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Hello, I'm trying to figure out how to download and save the Windows Spotlight images specifically used for my desktop background and not the lock screen backgrounds.
I've done research on the topic and have already tried this route: Pasting "%LocalAppdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy/LocalState/Assets" into my file explorer, copy the files in the folder to a different folder, then using terminal to change all of the extensions to .jpegs. The issue is that everything that's in that folder is the spotlight images used for my Lock Screen not my desktop background. So, the issue is figuring out where the images used for my desktop are. From there I can easily copy and convert to save them for future use as my wallpaper.
I'm attaching bing links to the Spotlight descriptions for the images used for my desktop background (that I would like to download and save), as well as a screenshot of all of the images that were in that folder I found using the file path above. Please advise how I can access the Spotlight images used for the background and not the lock screen. Thank you!
Links:
Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada - Search
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Answer accepted by question author
The location can be found by opening the Registry Editor and going to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Inspect the Wallpaper value. It should direct you to an image in the following folder:
C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\DesktopSpotlight\Assets\Images
or
%localappdata%\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalCache\Microsoft\IrisService
Hi AW!
Though my file path was different from what you included, the steps you provided brought me directly to where I needed to be - using Registry Editor and following the file path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop helped me to find the Wallpaper value, and when I double clicked on it, it provided me with the file path I could copy and paste directly into file explorer to find the current image on my desktop, but editing back to the general file the image was under helped me find the cache of most of my previous desktop wallpapers from spotlight.
Thank you so much for your help.
Thanks Shawn, unfortunately the images are not the same - I can have a picture of Seattle on my lock screen and then a picture of Maligne Lake for my Desktop background. I haven't fully followed the steps mentioned in the article you linked but it doesn't seem like it would provide me with any differing results. The images I get on my desktop don't seem to be included in the website you linked either.
Hello Alexander,
Usually, they are one in the same Windows Spotlight image on both the desktop and lock screen like in the tutorial below for finding them.
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/find-and-save-windows-spotlight-images-in-windows-11.11556/
You can also download them directly from Microsoft at the link below.