Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10  

What do the 1709 and 1803 signify?

TooLate 2020 said:

The answer is simple, once you know it! After trying all the fixes to resurrect Spotlight (Win10 Pro / 1709) which all resulted in failure, the simple answer was found: Settings > Privacy > Background Apps: Edge & Settings must be set to ON. Spotlight still doesn't work perfectly - but - another Win10 reset should fix the registry issues primarily with LockScreen > Creative which is basically empty. This is what was done:
Completely deleted: Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager (must have permission - easy way TakeOwnerShip Pro App) > restored (using PowerShell Admin. approach) Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager (no errors) > turned ON Edge & Settings (which had been set to off > clicked Win Key + L > Spotlight. Now, it's not perfect: Preview Blank, Options (Like What You See, etc.) don't appear on the login Spotlight but do appear when the Win Key+L is used to view Spotlight. Disclaimer: This worked for me...but...every user setup is different. Additionally, Spotlight appears to have been coded by the Mad Scientist featured on Robot Chicken!!!

TooLate 2020 said:

Update: Since the previous post on this issue where I stated: "Now, it's not perfect: Preview Blank, Options (Like What You See, etc.) don't appear on the login Spotlight but do appear when the Win Key+L is used to view Spotlight." Everything has righted itself...Spotlight Preview shows the current image, Like What You See, etc. appears, as it should, when the Spotlight Lockscreen is left on at log-in, can change the image to what is liked and that image changes to show new images. And, the ad notifications on the screen are gone - only links related to the image are shown. Guess it's true: Win10 OS works in mysterious ways....LOL

TooLate 2020 said:

"C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy" This is only what I deleted and reinstalled. Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode} "Like what you see" restored itself after a couple of system shutdowns / startups. "The problem eventually comes back." Yes...in my case used SpyProtector history delete function and Spotlight was gone along with the History Pane in IE11....restored Spotlight using my original process. Win10 is at best: fragile...doing anything out of the ordinary, can, and often does, result in unknown consequences.

This is my first post, I wanted to say thank you to Brinks and TooLate, since I was having the same issues that Lepa71 and Doogie were having.

I did not run the batch file, but did everything manually, delete content re-register Spotlight, I also played with the group policies. It's been a year on and off where i'll search for a solution. After doing all this, it's TooLate's post of privacy>background apps>Edge and Settings on.....BOOM!!! Instantly fixed all the issues.

The Spotlight image changed, I rebooted multiple times, even like the picture and it's still working, we'll see if the image changes tomorrow.

Thanks for all those who posted and reported back. I can put this issue to rest now.

Spotlight is an odd little thing.
For the moment it doesn't work, despite all the things i tried i found above (and elsewhere).
Now, it used to work on my previous install which dated back from somewhere in 2016 and was updated to 1804 over time.
But since last week i have a new fresh install (due to a new SSD) and i'm on version 1804 again after it updated but Spotlight on this setup is a no go. I get one picture and then that's it. No "Like what you see" etc... and the picture stays the same all the time.
If i run the bat file, it changes the picture after a reboot but then it stays fixed on that picture.
And this is with a fresh install on which one would think it should work. It doesn't.

ellellell1 said:

As always, a well-written tutorial. Especially helpful when all my devices are stuck on a single image.

That's for sure! ALWAYS, the man!

arc.msn.com need to be accessible as well.

I have 1803 and the tutorial didn't work for me.

The "Like what you see" and other tips aren't showing up. The image is the lake with red backpack. I'll see if it changes tomorrow.

I don't have Settings or Edge under Privacy Background Apps. They're just not there. Would that make a difference?