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
    2020-06-18T18:44:41+00:00

    After applying all methods I had no results ... The problem appeared after installing the 1903 feature update and was solved by accident ... I tried to change my area from Greece to USA without changing anything else ... after one hour, the problem was solved ... problem exists probably due to a violation of EU rights regarding downloads ... I have about the same problem with Xiaomi's phones ... about a year ago, the Themes were reduced to 5 basics and I could not see or upload additional Themes to the list ... so I changed my area from Greece to USA and the full list of themes appeared in my phone screen ... I chose what I wanted, downloaded them and then I changed the area again to Greece so as to have correct location and time ... (Attention! In Windows, you will not change the area again, otherwise you' ll face the same problem ... leave it as USA or something out of EU ... time and date are not affected if you do not change anything else ...CAUTION!! This solution is tested for me area...I don't quarantee that it will work for other countries, but you 've nothing to lose except some minutes of your time...

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-06-23T22:28:31+00:00

    Windows spotlight is very ficky. It works for several days on my surface and then spontaneously stops. I have been successful restoring it intermittently using the above remedies both deleting the files recommended and then running the PowerShell as described.

    In principle I like it but I also like the daily pictures. I am now an expert running the programs but I would tell everyone not to bug out over it. 

    I love windows 10 pro and I love the new edge. This in turn will be corrected but I believe it is a bug that Microsoft should address.

    I should reiterate that my other computers do not have any issues with spotlight. I will probably upgrade my surface with either another Dell - either XPS 13 or 15 or a Surface laptop

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-06-23T23:00:40+00:00

    Hi PaulWein

    This is definitely a bug... I'm tired of applying all these methods and have Spotlight temporarily fixed for 1-2 days ... the aforementioned method of changing the area worked in my case (and probably in all countries within EU)... this is the tenth day that the application works normally ... however, this doesn't mean that we have to do magic tricks to have a simple application on our computers ... I have 3 more computers - desktops and laptops- and they don't have any problems with Spotlight... I agree with you that after almost 2 years of problems the issue should be fixed without the need to apply strange methods...

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-06-24T00:11:34+00:00

    thanks for the feedback; I just fixed it for the umtieth time.

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