Fix Windows Spotlight Lock Screen Picture Not Changing

Windows Spotlight is a Windows 10 feature that displays various images on your screen after locking your computer. The images are automatically downloaded from Bing.

You can mark whether you like a particular image or not. Depending on your preferences, Windows Spotlight will show you more or fewer images of that kind.

Sometimes, the Windows Spotlight lock screen gets stuck on the same picture. Even if you reboot your computer multiple times, Windows Spotlight fails to replace the existing image with a new one.

My Windows Spotlight Lock Screen Image Won’t Change

Let Apps Run in the Background

Before trying any complicated methods, make sure your computer lets apps run in the background.

1. Go to Settings → Privacy.
2. Then scroll down to Background apps (left-hand pane).
3. Turn on the option that lets apps run in the background.
4. Next, go to Settings → Personalization.
5. Select Lock screen and enable Windows Spotlight.
6. Lock your computer and check if the lock screen is still stuck on the same image.

Disable Metered Internet Connections

If your Internet connection is configured as metered, Windows Spotlight won’t download the images from Bing. That might explain why the lock screen is stuck on the same picture.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Then select Network and Internet.
3. Select your network and scroll down to Metered connection.
4. Disable this option and restart your computer.
5. Then lock your screen to check if this method solved the problem.

Reset Windows Spotlight

1. Go to Settings.
2. Navigate to Personalization.
3. Click on the Lock screen option.
4. Locate the Background option.
5. If Windows Spotlight is selected, change the settings and select Picture or Slideshow instead.
6. Then, press the Windows and R keys simultaneously.
7. In the new Run window, enter this path:
   • %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets
8. Delete all the files stored in that folder. These are old lock screen images.
9. Next, open your Windows Spotlight settings by entering this path in a new Run window:
   • %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings
10. Locate and right-click on the following settings: settings.dat and roaming.lock. Rename both these files to settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak, respectively.
11. After you did that, reboot your machine.
12. Go back to Settings → Personalization → Lock screen.
13. Enable Windows Spotlight.
14. Lock your screen and check if Windows Spotlight is now displaying new images.

Note: Be patient; wait 10 or 30 minutes before jumping to the next solution. It may take up to 30 minutes for the Assets folder to repopulate.

Reset Spotlight Settings Using PowerShell

If the previous method did not yield positive results, try resetting your Windows Spotlight settings using Powershell.

1. The first step is to go to Settings → Personalization → Lock screen.
2. Then enable Windows Spotlight.
3. Next, launch PowerShell (administrator).
4. Enter the following command:
   • Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach {Add-AppxPackage “$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode -register }
5. After resetting ContentDelivery, reboot your computer.
6. Lock your device and check if the Spotlight image is different now.

Notes:

Some users suggested that changing the region settings to the United States may fix this problem.

Other users managed to fix this issue by installing .NET Framework 3.5. To do this, go to the Start menu and search for ‘Turn Windows features on or off.’ Check the NET Framework 3.5 checkbox.

Did you manage to fix Windows Spotlight? Let us know in the comments below.