Windows Spotlight no longer working on Lock Screen

Hello Heidixje,

Do you use a local account in Windows and do you use OneDrive? Then it's a known bug that affects a lot of users. I'm also affected since months. Several clean installs of Windows didn't help. Known workarounds do not work. User Danilo Bonamoneta discovered the problem is related to the use of a local account in Windows in combination with OneDrive and Windows Spotlight. I think he's right. He wrote in a post:

'I discovered that the problem is related to logging into OneDrive. If you delete your Microsoft account credentials from the Credential Manager, and also delete all the cache files in this path "%localappdata%\Microsoft\TokenBroker\Cache", Spotlight starts working again, but OneDrive, if it is still connected, will work for a few hours after which it will ask you to re-enter your credentials, creating the block again. The alternative is to enter the credentials into the Windows account, since the problem only occurs if the Windows user is a local account. Has Microsoft decided to block the functionality for those who do not use a Microsoft account in Windows? They have been pushing for a long time to prevent the use of local accounts.'

Hello,

Do you use a local account in Windows and do you use OneDrive? Then it's a known bug that affects a lot of users. I'm also affected since months. Several clean installs of Windows didn't help. Known workarounds do not work. User Danilo Bonamoneta discovered the problem is related to the use of a local account in Windows in combination with OneDrive and Windows Spotlight. I think he's right. He wrote in a post:

'I discovered that the problem is related to logging into OneDrive. If you delete your Microsoft account credentials from the Credential Manager, and also delete all the cache files in this path "%localappdata%\Microsoft\TokenBroker\Cache", Spotlight starts working again, but OneDrive, if it is still connected, will work for a few hours after which it will ask you to re-enter your credentials, creating the block again. The alternative is to enter the credentials into the Windows account, since the problem only occurs if the Windows user is a local account. Has Microsoft decided to block the functionality for those who do not use a Microsoft account in Windows? They have been pushing for a long time to prevent the use of local accounts.'

Hello Heidixje,

Do you use a local account in Windows and do you use OneDrive? Then it's a known bug that affects a lot of users. I'm also affected since months. Several clean installs of Windows didn't help. Known workarounds do not work. User Danilo Bonamoneta discovered the problem is related to the use of a local account in Windows in combination with OneDrive and Windows Spotlight. I think he's right. He wrote in a post:

'I discovered that the problem is related to logging into OneDrive. If you delete your Microsoft account credentials from the Credential Manager, and also delete all the cache files in this path "%localappdata%\Microsoft\TokenBroker\Cache", Spotlight starts working again, but OneDrive, if it is still connected, will work for a few hours after which it will ask you to re-enter your credentials, creating the block again. The alternative is to enter the credentials into the Windows account, since the problem only occurs if the Windows user is a local account. Has Microsoft decided to block the functionality for those who do not use a Microsoft account in Windows? They have been pushing for a long time to prevent the use of local accounts.'

same problem and i am really sick of this

I just noticed that on one of my pc there are 4 different user accounts (one per family member) and spotlight is broken just for me but  works perfectly fine for the other 3.

You could try creating a new account and check if spotlight works ok for the new one. That would narrow down a lot the possible causes. I'm currently investigating if I can find what's the relevant difference between my broken account and one that works.

Same for me, on 2 different win11 PCs (both dell). Maybe after some recent windows update (it used to work fine until a few days ago). Spotlight works fine for background, but not for the lock screen. Even the lock screen preview form the Settings page just shows the default blue-ish background. Tried everything already mentioned in forums and/or suggested by GenAI (mostly wrong stuff): like reregistering components and/or clearing chace of ContentDeliveryManager and LockApp components, sfc/scannow, switch to a single picture and back to spotlight, switching "metered" flag of the connection, checking the ".dat" association, etc. Nothing worked.

Bonjour, idem pour moi avec Asus Vivobook, as-tu Microsoft Visual C++ dans tes Applications installées  ?                           

Go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

Make sure Background is set to Windows spotlight.

Check if Allow Windows to show me Spotlight images is enabled.

Turn Show lock screen status off and on again.

Hello,

Sometimes upgrading to a newer version or performing repair upgrade may help. Microsoft offers a support article for this:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-issues-by-reinstalling-the-current-version-of-windows-497ac6da-7cac-4641-82a5-f50398d879a0

Also, see if other suggestions in this fix helps you: 

https://www.kapilarya.com/fix-windows-spotlight-not-working-in-windows-11

Let us know if this helps!

Note: Included link in this reply refers to blog post by a trusted Microsoft MVP.