I made no changes to any other settings and I am not sure turning skype on made a difference but it is working now.

    I will let everyone know whether it continues or quits. Perhaps related to most recent windows upgrade. I would hope that Microsoft gives some feedback rather than fixing without telling us. 

    I would like feedback if other people have experienced that windows spotlight is fixed. Again, I did nothing significant to fix the problem.

    Hi, I can't find  Privacy in my Settings in Skype, so maybe we have different versions.  Personally I don't know why Microsoft even offers Feedback because they are not fixing this problem.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-03-23T04:59:38+00:00

    Hi,

    I'm using windows 10 on my desktop with multiple users, each has its own Microsoft ID and password.

    Some of the users experience that problem where the spotlight picture won't change and there are no info-lines on the screen regarding the photo while others don't.

    None of the techniques above solve the problem and I tried almost every solution suggested by many many discussions regarding this problem.

    The only thing that worked was to delete a user from the computer and than add him again, but it only worked for few weeks until again he was "stuck" with the same photo.

    I tried all the suggested actions (involving that "assets" folder) but none worked. The only thing I didn't try was the reinstall Windows, but I'm not sure it will help.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments