Windows Spotlight broken, not downloading images

evus · 09 Jul 2017

Hello guys, I tried to use Windows Spotlight as my lock screen default, but it seems that something is corrupted in my user profile.
What I have done and discovered:

- I tried everything suggested on this forum, like this howto (Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10 Windows 10 Customization Tutorials ), but with no luck.

- when I select Spotlight the preview screen stays grey and there's always a spinning wheel.

- my "AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\StagedAsse ts" directory contains only 0 kB files and the real images are not created into "AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets "

- Spotlight works if I create a new user, but not with the current one, these are the regedit keys, please note that everything remains blank when I select Spotlight.

Windows Spotlight broken, not downloading images-capture.png

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

dalchina · 09 Jul 2017

When it's broken, it can be really hard to get it working again, if at all.

You can have a look at this and see if there are any clues:
Spotlight not working - reg entries point to non-existent image files.

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalSt ate\Assets

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen\Creative

%AppData%\..\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Localstate\Assets \

Upon checking the "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_<somerandomchar acters>\LocalState\Assets" folder for the images, I could see that the content was being downloaded correctly. When I deleted the files new ones would appear. If I changed one of the larger files to have a .jpg extension I could open the image and it was fine, but no amount of changing available settings would make Spotlight work correctly.

I resorted to checking the registry myself for something obvious and found the "hkey_current_user\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\lock screen" location. With the Windows Spotlight feature enabled I noticed that under the "Creative" sub-key the locations for the Windows Spotlight images are set. For me the "LandscapeAssetPath" and the "PortraitAssetPath" were set to an image file name that didn't exist and if I turned Spotlight off and on again it would set the same incorrect image file name each time.

I located a correct landscape image and manually updated the regkey accordingly (note: the directory path to my profile was correct its just the image file name that was wrong). After doing this Windows Spotlight started to work. "WIN-L" once again displayed an image! I have turned Spotlight off and on again in the "Settings - Personalisation - Lock Screen" menu and it displays a new image each time. Also I "Didnt Like" one of the images and it immediately changed it to a new one.

I am using a standard laptop so I can't say if the same fix applies to Portrait mode.

Windows 10 Lock Screen Spotlight not working - Microsoft Community

evus · 09 Jul 2017

Nope, unfortunately no clue that worked for me in that article.

Bree · 09 Jul 2017

dalchina said:

When it's broken, it can be really hard to get it working again, if at all.

Tell me about it

My Spotlight broke after I answered 'Yes' to 'Do you like what you see?' It got stuck on that picture until I got heartily sick of seeing it. I tried to 'un-like' it in the registry - that just made matters worse. In the end, the only thing that fixed Spotlight for me was an in-place repair install.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade

evus · 19 May 2018

So after a year I made a slight progress, now images are downloaded, hooray!
In the past I had disabled "Edge" and "Settings" in the Privacy/Background apps section of PC Settings, I switched them back on and voilà, images are downloaded into Assets folder!

Unfortunately, even if I enable Windows Spotlight my registry Creative section remains empty, probably corrupt... sigh.

Bree · 19 May 2018

Welcome back @evus :)

A lot has change over this last year, not least of which were the 'creative' twins, 1703 and 1709 - now replaced by the 'creatively' named April 2018 Update, 1803.

So which version are you on now? And did you update to each, or clean install?

For Spotlight, it has been a mixed year. What appeared relatively reliably in 1703 on the lock screen, the sign in screen, but never at start up (2 out of 3 ain't bad), got a mixed update in 1709.

In 1709 it finally achieved the hat-trick and showed at start up too - but got more 'fragile' and regularly stopped updating images. Never worked out why, but suspect it broke when it ran out of pictures if I had metered connection turned on. Turning it off didn't fix it, just stayed 'broke'.

I regularly had to Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10. Brink's tutorial got it working again every time - if you haven't already, try it yourself.

So far in 1803 it hasn't missed a beat. but early days yet - I only updated to 1803 on 30th April :)

swarfega · 19 May 2018

I've cheated the system by installing Daily Bing Wallpaper app. It doesnt always match every day and doesnt have localised version.

AndreTen · 19 May 2018

You could also try Dynamic theme. It's available via MS Store (just search for it). Besides Spotlight on lock screen, you can sync your background with it, download history etc...

evus · 22 May 2018

OK, I finally fixed it, this time the Reset_and_re-register_Windows_Spotlight.bat managed to fix it!
So, as a future reference:
- be sure to have "Microsoft Edge" and "Settings" apps enabled in PC Settings/Privacy/Background apps
- run that script

Marking it as solved!

Bree · 22 May 2018

evus said:

OK, I finally fixed it, this time the Reset_and_re-register_Windows_Spotlight.bat managed to fix it!

thought that would do the trick, always did for me. You still on 1709, I guess?

So, as a future reference:
- be sure to have "Microsoft Edge" and "Settings" apps enabled in PC Settings/Privacy/Background apps
- run that script

Not sure why you needed those background apps, I've had success with them turned off. But doesn't hurt to cover all bases.

The one thing that's essential (and that I tend to forget) before running the script is to set the Lock Screen to anything other than Spotlight. Oh, that and a little patience, it can take a while for Spotlight to get going again after the reset.