Personalization Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 11


Windows_Spotlight_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to reset and re-register Windows Spotlight for your account in Windows 11.

In Windows 11, you can have Windows Spotlight as a theme and display different background images on your desktop and lock screen, and occasionally offers suggestions on the lock screen.

If Windows Spotlights stops working and/or stops changing the background image, you can reset and re-register Windows Spotlight to fix it.


Windows Spotlight will not work while connected to a metered network (ethernet or wireless), or in Battery Saver mode.

Windows Spotlight requires Background Apps to be turned on.


Sometimes it may take 24 to 48 hours after resetting for Windows Spotlight to sync again.


Another option is to use the Windows spotlight, dynamic images theme.



EXAMPLE: Windows Spotlight on Desktop and Lock screen

Windows_Spotlight_desktop_background.jpg
Windows_Spotlight_lock_screen.jpg



Here's How:

1 Change your desktop background to something other than Windows Spotlight. (see screenshot below)

This step is only available in Windows 11 build 22557 and higher.


www.elevenforum.com

Change Desktop Background to Spotlight, Picture, Solid Color, or Slideshow in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the desktop background to a picture, solid color, slideshow, or Windows Spotlight image for your account in Windows 11. You can change your desktop background in Windows 11 to be a picture, solid color, a slideshow, or Windows Spotlight...
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Windows_Spotlight_desktop_background-1.png

2 Change your lock screen background to something other than Windows Spotlight. (see screenshot below)

www.elevenforum.com

Change Lock Screen Background to Spotlight, Picture, or Slideshow in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the lock screen background to Windows Spotlight, a picture, or slideshow for your account in Windows 11. The lock screen (aka: welcome screen) is the screen you see at startup and when you lock (Win+L) the PC. You will need to dismiss the...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com

Windows_Spotlight_lock_screen_background-1.png

3 Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below.

Reset_and_re-register_Windows_Spotlight.zip​


(Contents of BAT file for reference)
Code: 
:: Reset Windows Spotlight
DEL /F /S /Q /A "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalCache\Microsoft\IrisService"
DEL /F /S /Q /A "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalCache\Microsoft\IrisService"
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 $manifest}"
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

4 Save the ZIP file to your desktop.

5 Unblock the ZIP file.

6 Extract the BAT file from the ZIP file.

7 Run the BAT file.

8 Restart the computer to apply.

9 After you sign in, you can change your desktop background back to Windows Spotlight if wanted. (see screenshot below)

This step is only available in Windows 11 build 22557 and higher.


www.elevenforum.com

Change Desktop Background to Spotlight, Picture, Solid Color, or Slideshow in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the desktop background to a picture, solid color, slideshow, or Windows Spotlight image for your account in Windows 11. You can change your desktop background in Windows 11 to be a picture, solid color, a slideshow, or Windows Spotlight...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com

Windows_Spotlight_desktop_background-2.png

10 Change your lock screen background back to Windows Spotlight if wanted. (see screenshot below)

www.elevenforum.com

Change Lock Screen Background to Spotlight, Picture, or Slideshow in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the lock screen background to Windows Spotlight, a picture, or slideshow for your account in Windows 11. The lock screen (aka: welcome screen) is the screen you see at startup and when you lock (Win+L) the PC. You will need to dismiss the...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com

Windows_Spotlight_lock_screen_background-2.png


That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 

Attachments

Last edited:
Click to expand...
Brink said:
As a test, create a new account on the PC to see if "Windows Spotlight" works properly while signed in to that account.

If so, you could use that account instead.
Click to expand...
Yes, I also thought about it and created already and it looks to have exactly the same behavior there, but though I'm still checking.

What is really strange! I reset the Iris app and when I can choose Spotlight until it sets the new wallpaper in 24 hours, right after I block it in the group policy editor it is greyed out and set to Photo instantly! When I dismiss that policy I can choose Spotlight again instead of Photo...

By the way, I wanted to ask if it's possible that it's set to Photo because my Windows interface language is Russian even though the region is set to US?

The thing is that lock screen background Spotlight works only when I set English language in the first place of preferred languages in the Settings making all of the Microsoft Store apps to be displayed in English too. And the Spotlight interesting facts on lock screen are also in English in such case.

