How To Change Windows 10 Lock Screen Photo

Windows 10 is hands the most aesthetically pleasing version of Windows to engagement. Nowhere does that argument show more conspicuously than in the operating organisation'due south back up for beautiful wallpapers, themes, and background images.

Most themes and wallpaper images are easy to find and get repurposed for other uses (run into our article on how to locate wallpaper images in Windows ten).

Still, there is one source of images that's trickier to track downwards, known equally Windows Spotlight images. These wallpaper pictures are a set of stunning photos, curated by Bing, that automatically get downloaded to your Windows 10 profile and appear on your screen when your profile is locked.

Here'south where to detect Windows Spotlight lock screen images in Windows 10.

How to Enable Windows Spotlight

To discover and obtain those beautiful wallpaper images from Bing, you must have Windows Spotlight enabled. The option is agile by default, simply it may have changed at some betoken due to system adjustments.

If you don't have it activated, here's how to exercise it:

Click in the search box of your Windows x taskbar and type "lock screen," then hitting enter, and it will launch the lock screen settings app.

In the "Background" dropdown, you have several choices. If your background is set to something different than Windows Spotlight, but alter it. In that location are several other options here equally well, including toggles for which apps tin show quick or detailed statuses and an opportunity to hibernate or evidence your Windows desktop background on the sign-in screen.

One point of description: at that place is a difference betwixt the Windows 'sign-in screen' and the Windows'lock scre e northward.' The Windows Spotlight feature discussed here applies to the lock screen .

You can test the Spotlight feature quickly by locking your PC (keyboard shortcut: Windows Key + L). Based on the speed of your Internet connectedness, it may take a few moments for a new Windows Spotlight image to load, as Windows has to grab the copy from Bing's servers. If you lot accept Spotlight turned on already, Windows volition catch these images in the background ahead of fourth dimension, merely there may exist some lag if y'all've but turned on the feature.

While previewing your new Windows Spotlight background images on the lock screen, y'all may occasionally see a text box that asks if you similar what yous see. Y'all can hover over the box or tap on it to answer yes ("I like it!") or no ("Non a fan"). After choosing your preference, Windows and Bing will use that information to custom-tailor future images to your tastes, much in the aforementioned manner that users can requite ratings to custom vocal playlists on services like Pandora or Apple tree Music.

Where to Detect Windows Spotlight Lock Screen Images

Subsequently enabling Windows Spotlight, it will kickoff collecting a variety of pictures. So, where practice you notice them on your PC?

Microsoft hides these images very well, and so you'll accept to practice some digging to get to them. Here'south how to detect them:

Open File Explorer and click the View tab.
Find and click Options on the far correct of File Explorer'due south ribbon toolbar (you may need to adjust the size of File Explorer to run across it).
In the Binder Options window that appears, select theView tab.
In the Advanced Settings list, click the push labeled Prove subconscious files, folders, and drives.
ClickUtilize to salvage the change, so click OK to close the Folder Options window.
In File Explorer, navigate to: This PC > C: > Users > [Your User Proper name] > AppData > Local > Packages > Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy > LocalState > Assets.

At this point, you lot should meet an Assets binder with a whole bunch of files without any file extensions. These files are your Windows Spotlight lock screen images, listed in a variety of sizes and formats.

If you're planning to apply any of the Windows Spotlight images on your desktop PC or laptop, you'll want the desktop-sized versions of these images. These are typically the images with the largest file sizes. Here's how to identify the right wallpaper files.

Switch File Explorer to Details view.
Make sure the Size column is enabled to help yous identify the right images.

Re-create and Paste the Images You Want

Now, we just need to brand sense out of this mess of data that you but establish. The files are JPEG images with unique names. Here's how to obtain the photos.

Select one or two of the files with the larger file sizes (typically college than 400KB.)
Copy the selected files to your desktop or another folder on your PC.
Navigate to the directory where you pasted the files.
Highlight one file and printing F2 on your keyboard to rename it and add the '.jpg' extension at the stop.

After renaming the file and adding '.jpg' at the end of it, you should be able to double-click the file to open it in Windows Photos or your preferred image viewer.

Download Windows Spotlight Images with an App

The Windows 10 Store includes a couple of apps specifically designed to download and obtain Spotlight wallpapers. The apps make the process easier, without all the fidgeting and complicated steps.

Some good options include:

Either of these apps volition allow you lot to quickly and easily download Spotlight images in Windows ten. These apps tin be a little hit or miss, though, then you may be better off post-obit the manual solution described earlier in this article.

Utilise a Website to Download Spotlight Images

The Windows 10 Spotlight Images site has more than than 2,000 Spotlight images archived, and more get added daily, making it a great option for users who desire to download Spotlight images without having to do the work themselves.

Practice y'all accept any other suggestions or tips for getting access to these beautiful pictures? If you do, and so please share your ideas with us in the comments below!