Windows 10: Why does Windows Spotlight lock screen keep getting stuck, over and over again?

So the Windows Spotlight lock screen keeps getting stuck every couple of weeks lately. I know that this solution will work to get it unstuck:


https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hello/windows-spotlight-lock-screen-picture-wont-change/443cc26c-29f1-4481-80c9-6fb7130f6191?auth=1


However, I have to keep running this solution every few weeks over again! I used to have to resort to this solution once every year or two in the past, but now it's every few weeks.


I notice that whenever this problem happens, the settings.dat file is about 256 KB in size, but when it's running properly, it's only 128 KB.

:)

 

Windows Spotlight on the lock screen

Hi,

There are multiple causes on why you're encountering this issue. To further troubleshoot the issue, we suggest that you disable and re-enable Spotlight. Simply follow the steps below:

• Right-click on the desktop and open Personalize.
• Open Lock Screen tab.
• Under Background, switch from Windows Spotlight to a Picture or the Slideshow.
• Click OK and close the Window.
• Now Log off and log in.
• Navigate to Lock screen and enable Windows Spotlight again.

Let us know how it works.

 

Spotlight

Hi,

Windows spotlight is an option for the lock screen background that displays different background images and occasionally offers suggestions on the lock screen. For us to better isolate your concern, we'd like to gather more information:

• Is there a way for you to provide us a screenshot?
• Have you made any recent changes before this issue occur?
• Are you able to use spotlight before?

Meanwhile, we suggest that you follow these steps to modify Lock screen background to spotlight:

• Open Settings.
• Click Personalization and select Lock screen.
• Under Background, choose Windows spotlight.

Keep us posted if you need additional help.

 

Windows Spotlight/Lock screen

Hi, after many attempts, I got Spotlight back up and running. 'Like what you see' had disappeared, and the image wasn't changing when Spotlight was selected.

I'm not sure which of this sequence proved effective. Maybe some combination.

Note:
1. Spotlight worked in another account if I switched to it.
2. Deleting all images (they are jpg's with no extension) in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assetsdid not solve the problem but the folder was repopulated when I enabled Spotlight. (Some report this not happening).

3. Simply switching to Picture from Spotlight, and back again and trying the Lock screen did not help
4. Re-registering all apps for the current account as suggested in one post did not help. (Note- there's no specific registration instruction related to Spotlight in the tutorial list).

5. What worked? Finally, I made a random decision to 'Choose an app to show detailed status' (on the lock screen). I chose Weather.
This worked.

What stopped it working? I think possibly disabling the lock screen using Winaero's tweaker, then enabling it again.