Spotlight is one of the best-inbuilt features that are available in Windows 10. Its an option for the lock screen background images which display different background images through Bing. Moreover, Spotlight helps you from getting notifications from selected apps that are displayed on the lock screen. However, many users stated that Spotlight is not a good performing feature as there are instances when the image gets suck in the lock screen or the Windows Spotlight Not Working.
How to Fix Windows Spotlight Not Working Error in Windows 10
Windows Spotlight Not Working error may be due to a number of reasons. Either your Spotlight folder itself is corrupted or the other settings which are enabled might be blocking your application. If you are the one who is facing Windows Spotlight Not Working issue then don’t worry. In this article, we have discussed several solutions from which you can try and sort it out.
Solution 1: Re-selecting Spotlight
Well if you are concerned about the issues regarding Spotlight feature in Windows 10 then the foremost thing and the best solution before getting into technical solutions is by re-enabling Spotlight. It’s actually activating and configuring the Spotlight application again. Now, you can try and apply this solution to your PC from the below steps.
Step 1: In the Start Menu, type “Settings” in the search box.
Step 2: From the list of different system settings go to “Personalization” settings.
Step 3: Under the Personalization settings, select the Lock Screen option which is on the left side of the screen.
Step 4: Now, select Pictures from the drop-down menu of Lock Screen and be patient so that the picture will be previewed completely in the preview window.
Step 5: Similarly, from the drop-down menu of Lock Screen do the same thing for Windows Spotlight.
Step 6: Get back to the Desktop and Re-start your system to check if Windows Spotlight is working or not.
Solution 2: Disable Mail and Calendar
Lock Screen appears when you lock your system or when it gets locked automatically during a period of inactivity. By default, the Lock screen shows app notifications from your preferred applications but you can also disable them for your privacy. In order to turn them off, here are the steps that are shown to configure.
Step 1: From the Start Menu navigates to the “Weather” settings.
Step 2: In the weather settings window, click on the Settings icon.
Step 3: Now, go to the General tab and look for the “Launch Location” setting. In this, you need to make sure it is set to “Default Location”.
Step 4: Close the above weather application and come back to the Lock screen settings. Over here, click on the Mail icon and change the status of the app to “None”. Similarly, do the above process for Calender.
Step 5: After all the changes, uncheck the option which says “Show lock screen background on the sign-in screen”.
Step 6: Finally, restart your system and check if Spotlight is back to its normal working state.
Solution 3: Delete Spotlight Folder Contents
This is probably another option that one can try that is by deleting the contents from the Spotlight folder. By doing this, when you enable the Spotlight back, the Windows will be alerted that the folder’s contents are missing. It will try updating the folder automatically with all the necessary configurations. So, follow the below steps to know how to delete the folder contents:
Step 1: In the Start menu, type “Settings” in the search box.
Step 2: From the list of different system settings go to “Personalization” settings.
Step 3: Under the Personalization settings, select the Lock Screen option which is on the left side of the screen.
Step 4: Now, select Pictures from the drop-down menu of Lock Screen and be patient so that the picture will be previewed completely in the preview window.
Step 5: Get back from the settings and navigate to the below-mentioned file location. Make sure that you replace the user with your profile’s username.
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings
Step 6: Go to File Explorer and click on “View” to check the option stating “Hidden items”. This will show up all the items in the folder.
Step 7: You need to Delete all the contents in the Folder and exit File Explorer.
Solution 4: Delete the Assets Folder
If deleting the Folders alone didn’t resolve your problem then try deleting the Assets folder too.
Step 1: Once Windows Spotlight is disabled go to the following file location. Before that make sure that you replace the user with your profile’s username.
C:\<USER>\ibrah\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets
Step 2: Now, you have to delete all the contents from the Assets folder and restart your computer.
Hopefully, this solution must resolve your problem with Spotlight.
Solution 5: Disabling Proxy Settings
Proxy reroutes your internet traffic through a remote server and hides your IP address. However, we highly prefer you to disable the proxy and VPN as they sometimes obstruct some applications. Also, Windows Spotlight doesn’t download images on a proxy or VPN server. Follow the below steps and disable the proxy settings.
Step 1: Click on the Start menu, type Proxy in the search bar.
Step 2: In the list of options, select Configure proxy server.
Step 3: In the new pop-up window that opens click on LAN Settings.
