Windows Spotlight feature in Windows 11/10 allows users to fetch an image from Bing and set it as the Lock Screen background image automatically. However, some people have reported that Windows Spotlight is not working for them and that at times Windows Spotlight is stuck on the same picture. If you are facing this issue, then this tutorial will show you how to reset Windows Spotlight preferences and fix the problem.
Windows Spotlight not working
There may be plenty of reasons, why your Windows 11/10 machine is not fetching new wallpaper from Bing. Resetting Windows Spotlight settings & preferences are very likely to help you.
But before you begin you have to ensure that you have a working Internet connection as Windows Spotlight features require an active internet connection to show new wallpaper on the lock screen. Otherwise, it won’t be able to grab the image from the repository. So make sure that you are connected to the Internet. You may also run System File Checker to replace potentially corrupted system files.
1] Reset Windows Spotlight preferences
If in spite of being connected to the Internet, you face problems, you may want to reset Windows Spotlight preferences and settings and see if that helps. The following steps would let you reset the Windows Spotlight settings in Windows 11/10 – there is no need of any software, though.
Before you begin, create a system restore point first.
Next, open Settings panel by pressing Win+I and go to Personalization > Lock Screen. Under the Background option, choose Picture and set a picture as default lock screen background.
Next, navigate to the following folder,
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_<characters>\Settings
You will have to first unhide all hidden folders in Windows.
Now, here in this folder, you will see two files called roaming.lock and settigns.dat. Delete both of them.
Having thus reset Windows Spotlight preferences & settings, open the Lock Screen personalization settings and set Windows Spotlight as the default lock screen background.
If this does not help, you want to proceed to the next step.
Read: Switch to next picture is greyed out in Windows Spotlight
2] Re-register Windows Spotlight
To do this, open an administrator Powershell windows, type the following and hit Enter:
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode}
Now check your lock screen and see if you have a new wallpaper or not.
Related: Turn on or off Windows Spotlight using Registry or Group Policy Editor.
I hope this helps.
If nothing works, you can always go back to the created system restore point.
How to force Windows Spotlight to change picture?
To change the Windows Spotlight picture, click the camera icon on your desktop’s top-right corner and select “Switch to next picture” from the drop-down menu. This action will update the Spotlight image on your desktop. If the icon isn’t visible, right-click the desktop and update your Windows settings.
How to reset Windows Spotlight lock screen?
To reset Windows Spotlight on the lock screen in Windows 10, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen. Switch the “Background” setting from “Windows Spotlight” to “Picture” or “Slideshow.” Restart your PC, then revert the setting back to “Windows Spotlight” to refresh the feature.
Doesn’t fix the problem. This is no different to changing the lock screen background to picture and then back to Windows Spotlight. This just downloads one (1) picture from spotlight but still the image does not refresh regularly to a new image.
Windows spotlight has been broken from day 1. As a tech I have seen this problem on every single installation of Win 10 I have ever come across, it simply doesn’t work, period!
deleting the settings worked for me (finally!). I’ve tried quite a number of solutions before I stumbled on this one
This is why I’m glad my hard drive crashed so I could go back to Windows 8. Ironic, too, since I really hate the inconsistency of my hardrive, it’s crashed three times. X’D
Neither of these work. Spotlight now just shows my standard background that I selected last under the “Picture” option, no opportunity to say “I like this picture” or not, nothing. Reregistered with Powershell, the damn thing just refuses to run no matter what I do. No errors, everything is set properly, store updates automatically, nothing WORKS.
This is basic stuff for Microsoft and they can’t get it right, when this was one of the big “ooooh” features of W10. Microsoft has gone to garbage and the day they die it can’t be soon enough.
Worked for me after deleting the settings file twice and rebooting. Spotlight works about 30% of the time in my experience after setting about 100 computers individually to it from picture.
Wow, deleting those two folders really worked so far. Still no app on lockscreen like weather, but baby steps.
