Windows Spotlight shows blank screen; how to solve this?


Recommended Posts

This week I noticed that on one of my notebooks a blank screen on Windows Spotlight is shown (the screen before logging in and/or when locking my PC).

 

I tried several steps (see https://www.lifewire.com/fix-windows-spotlight-not-working-windows-10-4772370#:~:text=If Windows Spotlight still isn,Force Windows update.) all without success.

I don't feel the urge/need to reset/reformat my notebook just for this. But maybe you guys know what might be the case here, and how to solve this.

 

I run W10 Pro, 21H1 (64 bit) with all latest updates installed.

23 minutes ago, Nick H. said:

Windows Spotlight is an option for the Lock Screen, isn't it? Have you checked your lock screen settings?

That's correct.

The lock screen preview is greyed out, whereas on other notebooks there is an image shown.

Lockscreen.png

What happens if you switch it from the Spotlight option to a picture? And then when you have selected a picture, what happens if you switch back to Spotlight?

 

I also see that you don't have any apps added to display a detailed view. Is that because you haven't selected any, or are you unable to select them?

3 minutes ago, Nick H. said:

What happens if you switch it from the Spotlight option to a picture? And then when you have selected a picture, what happens if you switch back to Spotlight?

 

I also see that you don't have any apps added to display a detailed view. Is that because you haven't selected any, or are you unable to select them?

Switching to 'Picture' and back hasn't helped.

I don't have any other apps displayed, because I don't need them on my lock screen.

What about your settings in Edge? Do you have anything that might be breaking it there? I don't know if there is some form of integration between Edge and Spotlight, but it wouldn't surprise me...

 

Also, have you checked the various options mentioned here? https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/windows-spotlight

1 hour ago, Nick H. said:

What about your settings in Edge? Do you have anything that might be breaking it there? I don't know if there is some form of integration between Edge and Spotlight, but it wouldn't surprise me...

 

Also, have you checked the various options mentioned here? https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/windows-spotlight

I have reset Edge; no success.

The options mentioned have I checked; also no success.

 

Kinda strange that this happened sort of 'overnight'.

I found a setting/comment in this thread from Narfsmart

 

And changing this setting from 1 to 0, reboot, and than back from 0 to 1... kinda 'fixed' the issue as to that I know can see an image once again.

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowsMetrics\MinAnimate

 

So far so good... let's see it these images keep rotating today/tomorrow... #fingerscrossed

 

23 hours ago, kiddingguy said:

I found a setting/comment in this thread from Narfsmart

 

And changing this setting from 1 to 0, reboot, and than back from 0 to 1... kinda 'fixed' the issue as to that I know can see an image once again.

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowsMetrics\MinAnimate

 

So far so good... let's see it these images keep rotating today/tomorrow... #fingerscrossed

 

Yes, this one worked.

Although, I didn't have the 'Like what you see option'

 

A little Googling brought me this:

"I had this problem, and wasn't finding solutions on Google but ended up figuring it out and it's very simple. Go to Personalization then lock screen. Make sure Windows spotlight is selected. Then disable "Show lock screen background picure on the sign-in screen". Lock your computer or sign out and "Like what you see?" will be there. After you get to your login prompt, if you don't login or click on the screen it will return to the Spotlight "Like what you see" after 60 seconds of inactivity."

 

After this trick, everything is back to normal.

Still... kinda strange that everything just went blank...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Seems to be working fine for me.
    • Latest Rufus update improves new Windows 11 install method by Taras Buria Pete Batard, the maker of Rufus, a very popular app for creating bootable Windows (and other OS) media, has released a new beta version of its app. Rufus 4.15 beta is now out, and while it offers no new features, there are all sorts of improvements and fixes, including for the new Windows 11 installation method that was introduced in version 4.14 in early May. The "Silent Windows 11 installation" is a new feature whose goal is to automate operating system installation. All you have to do is boot from the drive, and then Rufus takes over, doing all things for you, such as setting up a new account, skipping ads and prompts, and more. It is a very handy tool, but initially, it had some bugs and issues that required addressing. With version 4.15 beta, Rufus is fixing that, particularly a bug with installation failing at 75%, crashes on Snapdragon X-based PCs, and more. Here is the changelog: Rufus 4.15 beta is now available for download from its GitHub repository. If you have never used Rufus before, you can check out our guide here. It is a very useful utility to have, as it allows you to deal with plenty of Windows 11's annoyances, which are still there, despite Microsoft's ongoing efforts to fix them.
    • Microsoft fixes one of Excel Copilot's most frustrating limitations by Usama Jawad Microsoft began integrating Copilot into Excel a couple of years ago and has been upgrading it with new functionalities since then. While some changes have been controversial, Microsoft is hoping to win over users by allowing them to be more productive via Copilot. To that end, it has now announced a Copilot improvement that may actually be appreciated by people who use it regularly. Excel customers often use the Copilot prompt box to issue instructions to format and customize their data, but it can become quite tiring to keep repeating the same instructions again and again. Microsoft now allows you to define Copilot personalization rules for formatting, naming conventions, formulas, and report styles. These can be accessed via Settings > Personalization, where you can explain your rules in natural language like "Always format currency in USD with no decimals", and just let Copilot take care of the rest. Microsoft is going a step further in this direction by allowing you to set workbook rules too. These rules are stored as a .Rules sheet, and are preserved while the workbook is shared. This fosters collaboration while making sure that standard rules govern the Copilot editing experience across the organization. Other advantages of this capability include pointing it to specific examples, defining dynamic formulas, and referencing an entire sheet and asking Copilot to infer rules based on that. You can leverage this feature by opening Copilot in Excel, clicking on "+", and selecting Create workbook rules. If you have an existing .Rules sheet, you can simply start listing the rules in column A as well. Personalization features are available to all Copilot in Excel users across the web, Mac, and Windows. Meanwhile, workbook rules are currently being previewed for Windows and Mac customers on the Insiders channel. General availability is scheduled after a few weeks, but a concrete date is currently unknown. Overall, the Excel capability is quite similar to ChatGPT's memory features, which allow you to permanently store items in the AI model's context window.
    • Imagine you still haven't discovered Total Commander that is doing all those things for three decades already...
    • This sounds like underneath the nice marketing spin, either someone at Adobe got tired of their lazy devs and asked Microsoft to help them sort at least some of Adobe's ancestral spaghetti code to make it go faster, or Microsoft wanted Adobe's crap to run better on Windows to make it look better when compared to Apple, so they offered to intervene. Either way, GOOD.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      Vincian earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      Jocimo earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      suprememobiles48 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Windows Guy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      Prasann earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      509
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      172
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      90
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      77
    5. 5
      neufuse
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!