Step 4: Then just uncheck the box of ‘Use a Proxy Server for your LAN’.
Step 5: Click OK which will save your changes to the settings.
Step 6: Now re-open the Spotlight and see if you are able to download images on Spotlight.
Solution 6: Create a Local Account
It is said that the user profile with which you are trying to open Spotlight is now corrupt or might not have certain privileges which tend to give you Windows Spotlight not working error. So, in this case, to solve the issue many users said that by creating a new local account they were able to deploy the error. Now, without getting delayed, follow these steps to create a new local account.
Step 1: From the settings, go to Accounts and other users.
Step 2: Now click on “Family and other users” options from the window.
Step 3: Then click on “Add someone else to this PC”.
Step 4: When the new Window appears click “I don’t have this person sign-in information”.
Step 5: Then select the option “Add a user without a Microsoft account”.
Step 6: You need to enter all the details and click the Next button.
Step 7: Now, close all the tabs and again navigate to Your Account from the Settings.
Step 8: You need to “Sign in with a local account instead”, enter the username along with password and click Next.
Step 9: After all the changes, Close all the applications and Reboot your computer. Lastly, open Spotlight and check for error.
Solution 7: Run System Maintenance Troubleshooter
Sometimes you will download different types of software and applications to complete your work. So, there is a probability that these applications may get interrupted with Windows Spotlight and thus it may lead to some issues. So, you can try running the system maintenance troubleshooter and get the Spotlight back o working.
Step 1: Click the Run dialog box from the Start menu, type “Control Panel” in its search box, and then hit Enter.
Step 2: In the list of options, look for “Troubleshoot” and select it.
Step 3: In the Troubleshooter window, click on “View all” which is located on the left side of the window. With this, all the troubleshooters are popped up on the screen.
Step 4: Select the “System Maintenance” option from the list.
Step 5: From System Maintenance troubleshooter window, firstly, go to Advanced and click the option “Run as administration”. Secondly, check the option that stating “Apply repairs automatically”.
Step 6: If the Windows finds any errors, the system will notify you and will resolve them without your interruption.
Step 7: Lastly, Restart your system and check if your Spotlight is working or not.
Solution 8: Re-register Spotlight
After all these solutions, if you are still facing a problem with Windows Spotlight then try reregistering Spotlight.
Step 1: In the Start menu type “Cortana” and hit the enter key.
Step 2: From the list of settings select “Cortana and search settings”.
Step 3: You need to uncheck all the options in the settings menu which will turn off the action of Cortana on your computer.
Step 4: Now, go back to the Start menu and type “Lock screen” and open the first setting option which comes up.
Step 5: Select “Picture” from the drop-down menu which is under the lock screen settings to review the picture and close the settings window.
Step 6: Lastly, type “PowerShell” in the same dialog box of the Start menu and open the settings of Powershell by running it as administrator.
Step 7: When you are in the Powershell execute the following list of commands and press Enter after each command.
dism /online /cleanup-image /restore health
sfc /scannow
powershell
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like "*SystemApps*"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
Step 8: The above commands will refresh the installation of Windows Spotlight. Now you need to Re-enable Cortana by following the above steps.
Step 9: Lastly, Re-enable Windows Spotlight from the lock screen settings.
Solution 9: Use Dynamic Theme (Alternative to Spotlight)
Perhaps, you have not gone through the latest Windows update due to which you might be facing issues with Spotlight. Also, many users reported that they were able to resolve the issue after the latest update in Windows. However, if Spotlight in your system is still not working then try using another application called Dynamic Theme. This application is said to be the best alternative to Spotlight. Follow the below steps to get the application.
Step 1: Press the “Windows + S” Key combination to open the Start menu.
Step 2: From its search box, type “Store” and hit Enter.
Step 3: After opening the store, type “Dynamic Theme” in the search bar and click on the foremost application from the listed results.
Step 4: Now, you can download and install the application.
Step 5: Just like Spotlight, Dynamic Theme helps you to download images from Bing which will be put in your Lock screen. Also, if you are willing to download Windows Spotlight images on your system, navigate to the “Daily Windows Spotlight image” and select the option from the Lock screen.
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Conclusion
In this article, we have listed out the best possible solutions to make your Spotlight is working without any issues. I personally, got rid of the issues by following one of the above solutions. So, I hope this article will you too and make your Lock screen look attractive with high-resolution images.
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