Windows 11 comes with several features and settings that can make your PC more useful, even though some of these features also collect or use information about your PC use. For instance, it can learn how you use your PC or personalize search results for you. Sure, it’s not necessarily malicious, but not everyone needs that info collected. If you’re someone like me who wants to keep your usage habits to yourself, you can simply turn them off. The good news is they won’t break any functionality. Here are some Windows 11 settings that feel like the biggest privacy leaks.
Diagnostics and feedback
I limited what Windows sends to Microsoft
Windows 11 collects diagnostic data on how you use your PC. This includes what features you use and error messages that you get. Microsoft uses this data to fix software bugs and improve the overall experience. I don’t mind Windows sending some information to keep the operating system secure and functional, but a lot of this data is optional.
I can’t disable the minimum diagnostic data that Windows needs. This includes device info and software inventory. The additional diagnostic data like app activity and browsing history is under the user’s control. So, I decided to limit diagnostic data on my Windows 11 PC.
Here’s how to do it:
- Open Settings -> Privacy & security.
- Go to Diagnostic & feedback.
- Turn off Send optional diagnostic data.
- Also, turn off Improve inking and typing option.
- If you want, you can also view and delete the diagnostic data that Microsoft has collected about your device.
Another thing you should check on this page is the Tailored experiences option. When turned on, this feature uses diagnostic data to provide personalized tips, ads, and recommendations. I don’t want that, so I turned it off, too.
Advertising ID
The hidden cookie Windows has
I feel this is one of those Windows settings that are spying on you. Windows gives a unique advertising ID to every user. Apps can use this identifier to track your behavior and offer more relevant ads. This is essentially a cookie, but baked into the operating system itself. Thankfully, you can disable or reset this Advertising ID whenever you want to.
- Open Settings and go to Privacy & security from the left panel.
- Click on General and turn off the advertising ID option.
When I turned this feature off, Microsoft didn’t stop showing me ads. It just made those ads less relevant and personalized. I wanted to reduce unnecessary personalization, so it was worth disabling the Advertising ID. It’s worth knowing that when you turn this feature off and then back on, Windows will generate a fresh ID for you and start building a new behavioral profile.
Activity History
No personalized offers and suggested content, please
Windows keeps a record of things that I do on my device, like the apps that I’ve opened, websites I’ve visited in Edge, and even the files that I’ve edited. Windows can even sync my activity history to Microsoft’s servers, so I can pick up where I left off on another device.
Over time, Windows builds a profile of my usage habits, which is used to power suggested content and personalized ads. I don’t like Windows tracking me in the background. So, I decided not to allow Windows to store my activity history.
- Open Settings -> Privacy & security section.
- Select Activity History.
- Here, turn off Store my activity history on this device option.
- Hit the Clear history button to remove previously saved data.
If you can’t find this option on your machine, it’s likely because Microsoft has removed the Activity History page in the newer Windows 11 builds.
Search and Start menu
I want search results, not predictions
This one is pretty easy to overlook. Windows Search is no longer a simple box that indexes just files and applications on your PC. Rather, it pulls in web results, Bing suggestions, and other cloud content linked to your Microsoft account. That means Microsoft can use my app-launch activity to personalize Start and Search for me.
Well, I don’t want Windows to learn my habits and decide what I might want next. I just want to see relevant files, apps, and settings in my search results. So, I went to Settings -> Privacy & security -> General -> Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launches and turned it off.
Once I’ve done this, Windows doesn’t use app-launch activity for my Start and Search results. If you don’t want web integrations in your search results, you can go to Settings -> Privacy & security -> Search and turn off Search my accounts.
App permissions
I took back unnecessary permissions
Every time you install an app on your PC, it can request access for things like location, camera, microphone, contacts, and more. Like many users, I also didn’t pay much attention to these requests. I would simply hit the allow button and move on. Of course, some apps need certain permissions to function properly. However, not every app needs them.
For instance, a navigation app has a good reason to access your location. On the flip side, there’s no sense for a calculator, note-taking, or other utility app to ask for such permissions. This makes it important to review app permissions on your device.
Here’s how to check app permissions on your Windows PC:
- Go to Settings -> Privacy & security.
- Under App permissions, review camera, microphone, and other categories one by one.
- In case an app doesn’t need a specific permission, revoke its access right away.
This might be time-consuming, but it will be the most important change that you make on your Windows machine.
Online speech recognition
I keep my voice data off the cloud
If you’re someone who has ever used Windows’ native voice dictation features, there’s a good chance your voice data was processed on Microsoft’s servers rather than locally on your device. That’s because Windows 11 has an online speech recognition feature that improves accuracy by sending your audio to the cloud. Sure, it is useful, but not something everyone wants to be enabled by default.
You will find this option under Settings -> Privacy & security -> Speech. Remember, it will also reduce the accuracy of voice typing and dictation features. I barely use voice input on my machine, so I prefer to turn this setting off.
Windows doesn’t need to know everything I do
When I turned these features off, it didn’t transform my Windows PC into a perfectly private machine. That wasn’t even my goal. Windows can still collect some necessary information about me. That said, these changes gave me more control over the information Windows uses to personalize my experience. If you’ve been using Windows 11 with its default privacy settings, it’s worth spending a few minutes going through these menus. No, you don’t have to switch everything off or give up on features you use. Just disable the features that don’t provide enough value for additional data access.