Last updated on October 7th, 2020
The Windows Spotlight is a feature in Windows 10, that automatically changes the background image on the Lock Screen. However, sometimes Windows Spotlight is not working or does not change the lock screen image. In this tutorial, you ‘ll find several methods to fix the following Spotlight problems in Windows 10:
- Windows Spotlight not working.
- Windows Spotlight stuck on an image.
- Can’t change lock screen wallpaper in Windows 10.
- Lock screen wallpaper not changing in Windows 10
How to FIX Windows Spotlight Problems.
Method 1. Allow Required Apps & Spotlight to Run in the Background.
Method 2. Reset Windows Spotlight Settings.
Method 3. Reset and Re-Register Windows Spotlight.
Method 4. Repair Windows 10 with DISM & SFC tools.
Method 1. Allow Required Apps & Spotlight to Run in the Background.
1.
Click
Start
>
Settings
and select
Privacy
.
2.
Now select
Background Apps
on the left and at the right:
-
-
Toggle the
Let apps run in the background
switch to
ON
. -
Under the
Choose which apps can run in the Background,
make sure that the following apps are allowed to run in Background:
-
Toggle the
-
Settings
-
Microsoft Edge
-
Microsoft Store
-
Spotlight
(If exists)
3.
Press the Win
+ L keys, to lock the screen and see if the Spotlight is working
Method 2. Reset Spotlight Settings.
If Windows Spotlight does not work, proceed to reset it to its default settings:
1.
Click
Start
>
Settings
and select
Personalization
.
2.
Select
Lock Screen
on the left and make these changes:
-
-
Toggle the
Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen
switch to
OFF
. -
Change Background to
Picture.
-
Toggle the
3.
Now open Windows Explorer, copy/paste the following address in the address bar and hit
Enter
:
- %LocalAppData%PackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewySettings
4. Delete
, or
rename
(by adding the extension
.OLD
)* the following two (2) files:
-
- roaming.lock
- settings.dat
* Note:
For precautionary reasons just rename the mentioned files to
roaming.lock.old
&
settings.dat.old
5. Restart
your PC.
6.
After restart, go to
Start
>
Settings
>
Personalization
.
7.
At
Lock Screen
options:
-
-
Change Background to
Windows Spotlight.
-
Toggle the
Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen
switch to
ON
.
-
Change Background to
8.
Press the Win
+
L
keys, to lock the screen and see if the Spotlight is working.
Method 3. Reset and Re-Register Windows Spotlight.
1.
Click
Start
>
Settings
and select
Personalization
.
2.
Select
Lock Screen
on the left and change the Background to
Picture.
3.
Open
Command Prompt as Administrator.
to do that:
-
-
In the Search box type:
cmd
or
command prompt
-
Right-click
on
Command Prompt
and select
Run as Administrator.
-
In the Search box type:
4.
Now give the below command to delete all Spotlight Images.
-
DEL /F /S /Q /A “%USERPROFILE%/AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewyLocalStateAssets”
5. Then give the following command to delete the Spotlight settings.
-
DEL /F /S /Q /A “%USERPROFILE%/AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewySettings”
6. Close Command Prompt.
7. Open PowerShell As Administrator. To do that:
-
-
In the Search box type:
powershell
-
Right-click
on
Windows PowerShell
and select
Run as Administrator.
-
In the Search box type:
8.
In PowerShell window
copy
and
paste
the following command and press
Enter
to re-register Windows Spotlight:
- Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach {Add-AppxPackage “$($_.InstallLocation)appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode -register }
9. Close
the
PowerShell
window and
restart
your computer.
10.
After restart, go to
Start
>
Settings
>
Personalization
.
11.
At
Lock Screen
options, change Background to
Windows Spotlight.
Method 4. Repair Windows 10 with DISM & SFC tools.
1.
Open
command prompt as administrator.
2.
At the command prompt window, type the following command & press
Enter:
-
Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth
3.
Be patient until DISM repairs the component store. When the operation is completed, (you should be informed that the component store corruption was repaired), give this command and press
Enter
:
-
SFC /SCANNOW
4.
When SFC scan is completed,
restart
your computer.
5.
Check if Spotlight is working in login screen.
That’s it! Which method worked for you?
Let me know if this guide has helped you by leaving your comment about your experience. Please like and share this guide to help others.
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