By default, Windows 10 shows background images on your lock screen which have been curated particularly for this use. However, it is not immediately clear where they are stored. Windows replaces those images regularly. If you want to use them as regular wallpapers, usually the last several are in that cache and are not too hard to save if you pick them in time.
HOW TO SAVE LOCK SCREEN/SCREENSAVER SPOTLIGHT IMAGES
Lots of you may have disabled Spotlight pictures on your lock screens as Microsoft is going to slip the occasional ad in there, but if you have not, you are going to notice that the ads are nice rare, and the Spotlight pictures are often really pretty. Now, we are going to talk about background or screensaver images for the lock screen that page you have to click or slide out of the way to get to the login screen. Actually, you are able to set background or screensaver images for your login screen separately.
ENABLE SPOTLIGHT IMAGES ON THE LOCK SCREEN.
- If you have turned Spotlight images off (or you are just not sure), it is very easy to turn them on again. You only need to click Start and then select Settings (or hit Windows + I). On the Settings screen, simply click Personalization.
- In the Personalization window, you have to choose the “Lock screen” tab and then on the Background drop-down menu, you are able to choose “Windows spotlight.”
- Once you turn on the Spotlight, it is going to take a few restarts to establish several images in your cache. On the lock screen, you are able to push Spotlight towards the types of images you like. When you see something you like, you are able to click “Like what you see?” and then click “I want more!” if you want to see more images.
SAVE WINDOWS SPOTLIGHT IMAGES.
After Windows saves a few Spotlight images, you are able to find them buried in your user folder.
- First, you are going to need to ensure that you are looking at the hidden folders.
- In File Explorer, please switch to the View tab, and then click “Show/hide.”
- Simply, enable the “Hidden items” check box.
- The next step that you have to do is to navigate to the following folder (or only copy the following path and paste it into the File Explorer address bar):
%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets
You have to note that the %userprofile% part of that path automatically jumps you to the user folder for the currently logged in user (by default at C:\Users\<username> ). In the folder, you will be able to view a whole bunch of files with long, meaningless file names and no extensions. Several of these are the image files you are looking for.
Instead of working with those files directly in the Assets folder, you are going to copy them somewhere else. Please make a new folder anywhere you like, choose all files in the Assets folder (Ctrl + A, for a quickest way), and then you are able to copy them to the new folder. When you do this, Windows is going to warn you that some of the files can be harmful to your computer. This is only as you are moving them from a system folder and Windows does not recognize the file types (since no extensions are assigned). Please click OK to finish copying the files.
In the new folder with the copied files, now you are going to rename all the files to include a JPG extension. The easiest method to do that is with the Command Prompt. In the File Explorer window, with your new folder showing, you have to click File -> Open Command Prompt, and then select “Open command prompt as administrator” for opening the Command Prompt at your current location.
At the Command Prompt, simply you are able to type (or copy and paste) the command below and hit Enter:
ren *.* *.jpg
The command will rename all files in the directory to their current name plus the .jpg extension. Please exit the Command Prompt and refresh the folder you are working with (F5). As you are able to see, several of the files have thumbnails now. Those are the actual image files. You are able to go ahead and remove everything that does not have a thumbnail to get it out of the way.
From the actual image files which are left, you are going to see a few types. Several of the smallest files are only image assets that can be used for things like app icons or displays. Also, you are able to get rid of those. The portrait-oriented images can be interesting to you for use on a Smartphone. The widescreen images are the actual lock screen images you are after. Please put them into a folder with your other wallpapers and you are good to go.
WHAT IS THE WINDOWS SPOTLIGHT?
Windows 10 has introduced lots of new features upon its launch and continues to improve today. If you launch your computer, sign out of your user account, or lock your computer, automatically you are shown the lock screen. This is where the Windows Spotlight operates. It picks a random nature scenery from a collection of high-quality images given by Bing, creating the lock screen lively and lovely.
Based on the research, in 2017s, Microsoft started to add location information to the images, offering the users to learn more about what they look like. The images used in Windows Spotlight originate from all around the world, all the way from Perce Rock in Quebec. Even, you are able to catch occasional animal images. For your information, to view an extended list of Windows Spotlight image locations, you are able to visit the Wikipedia page. Also, you are able to search for and download Windows Spotlight images from Windows 10 Spotlight Images. Even, you may find an image taken in your country.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…
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