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
    2020-10-13T04:40:45+00:00

    You may have already fixed your problem, but for what it's worth you might take a look at my reply--BlueScream.

    I didn't get an error msg when I copied and entered Lucas T's code. Instead it went a bit crazy in showing the command: it was spread over 3 lines, the last bit of which followed a new prompt.

    When I had recovered, I copied the command again and carefully proof-read it before pressing Enter. This time when it flashed a green message I was ready to catch it (Alt-PrtSc), and it was OK. But Lock Screen wasn't, despite the restart.

    It was ignoring the Spotlight choice and doing a slideshow of images I'd never seen before incl. veggie restaurants in San Francisco. Well that was enough time wasted for me, and I went back to Office. But between documents, I couldn't leave well enough alone, and I did a WindowsKey+L. There was a  new pic in the old, Bing-associated format.

    My advice is, if your setting for Settings, in Background Apps, is On, and Lock Screen is set to Spotlight, and you still have a static image for the Lock Screen, do try the PowerShell route again. Don't forget to restart. Good luck.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2020-10-13T05:18:36+00:00

    You didn't see anything wrong with Sofia's post? She didn't follow directions or she wouldn't be trying to execute a restricted command in C:\Users\Sofia.

    If you faithfully follow the directions, I have found that it does work, even after the Edge update. However--and this is crazy--it may not work immediately.

    It took maybe half an hour, after a real salad of images and my giving up on the whole thing, that I did a lock-screen and found a new pic in the previous format. It still remains to be seen whether or not the image will change in the old way, and it's been a couple of hours, but I'm keeping the faith!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-10-13T05:26:57+00:00

    Yes, I've been wondering if there's a Bing problem in the mix.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-10-13T05:57:23+00:00

    I'm in the US, and my region is set to US, but I have a static, non-changing Lock Screen image. Do you suggest that I change my region to another country?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments