FIX: Windows Spotlight Not Working in Windows 10 (Solved)

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:

1. 1. Toggle the Let apps run in the background switch to ON.
   2. Under the Choose which apps can run in the Background, make sure that the following apps are allowed to run in Background:

• 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:

1. 1. Toggle the Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen switch to OFF.
   2. Change Background to Picture.

3. Now open Windows Explorer, copy/paste the following address in the address bar and hit Enter:

• %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings

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:

1. 1. Change Background to Windows Spotlight.
   2. Toggle the Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen switch to ON.

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:

1. 1. In the Search box type: cmd or command prompt
   2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.

4. Now give the below command to delete all Spotlight Images.

• DEL /F /S /Q /A "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets"

5. Then give the following command to delete the Spotlight settings.

• DEL /F /S /Q /A "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings"

6. Close Command Prompt.

7. Open PowerShell As Administrator. To do that:

1. 1. In the Search box type: powershell
   2. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.

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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Konstantinos Tsoukalas

Konstantinos is the founder and administrator of Wintips.org. Since 1995 he works and provides IT support as a computer and network expert to individuals and large companies. He is specialized in solving problems related to Windows or other Microsoft products (Windows Server, Office, Microsoft 365, etc.).

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