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This tip is about the how to Fix ‘Spotlight Not Working’ Issue on Windows 11 PC. So read this free guide, How to Fix ‘Spotlight Not Working’ Issue on Windows 11 PC step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.
How to Fix ‘Spotlight Not Working’ Issue on Windows 11 PC – Guide
Recently updated to Windows 11? Lock screen spotlight not working? Well, you’re not alone. Most users have reported this issue where lock screen highlighting is not working as expected. It is quite a common problem caused by corrupted system files and settings. Another important reason that can trigger this issue on your Windows 11 device is bad network connection. If your device is not receiving stable internet bandwidth, you may not be able to view Spotlight lock screen wallpapers on your device.
Windows 11 brings together a number of new features and performance improvements, and the lock screen highlight is one of them. Every time you restart your device, lock screen highlight will show new wallpaper of beautiful landscape or place. So you can use Windows lock screen highlight feature to update this image or even choose a custom background as you wish.
Windows 11 displays these stunning locations from different parts of the world on the lock screen itself, and most of these images are taken from Bing. However, if you see the same image when restarting your device, it may indicate that you have encountered the Lock Screen Spotlight not working issue. Here are some workarounds you can try to keep your Windows 11 lock screen.
Fix ‘Spotlight is not working’ issue on Windows 11 PC
Running the System Maintenance Troubleshooter
Before moving on to more specific troubleshooting guides, you should start by checking if your current installation of Windows 11 is not able to fix the problem automatically. Windows 11 (like Windows 10) comes equipped with the System Maintenance Troubleshooter – this is a utility that allows you to apply a series of automated fixes related to common problems affecting the desktop, icons, login screen and other display-related inconsistencies.
If you have not already tried to fix this issue by running the System Maintenance Troubleshooter, follow the instructions below to run this tool and apply the recommended fix:
Clear cache and reinstall
Suppose the above automated fix was not effective in your case. In that case, the next thing you should do is troubleshoot a potential problem caused by corrupt data stored in one of the two Spotlight cache folders. Other users dealing with the issue have confirmed that they fixed the issue by deleting the two cache folders and registering the main Spotlight application (using a series of elevated CMD and Powershell commands). Follow the instructions below for specific steps to clear the Spotlight cache and reinstall the main app:
Clean up the Active folder
Another potential scenario that could leave you stuck with a broken Spotlight component is a corrupted assets folder. This is often reported when Spotlight is overly customized or you’ve just upgraded to Windows 11 from an older Windows 11 where Spotlight was configured. Fortunately, fixing a corrupted assets folder is quite simple. All you have to do is disable Spotlight first, then navigate to the assets folder manually and delete the content inside (not the folder) before restarting your PC.
This method has been confirmed to be effective by many affected Windows 11 users. Follow the instructions below for step-by-step instructions on how to clean the Assets folder and fix Spotlight functionality in Windows 11:
Re-register the Windows Spotlight application
Assume that none of the above methods has proved to be effective in your case. In that case, you should also start thinking about a potential inconsistency caused by some corruption affecting the main Spotlight application. For example, it is a well-known fact that upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 using a generic key can end up up breaking Spotlight functionality.
If you find yourself in this scenario, you can fix the problem by using an elevated Powershell window to re-register the main Windows Spotlight application. Follow the instructions below for specific instructions on how to do this in Windows 11:
Deploy DISM and SFC scans
Suppose you got this far without a tangible result. In this case, you can also assume that you might be dealing with some system file corruption that directly affects Spotlight or some associated dependencies. As there are many different components involved, the best course of action is to use one of the two built-in system file corruption tools that Windows 11 has. features – DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Deployment) and SFC (System File Checker). Follow the instructions below to deploy SFC and DISM checks on your Windows 11 computer (from the same elevated CMD prompt):
Final note
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