Personalization Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 11

Ser0o8 · Oct 20, 2022

I've applied all the steps but unfortunately didn't work for me.

Bree · Oct 20, 2022

Taoufik996 said:
I've applied all the steps but unfortunately didn't work for me.

Be patient. It can take up to 24 hours for Spotlight to get its first new image after a reset.

cineman195 · Oct 23, 2022

Somehow Spotlight doesn't seem to work on my windows 11, whereas it works flawlessly in my windows 10 installation

SMC Global · Apr 13, 2023

Applied your patch .bat file to my Desktop as you instructed and for me, it fixed the corrupt Windows Spotlight file. The problem occurs when we visit bad websites. My system has caught many trojan files but they can infiltrate windows system files such as Spotlight even after being quarantined.

Steve C · Apr 20, 2023

My Windows Spotlight stopped working and just shows the fixed blue picture. I reset using the batch file in this tutorial. On restart, the lock screen was a plain gray background but it soon changed back to the fixed blue picture (see screenshot). What's going on here?

SMC Global · Apr 20, 2023

Steve C said:
My Windows Spotlight stopped working and just shows the fixed blue picture. I reset using the batch file in this tutorial. On restart, the lock screen was a plain gray background but it soon changed back to the fixed blue picture (see screenshot). What's going on here?
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Go to 'Get Help' and seek 'Contact Support' who will try to resolve your issue with remote viewing.

Steve C · Apr 20, 2023

SMC Global said:
Go to 'Get Help' and seek 'Contact Support' who will try to resolve your issue with remote viewing.

I ended up just restoring from my Reflect backup up from an hour ago. I'm configuring a new PC and a failed attempt to uninstall MS Flight Simulator 2002 must have screwed something up. I've learned to backup frequently as I configure a new PC!

SMC Global · Apr 20, 2023

Steve C said:
I ended up just restoring from my Reflect backup up from an hour ago. I'm configuring a new PC and a failed attempt to uninstall MS Flight Simulator 2002 must have screwed something up. I've learned to backup frequently as I configure a new PC!

Always do a 'System Image Backup'. Its an entire and complete copy of the whole hard drive, including all your movies/music/photos.

SMC Global · Apr 20, 2023

Steve C said:
I ended up just restoring from my Reflect backup up from an hour ago. I'm configuring a new PC and a failed attempt to uninstall MS Flight Simulator 2002 must have screwed something up. I've learned to backup frequently as I configure a new PC!

Run this .bat file that worked for my Windows 11.

Brink · Apr 20, 2023

SMC Global said:
Run this .bat file that worked for my Windows 11.

Hello,

Same as what the BAT in the tutorial does.

SMC Global · Apr 20, 2023

Brink said:
Hello,

Same as what the BAT in the tutorial does.

Slight variation...

:: Created by: Peter James
:: Created on: March 13, 2023

:: Re-register Windows Spotlight
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *ContentDeliveryManager*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

:: Reset Windows Spotlight
DEL /F /S /Q /A "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets"
DEL /F /S /Q /A "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings"

:: Re-register Windows Spotlight
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *ContentDeliveryManager*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

Brink · Apr 20, 2023

SMC Global said:
Slight variation...

True. It re-registers twice, but shouldn't make any difference.

Steve C · Apr 21, 2023

Brink said:
True. It re-registers twice, but shouldn't make any difference.

The batch file also didn't work. It only took 2 minutes to restore from Reflect backup!

Steve C · Apr 21, 2023

This problem happened again on another PC using the same MS account and on my new PC again. Whatever I do, I see this image despite having Spotlight enabled. What's happening?

LockScreen_9e2fc6b1239b46b7bf28cafc860d4582278765d9b80e84fd3e4617cbb0730ed0.jpg

SMC Global · Apr 21, 2023

Steve C said:
This problem happened again on another PC using the same MS account and on my new PC again. Whatever I do, I see this image despite having Spotlight enabled. What's happening?
View attachment 58404

That's your Personalisation > Background for Spotlight. toggle it to Picture instead, mine shows the same image if you toggle back to Spotlight. The important section is Personalisation > Lock screen. Ensure that is always set to Windows spotlight. The image will change here, once everyday on startup.

Steve C · Apr 21, 2023

I now 3 PCs showing that blue screen but only for accounts using my main Microsoft account. All are set to Spotlight and I haven't changed anything. I've ret Spotlight but the issue remains. It's weird it only happens for the same Microsoft account.

SMC Global · Apr 21, 2023

The Lock screen Personalisation > Lock screen will change every day to a new photo. I can't make out why you are having issues. Personalisation > Background is also shown in these examples.

Delaxio · Apr 27, 2023

I lost my lockscreen (only place where I use it ) Spotlight some months ago and it has never came back. I tried A LOT of steps and it seems to never work again.