SOLVED

Windows Spotlight stops working at some point

Silver Contributor

So, i know this is a minor thing, but this is bugging me ever since Windows 10 was released. For so many versions i see this again an again when Windows Spotlight (random lock screen pictures) just stops working (or sometimes never works from the start) and just shows the same picture. What can be affecting it? I'm currently on 1903, the newest and greatest and after a few months of using it a few days ago it decided to get stuck on the same picture. The only thing i can think of is that i have uninstalled the problematic CU update they have released 09/03 i think, which caused high CPU usage from Search/Cortana and Start menu issues around the world. But i think picture changes still worked for about a day after that.

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Which update number was that? I never noticed anything like that on the few machines (old and new) that i have at home.
Microsoft must have released further updates to fix that by now.

Update number which caused original issue was KB4512941. After uninstalling it problem with Spotlight started. A few days ago came out newer update KB4515384. After installing it issues with Start menu and Outlook appeared again. This time instead of uninstalling it i just did System Restore to 09/04 date. After doing this it still shows that KB4515384 is installed and no updates are needed, but issues with Start menu and Outlook are fixed now and Spotlight started working again. I guess something got corrupted when KB4512941 was first uninstalled (which is a standard procedure actually) and System Restore cleaned this up.

So, after another update on Thursday-Friday it got stuck on last image again.. :D

best response confirmed by wroot (Silver Contributor)
Solution
Installed new .NET update today and it fixed it. Looks like it might also get stuck when PC is waiting for a restart after installing updates.
1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by wroot (Silver Contributor)
Solution
Installed new .NET update today and it fixed it. Looks like it might also get stuck when PC is waiting for a restart after installing updates.

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