For those who care about privateness, you need to change off this Home windows 11 setting

Beginning with Windows 10 in 2015, Microsoft adopted a notoriously aggressive coverage in relation to the gathering of diagnostic information for telemetry functions. Early on, the corporate acquired main warmth for this observe, culminating within the implementation of extra user-facing choices and much-needed transparency into the combo. Even nonetheless, nevertheless, 2025-era Windows 11 loves its information assortment, with no indicators of relenting anytime quickly.

Sure, telemetry is a helpful vector for figuring out developments and for tailoring the software program expertise to the person consumer, and, sure, Microsoft’s information assortment is anonymized. That being mentioned, it will probably nonetheless be seen as an intrinsic breach of privateness when the consumer cannot totally choose out of any and all information assortment (or if they are not well-informed that information is being collected within the first place).

Essentially, my foremost drawback with Microsoft’s telemetry observe stems from the truth that Home windows 11 is not a free service. Relatively, the working system is a paid providing, with activation keys costing a fairly penny. Within the web age, we’re used to buying and selling our privateness in trade without cost companies (suppose: Facebook), however, merely put, Microsoft’s flagship PC OS does not fall into this class.

In any case, there are settings out there out of the field to restrict Home windows 11’s diagnostic information assortment to simply the required necessities, in addition to extra instruments hidden beneath the floor — you simply have to know the place to search for them.

Learn how to disable telemetry on Home windows 11

You may choose out of sending some (however not all) diagnostic information to Microsoft out of the field

To show off the automated sending of non-compulsory diagnostic PC information to Microsoft, comply with these steps:

1. Launch the Settings software.
2. Navigate to Privateness & safety > Home windows permissions > Diagnostics & suggestions.
3. Throughout the Ship non-compulsory diagnostic information part, change the toggle to the off place.

Sadly, even with this setting toggled off, a separate set of required diagnostic information will continue to be sent to Microsoft for the aim of telemetry assortment. This habits cannot be opted out of, however you do have entry to a few instruments for managing your information inside Privateness & safety > Home windows permissions > Diagnostics & suggestions:

• Activate the Diagnostic Information Viewer: in trade for taking over a complete of as much as 1GB of space for storing, this function offers entry to the assorted telemetry particulars despatched to Microsoft.
• Delete diagnostic information: a button could be pressed to clear the diagnostic information collected by Microsoft for the PC in query.

For those who occur to be operating the Professional, Enterprise, or Training variants of Home windows 11, there are some extra measures at your disposal for disabling telemetry through the Group Coverage Editor. To take action, comply with these steps:

1. Launch Run (both through Win + R, right-clicking on the Begin Menu, Home windows Search, or the Home windows Instruments folder).
2. Throughout the Run window, sort within the following: gpedit.msc
3. Press the Enter key.
4. The Native Group Coverage Editor will launch on display. From right here, navigate to Laptop Configuration > Administrative Templates > Home windows Elements > Information Assortment and Preview Builds.
5. Find and double-click on the Enable Telemetry coverage setting after which toggle it off.

Optionally, you may as well disable the Linked Consumer Experiences and Telemetry service, to cease it from operating within the background at boot. This may be completed on all editions of Home windows 11, together with the House model. To take action, comply with these steps:

1. Launch Run (both through Win + R, right-clicking on the Begin Menu, Home windows Search, or the Home windows Instruments folder).
2. Throughout the Run window, sort within the following: companies.msc
3. Press the Enter key.
4. Providers will launch on display. From right here, find the Linked Consumer Experiences and Telemetry service from the alphabetized listing and double-click on the entry.
5. Subsequent, an applet will seem on the display. Underneath the Startup sort drop down menu, choose disabled.
6. Click on on Apply, adopted by OK.

The following time you reboot your PC, the Linked Consumer Experiences and Telemetry service will not instantly run, saving you from but extra diagnostic information harvesting.