Windows 10/11 Spotlight wallpaper images that appear on the lock screen are stored deep inside the Local Application Data folder, under the Assets
folder, as we’ve seen in the article, How to Backup Windows Spotlight Images.
We’ll see how to find the file name of the currently displayed Lock Screen (Windows Spotlight) image so that you don’t have to preview 50+ files in your Assets
folder to locate a single wallpaper file.
Contents
Find the Current Spotlight Wallpaper File Name
Instructions for Windows 10 v1803 through v21H2 and Windows 11
To find the current lock screen image file in Windows 10/11, follow these steps:
- Find your user account SID by opening a Command Prompt window and running this command:
whoami /user
- Note down the SID for your account.
- In the Registry Editor, go to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative\
- Please select the appropriate SID subkey that corresponds to your user account, and double-click to expand it.
Under your SID key, there may be more than one subkey underneath. Each subkey refers to a different wallpaper image file. The highest-numbered subkey, which is the last one, stores the file name of the currently used Windows Spotlight wallpaper in a value named
landscapeImage
. The other two or more subkeys contain references to recently used wallpaper images. - Select the highest-numbered subkey or the last one listed.
(click to view full size) - Double-click
landscapeImage
and copy the path. That’s your current lock screen wallpaper image file path. - Right-click Start, click Run, and type this:
explorer /select, [filepath]
Replace
[filepath]
with the actual Lock Screen image path you copied from the Registry Editor in step6
, and press ENTER - That command opens the
Assets
folder with the current Windows Spotlight wallpaper file already selected. - You can copy it to your Desktop or Pictures folder, add the
.JPG
extension and use it.
In Windows 10 versions 1803 & higher and Windows 11, the current lock screen wallpaper image is stored in string values (REG_SZ), namely landscapeImage
and portraitImage
, under the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative\<your SID>\<random-key-name>
In Windows 10 version 1709 and earlier, the lock screen image (Windows Spotlight) file name for the currently displayed landscape and portrait assets are stored in the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen\Creative
For Windows 10 versions earlier than 1803
To find the current lock screen picture’s file and Path in Windows 10 v1803 and earlier, follow these steps:
- Start the Registry Editor (
regedit.exe
) and go to the registry path mentioned above.
The value data forLandscapeAssetPath
is what you need, if using a computer.PortraitAssetPath
image applies to mobile devices. These two values hold the file name of the current Windows Spotlight wallpaper image. - Double-click the
LandscapeAssetPath
value and copy the data to the clipboard. - Right-click Start, click Run, and then type this:
explorer /select, [filepath]
Of course, replace
[filepath]
with the actual Lock Screen image path you copied from the Registry Editor, and press ENTERThat command opens the
Assets
folder with the current Windows 10 Spotlight wallpaper file already selected. You can copy it to your Desktop or Pictures folder, add the.JPG
extension and use it. - Exit the Registry Editor.
Using Script to Find the Current Lock Screen Image File
To find and open the current lock screen (Windows Spotlight image) wallpaper, here is a VBScript.
For Windows 10 v1803 & higher and Windows 11
'File: find_curr_spotlight_wallpaper.vbs
'---------------------------------------
'Find current lock screen wallpaper file in Windows 10
'For Windows 10 build 17134 (v1803) and higher.
'Created on 14-May '19 - (c) Ramesh Srinivasan
'Reviewed on 4-Nov '20
Option Explicit
Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Dim sWallPaper, oReg, strKeyPath, sCurWP
Dim arrSubKeys, subkey, GetOS, GetBuild
GetVersion()
If InStr(LCase(GetOS), "windows 10") = 0 Then WScript.Quit
If CInt(GetBuild) < 17134 Then WScript.Quit Dim objFSO: Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Dim WshShell : Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") Dim strUser : strUser = CreateObject("WScript.Network").UserName Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & _ "." & "\root\default:StdRegProv") strKeyPath = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\" & _ "LogonUI\Creative\" + GetSID(strUser) oReg.EnumKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, arrSubKeys For Each subkey In arrSubKeys sWallPaper = subkey Next strKeyPath = strKeyPath & "\" & sWallPaper oReg.GetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, "landscapeImage", sCurWP If objFSO.FileExists(sCurWP) Then Dim sWPTarget sWPTarget = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%userprofile%") & _ "\Desktop\lockscreen_wallpaper.jpg" objFSO.CopyFile sCurWP, sWPTarget, True WshShell.Run sWPTarget WScript.Sleep 1000 If MsgBox ("Locate wallpaper file in the Assets folder?", vbYesNo, "Find Wallpaper") = 6 Then WshShell.run "explorer.exe" & " /select," & sCurWP End If Else WScript.Echo("The wallpaper image does not exist on the disk!") WScript.Quit End If Function GetSID(UserName) Dim DomainName, Result, WMIUser If InStr(UserName, "\") > 0 Then
DomainName = Mid(UserName, 1, InStr(UserName, "\") - 1)
UserName = Mid(UserName, InStr(UserName, "\") + 1)
Else
DomainName = CreateObject("WScript.Network").UserDomain
End If
On Error Resume Next
Set WMIUser = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationlevel=impersonate}!" _
& "/root/cimv2:Win32_UserAccount.Domain='" & DomainName & "'" _
& ",Name='" & UserName & "'")
If Err.Number = 0 Then
Result = WMIUser.SID
Else
Result = ""
WScript.Echo "Can't determine the SID. Quitting.."