But when I reset the Iris app and it first shows the default backgrounds (from folder %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalCache\Microsoft\IrisService) it has that "Learn about this picture" button all in Russian, perhaps because of my system's interface language. Then, when after 24 hours it downloads a wallpaper for the desktop this button first disappears at all as it changes to Photo in Settings but when I try to set Spotlight again the button shows in English and it has those interesting facts for those 4 wallpapers it downloaded also in English.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
dmlev said:
By the way, I wanted to ask if it's possible that it's set to Photo because my Windows interface language is Russian even though the region is set to US?

The thing is that lock screen background Spotlight works only when I set English language in the first place of preferred languages in the Settings making all of the Microsoft Store apps to be displayed in English too. And the Spotlight interesting facts on lock screen are also in English in such case.

But when I reset the Iris app and it first shows the default backgrounds (from folder %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalCache\Microsoft\IrisService) it has that "Learn about this picture" button all in Russian, perhaps because of my system's interface language. Then, when after 24 hours it downloads a wallpaper for the desktop this button first disappears at all as it changes to Photo in Settings but when I try to set Spotlight again the button shows in English and it has those interesting facts for those 4 wallpapers it downloaded also in English.
Click to expand...

That could be a possibility. You could test this by also changing the default display language to US, but I would also had thought having the region set to US should be enough.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Brink said:
That could be a possibility. You could test this by also changing the default display language to US, but I would also had thought having the region set to US should be enough.
Click to expand...
Got it! Will try as this seems to be the last thing I can try if you don't know any other ways to resolve it! 🙂

Well as I see so far, it still greys out to Picture with GPEditor even with English UI, though I will still wait 24 hours until it downloads a new wallpaper just to make sure it will be the same issue...
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2025-03-23 204438.webp
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Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
Hi Brink, I'm here to confirm that the issue is still there (( The wallpapers have been just downloaded to both my user and the new one I created to test with English interface at the very beginning and both settings changed to Picture and staying on it even when I click Spotlight instead.

As I mentioned above I was trying to block it as Spotlight using GPEditor few times during this 24 hours it was going to set a wallpaper and it has been set to Picture every time I did that, though allowing me to set Spotlight again if I back allowed to change wallpaper in the GPEditor.

So, it looks like the OS interface language is not the reason of this issue for me. Don't know what else can I try ((

I'm afraid it can somehow disable it by real location, maybe?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
dmlev said:
Hi Brink, I'm here to confirm that the issue is still there (( The wallpapers have been just downloaded to both my user and the new one I created to test with English interface at the very beginning and both settings changed to Picture and staying on it even when I click Spotlight instead.

As I mentioned above I was trying to block it as Spotlight using GPEditor few times during this 24 hours it was going to set a wallpaper and it has been set to Picture every time I did that, though allowing me to set Spotlight again if I back allowed to change wallpaper in the GPEditor.

So, it looks like the OS interface language is not the reason of this issue for me. Don't know what else can I try ((

I'm afraid it can somehow disable it by real location, maybe?
Click to expand...

You could try doing a repair install below to hopefully fix it without losing anything.

www.elevenforum.com

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Unfortunately that will not help too. As I mentioned, I've just installed very recently my current OS and it's very clean version and this issue was present from the very beginning, right after installation. 😔

Thanks for you help anyway! If you ever have any new ideas I am happy to try.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
dmlev said:
Unfortunately that will not help too. As I mentioned, I've just installed very recently my current OS and it's very clean version and this issue was present from the very beginning, right after installation. 😔

Thanks for you help anyway! If you ever have any new ideas I am happy to try.
Click to expand...
Will do.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Hi Brink, also I wanted to add how it behaves when it stops working, though I don't know if it can help with anything to find the solution or not...

1) When it downloads and sets new wallpaper after the Iris is reset and 24 hours have past in Settings it is set to Picture though that new wallpaper is still left.
2) If I set to Spotlight again it show the Learn about this picture button on the desktop, but it switches to Picture instantly again even that button is left on the desktop (see image)
3) Also in the folder "%USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalCache\Microsoft\IrisService" there is only one numeric folder created with 9 images. As I saw this service creates more folders, though maybe does it only next time new wallpapers are downloaded...
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2025-03-25 224124.webp
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
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