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Okiki's avatar
Okiki
Copper Contributor
Sep 04, 2026

Windows 11 Spotlight stopped working on one user profile – works on another profile

I am experiencing a Windows Spotlight issue on my Windows 11 laptop and would like assistance identifying the cause. System information: Windows 11 Home Version 25H2 OS Build 26200.8973 HP Envy ...
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configuration
device management
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david_miller48's avatar
david_miller48
Copper Contributor
Sep 05, 2026

Your Spotlight state lives in two places: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager for the subscription flags, and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\ for the actual data, meaning LocalState\Assets and Settings. Resetting or re-registering the package rebuilds the app but leaves both of those completely untouched, so your stale state just gets handed right back. That's why it keeps failing on this profile and works fine on a new one.

Fix is to clear it properly. Lock screen to Picture, fully close Settings (it locks the files), empty out LocalState\Assets, rename Settings to Settings.old, reboot, then switch back to Spotlight. Back the reg key up first. Give it a few hours before you judge it sometimes it's 15 minutes, sometimes most of a day.

Worth knowing: there's no official Microsoft repair procedure for this, EmptyCreative isn't a documented error state, and it's not on the 25H2 known-issues list something to take a note.