Remove Windows lock screen ads/Spotlight Ads

Remove Windows lock screen ads/Spotlight ads while keeping the rotating Spotlight image backgrounds. The effect is immediate, there is no restart or logoff required.

This script can be run by any user, no Administrator privileges are required.

This script parses the JSON configuration for Spotlight, located in %LOCALAPPDATA%, to remove the buzzfeed-esque ads that clutter the lock screen.

By default the image credits are kept. Pass --remove-credits if you would like them removed, too.

Installation

If you have Python installed

python -m pip install --user RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds
pythonw -m RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds --install

If you don't want to install Python, download the standalone installer, press WindowsKey+r, then paste and run

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads\RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds.noconsole.exe --install

When run with pythonw or RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds.noconsole.exe there is no console output. However, --install and --uninstall will log to %TEMP%\RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds.install.log.

You can enable and disable RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds from the Startup tab in Windows Task Manager.

Try it out without modifying anything

Python

python -m RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds --once --dry-run --verbose

Standalone console program

RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds.console.exe --once --dry-run --verbose

Detailed Usage

usage: RemoveWindowsLockScreenAds.py [-h] [-v] [--dry-run] [--remove-credits] (--once | --watch | --install | --uninstall) [path]

positional arguments:
  path              Path to file or directory to remove lock screen ads from.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help        show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbose     Enable verbose logging
  --dry-run         Process and log but do not modify files
  --remove-credits  Remove the image credits box

actions:
  --once            Remove ads from file(s) in path
  --watch           Continue running, watch directory for new Spotlight files, and remove ads from them
  --install         Start in --watch mode on login
  --uninstall       Remove installed files and login task