Not true! it does work. With my wife’s computer I have this same problem too but with my computer, it always worked since windows 10 is installed and never had any problem. I still didn’t find the solution to solve my wife’s computer though.
Deleting the two files worked perfectly – thanks!
I’ve done the first recommendation a number of times. The first time, I had roaming and settings but ever since I deleted them, when I look in their folder there is only settings.dat. Why does the roaming.dat disappear?
Exact same for me.
Step 1 did the trick – thanks for the assistance.
Finally a solution that worked. I have been fighting this since the 1709 update. I have tried MANY different solutions that did not work. The powershell command worked for me, or appears to. I did get a new background finally. We will see tomorrow if it continues to change. Thanks!
the first solution works for me
thank you
Thanks. Powershell Command worked for me.
This fixed the problem for me. If one does not work and the other does not work, try doing BOTH in quick succession.
Stop whining. The fact is that most likely a registry key has gotten corrupted on your machine and did you try doing BOTH things.
One or the other did not work for me. Doing both quickly one after the other did work.
Microsoft has a bad habit of breaking Windows Spotlight and also breaking other features in Windows 10 recently. One of my computers absolutely refuses to sync bookmarks anymore which is annoying as anything.
Can anyone shed light on this result?
Add-AppxPackage : Cannot find path ‘C:appxmanfest.xml’ because it does not exist.
Here is the full text:
===========================================================
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -Register “$($_.Installation)appxmanfest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode}
Add-AppxPackage : Cannot find path ‘C:appxmanfest.xml’ because it does not exist.
At line:1 char:79
+ … | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -Register “$($_.Installation)appxmanfest …
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:appxmanfest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], ItemNotFoundExcepti
on
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand
===========================================================
Appears you have a couple of typos in your Powershell command. After the $ signs it’s supposed to be InstallLocation, not Installation. appxmanfest is missing the “i” – should be appxmanifest.
Thanks. I have since found another (but similar) command that did the job. Apparently no typos there! Here it is:
Empty out:
AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewyLocalStateAssets
and
AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewySettings
Run command in powershell, administrator mode (Should be all on one line.) :
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}
That’s been my experience also. As long as I do nothing with the picture or select “I like it”, Spotlight backgrounds continue changing. As soon as I choose “Not a fan”, however, it goes back to one of the default pictures. Have tried this several times over the past week or so with same result. Also, in my case, just deleting all the files in the Assets and Settings above restores the Spotlight backgrounds again but only if I do both at the same time. Doing either one by itself doesn’t appear to accomplish anything. Running the PowerShell command, either by itself or after the deleting the contents of those two folders, doesn’t seem to provide any benefit either.
Besides what’s listed here, make sure your internet connection isn’t set to metered. Some will have it set to metered to limit automatic updates, and I believe it affects Windows Spotlight. Had a hunch, set my connection back to normal, and it started pulling new pictures. I’ve got it metered again, but will have to wait until tomorrow to see if the lock picture is stuck.
is that change daily?
same here .
is that change daily ?
is it changed?
Step one didn’t do anything, but then after step two, the Spotlight lock screen background worked correctly. New image and I’ve got those little messages peppered around, too.
I have found that the ONLY thing needed to get things back to normal is to delete the file:
AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewySettingssettings.dat
Well, one more thing: a bit of patience. The fix does not make itself known until the passage of a minute (or few?). In my impatience I also fiddle with the setting, turning it off and on and locking/unlocking. I don’t know if that helps or not.
I am at the latest (12/15/2017) Windows update.
Using powershell code it’s fixed here. Just remember to open powershell as administrator.
Thank you ! The Powershell command fixed the problem for me.
Resetting the Windows Spotlight Preferences worked for me.
Thank you so much !
Deleting the settings files worked great… I had to restart and log in once before the feedback items and picture changed. Thanks!!
Thank you, worked for me!
The 2nd solution to Re-register Windows Spotlight work instantly for me – THANKS!!!
