The "Windows spotlight" picture on my desktop computer has not changed in days

For a few years now I have had the image for the Lock screen of both my computers (desktop and laptop) set to "Windows spotlight".  I am accustomed to having that picture -- often of beautiful "scenics", and often of lighthouses -- change every few days.  Now all of a sudden the lock screen picture of the desktop computer has remained unchanging for more than a week, perhaps even two weeks.  It's a beautiful photo of the center of Bruges, a city in Belgium (I've been there).  I have nothing against the picture, quite the contrary, but do wonder that it has not changed in so many days.  I note that during the same time period the "Windows spotlight" picture on my laptop has continued to change in the familiar way.

Is there some reason for this?  There has been no change in the lock screen setting on either computer.

Windows spotlight is quite flimsy and tends to break by itself. Create a batch file pasting the following commands...

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"

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

Echo System will be restarted now...
pause
shutdown -r -t 0

 

The procedure is as follows:

1. Change Windows Spotlight image to another option (image, slideshow).

2. Reboot

3. Run the batch file.

4. Change Windows spotlight as default

5. Reboot

6. Cross your fingers.

If it still doesn't work you may need to invoke Windows Update or run sfc /scannow. Sometimes you need to run the batch file more than once.

I have also noticed that the pictures do not change as often as they used to do. Sometimes it goes for several days.

This little non-problem has resolved itself in a way I did not expect (but should have).  First I tried, as suggested, setting something else as the lock screen image source.  I chose a file folder, containing a series of ,my own photos (of my own Chinese cooking).  The system would not accept that, and instead presented me with what I think was the Windows default, a folder of images of a well known rocky beach on the South Island of New Zealand.  At that point I went to bed.  In the morning I found the computer had shifted to my chosen folder for the lock screen, but was presenting me with superimposed fragments of several images from that folder, rather than any one coherent image.  Oops.  It was a mess, and I hastily backtracked.  Then I realized that every few times a Windows Spotlight image appears, Windows asks if you like it.  If you say "No" you are shown a different image.  I did that, and bingo I had instead of Bruges the "Tre cime di Lavaredo" (3 peaks of Lavaredo, in the Dolomites of northern Italy, when I did a lot of skiing during the years I lived nearby in Bavaria).  Since then the Windows Spotlight picture has changed every couple of days.  Since now it ain't broke, I propose not to mess with it.

I will be curious to see whether the gorgeous Bruges photo is served me again at some later point, or whether I have lost it forever (which would be a pity).  I suppose time will tell (maybe).

.

Hello. Make sure options -> privacy -> background apps is ENABLED, even if all tickmarks are off.

Thanks!  I obviously need to know more about all this -- at the moment I seem to be swimming over my head.  Where to find those switches?

Correction: the Dolomites is WHERE I did a lot of skiing during the years I lived in nearby Bavaria.  I typed "where", the "auto-correct" changed it to "when" (incorrect) and I didn't catch it before hitting "send".

I am out of my depth here -- please, where do I find "options -> privacy -> background apps"?

I have made no changes other than those described.

BTW the lock screen is still set to Windows Spotlight and the image still changes every couple of days, even though I "like" each successive Spotlight image when it first appears -- as I have always done except for those very few occasions when I actually disliked an image.  I did not dislike the Bruges image, quite the contrary, but "disliking" it was what finally and instantly restored the normal behavior of the Spotlight.

OK I have been through all the suggestions on the links with no success. Some of the specified locations do not exist on my machine. Maybe because they refer to Win 10 not 11. Not sure.

I have now spent so much time on this that I am leaving it as it is until I have some time to do a Windows clean reinstall.

Thanks to everyone who tried to helpp.

Very interesting.  I haven't kept exact track of timings, but that could agree with my Windows 10 experience too (see below).

As noted, I "solved" this problem by "not liking" the beautiful photo of Bruges (in Belgium, I have been there).  Since then the Windows Spotlight image has again changed frequently (most recently, this morning).  So far I have no further complaint on this subject.  At one point it worried me by showing a Chinese crop field for, I think, 3 days.  I rigorously abstained from again "liking" that image (but did not say "no" to liking it, either), and in due course it changed without further input from me.  It has changed again several times since then.

On my Windows 10 system  the Windows Spotlight image continues to change with a "reasonable" frequency.  The only "abnormality" I continue to notice is that a couple of images have reappeared that I had seen just a couple of weeks ago.  Perhaps random, perhaps not, time will tell.  Pending a clear result one way or the other, which might take some time to become obvious, I propose to watch but not to worry.  Accordingly, I may probably not past again until/unless there's something new to report.

Ack, not POST again . . . 

I seem to be back to relatively "normal" frequent changes of the Windows Spotlight image.  I do notice, however, that a certain few images seem to keep coming back with what I might call "unseemly" frequency.  If that continues, should I consider running the batch file in Post #2?

I am not sure where to find the settings mentioned in Post #5?

Seems is a usually thing : https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/windows_spotlight_lock_screen_is_stuck_on_the_same_picture.html

Do not use Spotlight or lock screen so no idea.

On my system, certain few images seem to appear with unusual and "inappropriate" frequency.  Sometimes the picture does not match the text.  Question arising: is this a case of "grin and bear it" or is there something I can do (as in Post #2) to restore a more "normal" Spotlight function?

If you like Microsoft giving you pictures and knowing what you like then your good to go till a new version or a update for it.   It is 1st thing to go, screensavers and wallpaper changers bust things or themselves.

Some interesting topics turned up that maybe worth browsing : https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=what+information+from+using+windows+spotlight+does+microsoft+get