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
