Why is my lock screen on desktop plain blue today instead of the usual  

Instead of the usual images that were supposed to be on there, it was a plain blue background I never saw before. I didn't take a picture of it. And there was no way to take a screen shot of it either. But yet it was still talking about a bird and Darwin's island.

Bree said:

Actually there is....

Capture a Screenshot of your Lock Screen





Sounds like Spotlight was taking its time to process a newly received image and display it. Blue is the default lockscreen background until it gets replaced by your choice of image source. Usually that's so quick you don't notice, sometimes it's too slow and doesn't get round to displaying an image before you sign in. I've seen that occasionally, I expect it will be 'normal service resumed' next time round.

Okay. If it were to happen again the next time, what should I do? And why does Spotlight sometimes take it's time for? I never experienced this before in over three years of having this computer and just curious.

Bree said:

Generally I've only seen this after a forced hard shutdown (or a system crash). There's also the possibility that this particular Spotlight image is corrupted.

Do you get a blue lockscreen or the expected picture if you press WinKey+L ?

Wait a day or so for Spotlight to get another image. If it does, and displays it, then all is well. If not, try resetting Spotlight.


Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10

I got the expected picture.

Bree said:

Then that bodes well for it working normally next time you start up.

Had the PC just recovered from a BSoD when you got the blank lockscreen?

Not that I know of. I never experienced one with this one before. That I know of. Don't tell me that something is wrong with my computer. Is there?

Bree said:

Probably not, but look at your reliability history to check. A red saying 'Windows shut down unexpectedly' would indicate a problem.

View Reliability History in Windows 10

I know that I shut down my computer the right way last night. I went to the start menu, then clicked on shut down. The way that I've always done it. So, it might've been a simple glitch and probably shouldn't happen again? And not a sign of a bigger problem?