How to Set Windows Spotlight as Desktop Wallpaper

Why use Windows Spotlight?

Spotlight keeps your desktop from going stale. Instead of the same static image every day, your wallpaper rotates through high-quality photos on its own. It is an easy way to see new places without touching your settings again. If you do not like a picture, you can usually skip it from the desktop. Right-click the desktop and look for a Spotlight option such as Learn more about this picture, or use the Spotlight icon if one is shown.

What happens when you are done?

When you finish these steps, your desktop background switches to the Windows Spotlight theme. The wallpaper then updates on its own with new images from Microsoft. Because the pictures are high resolution, they look sharp even on a 4K display.

To undo it, go back to the same Background setting and choose Picture, Solid color or Slideshow instead. No restart is needed in either direction.

Requirements

When this tutorial was first written, the feature was available in the Windows 11 build 25169, and only to users in the Windows Dev channels or those enrolled in the Microsoft Insider Preview program. On current releases of Windows 11 the option is normally built in, so run Windows Update 🔃 first if you do not see it.

If Windows Spotlight is missing from the dropdown on an older or preview build, check which build you are on and whether your Insider enrollment is active. Also check that your PC is not managed by an organization. A work or school policy can remove the option or lock it.

Steps to set Windows Spotlight as your wallpaper

This takes about a minute. Follow the steps in order.

1. Open your computer's settings. Press Windows key + I on your keyboard, or click Start and select Settings. The Settings window opens.

2. 

3. Click the Personalization tab on the left side of the screen. The personalization options appear on the right.

4. 

5. In the Personalization menu, click Background. You will see your current background and the Personalize your background setting.
6. Under Personalize your background, select Windows Spotlight from the dropdown menu. The desktop changes to a Spotlight photo, usually within a few seconds.

If the picture does not change right away, give it a minute. Windows may still be downloading the first image.

How to find and save Windows Spotlight images

You can save Spotlight images by opening a hidden system folder in File Explorer. Windows keeps the downloaded pictures deep inside your user profile data. You can copy them out, save them permanently, and use any of them as a custom background.

Spotlight can also store small preview images and pictures sized for other screens. Expect to delete some of what you copy.

1. Open File Explorer and paste this path into the address bar: %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets. Press Enter. The folder opens even though it is hidden.
2. You will see files with no extensions. Copy these files to a new folder on your desktop. Sort by size and keep the larger files, since the very small ones are usually not wallpapers.
3. Rename each file by adding .jpg to the end (e.g., image1.jpg). If the rename does not seem to take, open File Explorer's View menu and choose View › Show › File name extensions. Otherwise Windows may add the extension to the name instead of changing the file type.
4. You can now view these files and set them as your desktop wallpaper. Double-click one to check it opens as a picture. Right-click it and choose Set as desktop background to use it.

Work on copies only. Leave the originals in the folder so Spotlight keeps working normally.

Troubleshooting: Why is my Windows Spotlight stuck?

When Spotlight stops changing on your lock screen or desktop, corrupted cache files are usually the cause. Clearing the old downloaded assets forces Windows to reset the feature and start downloading fresh pictures again automatically.

Before you reset anything, confirm that you are online and that Windows Spotlight is still selected under Personalization › Background Then run the commands below.

del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets\*

del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings\*

After running these, restart your computer to refresh the service. Then give Windows a few minutes online to download new images. If you copied images out earlier, they are not affected by the reset.

Summary

With these steps you can turn your desktop into a gallery of global photography. We covered how to turn the feature on, how to pull the hidden image files out of the AppData folder, and how to fix a Spotlight that has stopped updating. If the option is missing, check your Windows build and your Windows Insider status first.