Today’s post is not about software development. I like interesting pictures and the Spotlight images used in the lock screen of Windows 10 are often so interesting that I like to keep them for longer. Those images are stored on your computer, you only need to find them – but where?
The location of the Spotlight images
The quickly changing background and lock screen images can be found in this folder: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets (do not forget to replace USERNAME with the name you use to log-in). The images are not recognisable as such when you open the folder:
If you see no such files, make sure that your Windows File Explorer shows hidden items.
Copy the newest images to a different folder and add .jpg as the file extension. With that little change Windows recognises those files as images. All you have to do is to scroll through them and find the one you want to keep.
Windows 10 default images
The default images for Windows 10 you see at your first login are located under C:\Windows\Web. There are 3 folders containing these images:
- 4K
- Screen
- Wallpaper
Conclusion
The next time a great image pops up at your lock screen, you know where to find it on your computer. All you need to do is to copy it to a more permanent location.
The picture that appears on my screen at startup now does not show in the Windows/web/ locations. is there another location that I can find the present photo that shows up at startup?
Did you try to use the path C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets for the Spotlight location? It works on my Windows 20H2 the same way as it did when I wrote the post initially.
I found that folder and it’s filled with images but only tiny gifs and symbols…no photos.
Hi Marc,
Can you check if your Windows File Explorer shows hidden items? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files-0320fe58-0117-fd59-6851-9b7f9840fdb2
In some configurations this seems to be the problem.
Regards,
Johnny
Very nice worked for me
Thank you for this helpful information. Do you know by chance where WIN10 is pulling these random photos from? I’m only able to view photos from the last 2 days. If not I will just have to remember to grab it when I see it.
Hi Clay,
Yes, you need to be quick and get the photos when you see something interesting before Windows throws them away.
Regards,
Johnny
I have a unique photo that was selected to show on the Lock screen, but the folder of my file just got deleted. It is still on the lock screen but I cannot find it in this folder you documented, only other photos that automatically come with windows 10. How can I recover the file of my photo that cannot be replaced any other way?
I copied all the files from the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets folder to a new folder I created in the desktop and then I opened a command prompt and navigated to that new folder and did something that most people don’t know that can be done… behold! massive renaming!
Once in the folder just type:
ren * *.jpg
Most of the files there are images, some are icons, some are wallpapers, some a vertical some are horizontal, after renaming you can see some that were there a very long time ago.
This is exactly what I need for the next step. Thank you so much for sharing this valuable knowledge
OMG Thank you for this memory jog and pro tip. Such a time saver!
I navigated from Command Prompt using “dir” and “cd” MS-DOS syntax.
Will modify the “ren * *.xxx” line to batch rename all files to any extension should this sequence be necessary in the future.
Hi, I found a better way to single out a pic file from that package: copy al the files from C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets folder to a new folder and open all of them by a photo editor, in my case that was Corel PhotoImpact. The picture will be visible in the editor. Locate the one you looking for as Save Ass..
For a quick way to change those files to jpgs use this approach here: https://superuser.com/questions/770721/how-to-add-file-extension-to-the-files-which-do-not-have-an-extension-in-a-speci
Are there any further temp file pathways that might extend the images’ recoverability time?
Hi Ryan,
I do not know about any other paths that extend the time recover the images.
Regards,
Johnny
Just followed this guide this morning, and I have to say THANK YOU!
For others that were overwhelmed with about 60 files that they will have to rename one after another, I can save you some time and frustration. LEARN FROM MY PAIN.
In the Assets folder’s window, right click on it and select View, then Details.
It will show all their file names, dates they were created, and most importantly: File Sizes.
All the lock screen background images have file sizes larger than 600mb. Just rename those and save them. Save yourself those precious minutes. ^u^
I found an image that I did not like, so after clicking “not a fan”, I deleted it from this folder. There were two copies of it, one with a 16:9 aspect ratio and another with an aspect ratio that looked like it was made for a smartphone. After deleting both, the lockscreen changed the image, but the next time I looked at the lockscreen, it went back to showing the picture that I had just deleted, just the description was for a different picture. (When I say “description”, I mean the description that appears when you hover over “like what you see”.) Do you have any idea where Windows is getting the picture from?
Hi Charles,
I expect that Windows comes with a lock screen service that loads new images periodically from the internet. It is probably the same service that cleans up old images (that is the reason they disappear if you are not quick enough to save them). But so far I did not find any documentation that explains the inner workings around the lock screen images.
Regards,
Johnny
They must have been cached, because I deleted all those images and then restarted, and that made them disappear. It showed a black screen with just the picture description, but no picture.