If you happen to care about privateness, you need ...

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

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

Basically, my principal drawback with Microsoft’s telemetry follow stems from the truth that Home windows 11 is not a free service. Fairly, 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 alternate 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 accessible out of the field to restrict Home windows 11’s diagnostic information assortment to only the required necessities, in addition to further instruments hidden beneath the floor — you simply must know the place to search for them.

Find out how to disable telemetry on Home windows 11

You’ll be able to decide out of sending some (however not all) diagnostic information to Microsoft out of the field

To show off the automated sending of elective diagnostic PC information to Microsoft, observe these steps:

1. Launch the Settings software.
2. Navigate to Privateness & safety > Home windows permissions > Diagnostics & suggestions.
3. Inside the Ship elective diagnostic information part, swap 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 conduct 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 alternate for taking on a complete of as much as 1GB of cupboard space, this function offers entry to the varied telemetry particulars despatched to Microsoft.
• Delete diagnostic information: a button may be pressed to clear the diagnostic information collected by Microsoft for the PC in query.

If you happen to occur to be working the Professional, Enterprise, or Training variants of Home windows 11, there are some further measures at your disposal for disabling telemetry through the Group Coverage Editor. To take action, observe 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. Inside the Run window, sort within the following: gpedit.msc
3. Press the Enter key.
4. The Native Group Coverage Editor will launch on display screen. From right here, navigate to Pc Configuration > Administrative Templates > Home windows Parts > Information Assortment and Preview Builds.
5. Find and double-click on the Enable Telemetry coverage setting after which toggle it off.

Optionally, it’s also possible to disable the Related Person Experiences and Telemetry service, to cease it from working within the background at boot. This may be accomplished on all editions of Home windows 11, together with the Residence model. To take action, observe 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. Inside the Run window, sort within the following: companies.msc
3. Press the Enter key.
4. Companies will launch on display screen. From right here, find the Related Person Experiences and Telemetry service from the alphabetized record and double-click on the entry.
5. Subsequent, an applet will seem on the display screen. Beneath the Startup sort drop down menu, choose disabled.
6. Click on on Apply, adopted by OK.

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