It is a good idea to delete settings to fix things but this did not work for me. Microsoft should had this fixed by now since it was reported on the feedback hub years ago by thousands of people. The day will come :-)
Stop whining Abesh – that’s your advice to others, so have the decency to stop whining yourself.
No need to be so rude is there, not nice when it’s thrown back at you.
I couldn’t do anything to make Windows Spotlight to start working again, but I accidentally discovered the source of the problem. There was a conflict between my McAfee security suite and an anti-malware program I install a couple of months ago.. After I uninstalled the anti-malware program (which gave protection already provided by McAfee), the problem solved. Now I am getting all those beautiful photos again on a daily basis.
I have tried everything even going into the LocalState/Assets and deleting all files and nothing worked. Then I tried the first step of your tips and again nothing (which I’d also tried before). But then I followed your second step and it finally worked! Thank you for the help :)
Did not work for me- any of the steps.
This has been an issue for a while for me and as an advanced Windows user, it’s been a frustration that I’m guessing is likely to do with my user profile at a deeper level and I’m not willing to sacrifice my user profile for a cosmetic annoyance.
Oh well.
Nothing change, I try those 2 step but nothing. So I decide download a picture I want and turn to lock screen background (Picture) after all I’m the only can see it everyday :P
Temporary fix. The next day it reverts back to the ‘lake and rucksack’ pic.
THAT WAS A BIG HELP. THANK YOU
The second part works for me but i don’t know if it changes everyday yet.. THANK YOU
This solution only works for the same day you apply the setting. If you observe carefully, the assets folder only downloads the images for the day this settings are done. The next day and thereafter no new images are downloaded in the assets folder. And you either end up being stuck on same image or the stock normal mountain valley image.
Brilliant Answer.. Solved My problem with a bang.
Having installed the latest update (April 10, 2018—KB4093112 (OS Build 16299.371)) a few days ago I thought I’d check to see if this has been fixed. I selected “don’t like” on Spotlight’s lock screen image and next time I got to the lock screen Spotlight had put up a new image for me to like or dislike. So, it looks like it’s been fixed.
This worked for me, but yeah, Spotlight is not consistent across Windows 10. I’ve got it installed on more than 30 devices at work and it has randomly stopped working on some of them. Its a nice feature, but a terrible implementation.
Stop whining? Maybe don’t be an a-sh-le.
The reregistering trick did it for me, now let’s wait and see if it still works tomorrow…
Perfect, re-register solution worked beautifully!
Windows April update 2018 and this bug is still here! :(
Re-registering worked. Thanks.
PSA everyone: Make sure you PERMANENTLY delete the settings files. Just deleting them to the recycling bin did nothing for me; deleting them permanently reset my lock screen photo to a new one.
Does not work for me at all.
This works for me, along with running the PowerShell script. Thanks a lot!
Windows spotlight doesn’t work properly as intended. If you want an app that has functionality of what Windows spotlight should’ve done, I would recommend using “Dynamic Theme” from the Microsoft Store.
No, neither, nor both. None worked for me. Whuzup?
The really ridiculous thing about this is this:
All the program has to do is go to Bing, download a new image, and make it the new lock screen image.
Not exactly rocket science. So why is it so buggy?
Also, why doesn’t Microsoft just add a “Refresh Lock Screen Image” button to the Lock Screen page of the Settings app?
this is also work on my computer at work
the first soultion also works on my computer
Fixed it! After trying all the above nothing worked for me. Then I just thought about trying to turn on location and wooooo it worked.
This is the one I am stuck on, it is the WORST
Thank you, it works!
This indeed was the problem in my case. I changed the network connection from metered to normal and the spotlight issue got fixed. However it took almost 3 days for it to start pulling new images. Thanks for your suggestion.
I think it finally worked. It didn’t work initially until I rebooted again.
Great tutorial. This worked for me, although it may help to also include the extra steps about deleting all assets images first as well. Multiple attempts may be required of different fixes to get spotlight to work.