WScript.Quit
End If
On Error GoTo 0
GetSID = Result
End Function
Function GetVersion()
Dim objWMIService, colOSes, objOS
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & "." & "\root\cimv2")
Set colOSes = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem")
For Each objOS In colOSes
GetOS = objOS.Caption
GetBuild = objOS.BuildNumber
Next
End Function
For Windows 10 v1709 and earlier
'File: find_curr_spotlight_wallpaper_old.vbs
'-------------------------------------------
'Finds current lock screen wallpaper file, copies it to Pictures folder and previews it.
'Ramesh Srinivasan, Winhelponline.com
'Created on 1 Sep, '16
'For Windows 10 v1709 and earlier
Dim WshShell: Set WshShell = Createobject("Wscript.Shell")
Dim objFSO: Set objFSO = Createobject("Scripting.Filesystemobject")
On error resume next
sCurrLSI = WshShell.RegRead ("HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen\Creative\LandscapeAssetPath")
On error goto 0
sDstFL = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings( "%USERPROFILE%" )
sDstFL = sDstFl & "\Pictures\" & objFSO.GetFileName(sCurrLSI) & ".jpg"
if objFSO.FileExists(sCurrLSI) then
objFSO.copyfile sCurrLSI, sDstFL
WshShell.Run sDstFL
else
Msgbox "Lock Screen image file doesn't exist in the specified location."
end if
Script Download links:
- find_curr_spotlight_wallpaper.vbs (Windows 10 v1803 & higher and Windows 11)
- find_curr_spotlight_wallpaper_old.vbs (for v1709 & earlier)
The script does the following things:
- Finds the current lock screen image wallpaper file from the registry.
- Copies current lock screen wallpaper file to Pictures folder and adds a
.jpg
extension. - Previews the wallpaper using your default image viewer.
- Opens File Explorer and selects the current wallpaper image file.
I hope the above methods to find the current Windows 10 lock screen (Windows Spotlight) wallpaper image were useful. Let’s know your comments.
(This article was last reviewed on July 30, 2022. The methods are verified to work on Windows 10 v21H2 and Windows 11 v21H2.)
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Apparently, the Lock Registry has moved or no longer exists.
I see the following:
…
Lock Screen
Feed Manager
FirstLockAfterSignIn
…
The vbs script returns “Lock Screen image file doesn’t exist in the …”
Indeed this seems to be obsolete already
in winver 1803
@Jay & @Don:
The instructions and the script for v1803 & higher are now added.
i don’t know anything about wallpaper, how to do anything about choosing pictures or any way to make the selections come on my lap-top or put an easy to remeber app to put on my google sherch bar.
Followed all manual steps and landscapeImage ain’t there. Now what?
@John McCombe: What version of Windows 10 are you using?
A bit cumbersome to read through but it worked for me on Win10 Home:-
https://superuser.com/questions/1376513/retrieve-custom-windows-10-lock-screen-image
Thanks…! worked for me..
Hello,
At least half the time, when I boot my (uptodate) Win 10 laptop, the text in the upper right corner of the screen concerning the location where the photo was made is missing. Is there a fix for *that*. That would be so preferable to this very involved procedure you describe here for locating the current photo.
Thanks very much,
Robert
your script gives me a syntax error pasteboard.co/J6dgjXj.png and my windows version pasteboard.co/J6dgFHN.png
@wilson: WordPress seems to remove linebreaks in the code. I think I’ve fixed it now. pls try again.
Excellent page – great share. Appreciated the work for detailing how to find lock screen images manually and by script. Good job.
Thank you so much. This was very helpful!
There is no Creative folder within Lock Screen in Windows 10 Pro 20H2. Then what?
This worked for me
https://superuser.com/questions/1376513/retrieve-custom-windows-10-lock-screen-image
Your script worked fine for me on Windows 10 Pro 21H2. Thank you Ramesh!