Microsoft experiments with spotlight feature on your desktop

The default position may be moving in the future

by Rafly Gilang

Rafly is a journalist with growing experience, ranging from technology, business, social, and culture. A holder of the Romanian government scholarship, his writing has been published in several… read more

Published on March 3, 2023

Microsoft always continues to improve. Whether it’s performance or security updates, you can always expect the tech giant to revamp its beloved operating system Windows 11.

Features and improvements are constantly being tested on the Windows Insider program before its general availability. So, in this recently-released Windows 11 Insider Build 25309, Microsoft is trying something new with the desktop spotlight feature. 

As spotted by Windows enthusiast @PhantomOnEarth, Windows 11 is trying out different default positions for the desktop spotlight icon (bottom right, bottom middle, bottom left). By default, the feature is living on the top right of your desktop screen but things may be changing in the future.

“A desktop spotlight experiment not mentioned in the blog post is rolling out – different default positions for the icon (bottom right, bottom middle, bottom left)

(vivetool /enable /id:41861575 – optionally add /variant:X and replace X with 2 or 3 for a different variant)”

What is Windows spotlight on desktop?

Windows spotlight feature on the desktop allows the system to constantly change your wallpaper to some of the freshest looks from around the world. 

First introduced in Windows 10, the feature brings out a nice accentual change to your screen. It may not seem too much, but if you’re working on your desktop for hours, it can be pleasing to the eyes.

After clicking Learn about this picture, a Microsoft Edge window will open with more details about the scenery from the web. 

Some users, however, may find it annoying, and rightfully so. Some even reported that it’s been plagued by a few errors, and we’ve prepared simple guides for you here.

In the meantime, it’s still worth noting that being an insider-only feature that isn’t out for primetime yet, you may be running into some performance problems here and there, so, patience is a virtue. 

Are you excited about this upcoming feature? Let us know in the comments!