Turn off telemetry, AI data collection, in-OS advertising and preinstalled bloatware on Windows 10 and 11 — without weakening the security features you actually need.
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Windows 11 ships with data collection switched on by default and spread across dozens of unrelated settings pages. Some of it is genuinely useful diagnostics. Much of it is advertising, engagement tracking and "suggested content" — and since 2024, AI features that read what is on your screen.
Finding and switching all of that off by hand means visiting roughly twenty different Settings screens, several Group Policy paths, the Services console and Task Scheduler. Most people give up, and settings that were turned off get quietly re-enabled by feature updates.
This repository automates that cleanup and documents every single change it makes.
- Anyone who wants a quieter, less chatty Windows — no Start menu ads, no lock screen promotions, no apps silently installing themselves.
- Privacy-conscious users who want diagnostic data reduced to the minimum Windows allows.
- People worried about Windows Recall and other AI features that capture screen content.
- IT admins and technicians setting up machines who want a repeatable, auditable baseline instead of clicking through Settings on every new device.
- Anyone reclaiming an older machine — disabling the telemetry services and scheduled tasks measurably reduces background disk and CPU activity.
If you are looking for a script that disables Windows Defender, the firewall, UAC or Windows Update to "speed things up", this is the wrong repository. Those are protections, not surveillance, and this project deliberately leaves them alone. See What this does NOT do.
- What this is for
- What this does NOT do
- Quick start
- About Windows Recall
- What each script does
- Full list of registry changes
- Services and scheduled tasks
- How to undo everything
- Requirements
- FAQ
- Disclaimer
- License
This is the most important section of this README. These scripts deliberately do not touch:
| Component | Why it is left alone |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender Antivirus | Real-time malware protection. Disabling it makes your machine measurably less safe. |
| Windows Firewall | Blocks unsolicited inbound network connections. |
| User Account Control (UAC) | The prompt that stops software from silently gaining admin rights. |
| Windows Update | Delivers security patches. Turning it off leaves known vulnerabilities unpatched. |
| SmartScreen | Warns about known-malicious downloads and websites. |
| BitLocker / device encryption | Protects your data if the machine is lost or stolen. |
| Microsoft.BingSearch | Despite the name, this package powers the Start menu search box. Removing it breaks local file and app search. |
Privacy and security are not the same thing. Many "debloat" scripts conflate them and leave machines exposed. This one does not.
1. Download the repository
git clone https://github.com/Thominho/windows-privacy-debloat.gitOr download the ZIP from GitHub and extract it.
2. Read the scripts
Seriously. Never run a script from the internet that changes your registry without reading it first. Every line in this repository has a plain-English comment explaining what it does.
3. Run the launcher
Double-click Run-All.cmd as a normal user (not "Run as administrator").
It runs the two parts in the correct order and explains each step:
- Per-user settings run as you, with no elevation.
- Machine-wide settings then trigger a UAC prompt in a separate window.
Why the order matters: if the whole thing ran elevated, all per-user settings would be written into the administrator account's profile rather than yours, and would have no effect on your desktop.
Run-All.cmdrefuses to start if it is already elevated.
4. Restart your computer.
5. Optionally remove preinstalled apps — this is opt-in and never runs automatically:
cd scripts
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\Remove-Bloatware.ps1Run with no parameters first: it lists what is installed and removes nothing.
Windows Recall takes a screenshot of your screen every few seconds, runs OCR on it and builds a searchable local index of everything you have done. It is the feature most people mean when they say "the AI that watches everything".
Two things worth knowing:
1. It only runs on Copilot+ PCs. Recall requires a dedicated NPU (neural processing unit) rated at 40+ TOPS — found in Snapdragon X, Intel Core Ultra 200V and AMD Ryzen AI 300 series machines. On any older CPU, Recall cannot run at all. You can check your own machine:
Get-CimInstance Win32_PnPEntity | Where-Object { $_.PNPClass -eq 'ComputeAccelerator' }No output means no NPU, which means no Recall.
2. This repository blocks it regardless. Both scripts set DisableAIDataAnalysis = 1, and the admin script adds AllowRecallEnablement = 0, so it stays off even if you later upgrade to hardware that supports it, or a feature update tries to re-enable it.
The same section also disables Click to Do (on-demand AI analysis of on-screen content), Windows Copilot, and stops Edge's Copilot from reading the content of pages you visit.
Runs as: you, no elevation
Writes to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER only
Refuses to run elevated (with an override prompt), because settings would otherwise land in the wrong profile.
| Area | What changes |
|---|---|
| Advertising | Turns off the advertising ID that apps use to profile you across the system. Turns off tailored experiences derived from your diagnostic data. |
| Activity tracking | Stops Windows recording which apps you launch and how often. |
| Typing & handwriting | Blocks collection of your typing patterns, handwriting samples and contact harvesting used to "improve" input suggestions. |
| Speech | Turns off online speech recognition, which sends voice input to Microsoft servers. |
| In-OS advertising | Disables Start menu suggestions, lock screen promotions, tips and 8 separate "subscribed content" advertising channels. |
| Silent installs | Stops Windows from silently installing promoted apps (Candy Crush, Spotify trials, etc.) into your Start menu. |
| Search | Turns off Bing web results and search box suggestions in the Start menu. Local file search still works. |
| AI | Disables Copilot, hides the Copilot taskbar button, blocks Recall at user level. |
| Edge autostart | Removes the MicrosoftEdgeAutoLaunch_* entry that makes Edge start in the background at sign-in. Edge stays installed and fully functional. |
Runs as: administrator (required)
Writes to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, services, scheduled tasks
| Area | What changes |
|---|---|
| Telemetry level | Sets AllowTelemetry to the minimum. Also blocks diagnostic log collection, memory dump uploads and OneSettings config downloads. |
| AI features | Disables Recall, blocks future Recall enablement, disables Click to Do and Windows Copilot, stops Edge Copilot reading page content. |
| Advertising | Disables the advertising ID for every account on the machine. Blocks cloud-delivered promotional content and automatic promoted-app installs. |
| Activity history | Stops activity history being published or uploaded to your Microsoft account. |
| Search | Disables Cortana, web search results and location use in search, machine-wide. |
| Services | Stops and disables DiagTrack (the main telemetry collector) and dmwappushservice. |
| Scheduled tasks | Disables 10 tasks that gather and upload data — Compatibility Appraiser, CEIP Consolidator, USB CEIP, Siuf feedback clients and others. |
A note on telemetry level 0: on Windows Pro and Home editions,
AllowTelemetry = 0("Security") is treated as1("Required"). Level 0 is only fully honoured on Enterprise, Education and IoT editions. Setting it to 0 is still correct — Windows clamps it to the lowest value your edition permits. There is no supported way to reach zero telemetry on Home or Pro.
Runs as: you, no elevation Affects: the current user account only. Every app can be reinstalled from the Microsoft Store.
Nothing is removed unless you explicitly name a category. Run it with no parameters to get an inventory:
.\Remove-Bloatware.ps1Preview before committing with -WhatIf:
.\Remove-Bloatware.ps1 -Xbox -News -WhatIf| Category | Removes | Consider keeping if… |
|---|---|---|
-Xbox |
Xbox Game Bar, Game Overlay, TCUI, Speech-to-Text Overlay, Identity Provider, Solitaire Collection | …you play games. Win+G and some Game Pass titles stop working. |
-News |
Bing News, Bing Weather | …you use the weather or news widgets. |
-Communication |
Teams (personal), Clipchamp, To Do, People, Get Help | …you use any of them. Note: this is personal Teams, not Teams for work/school. |
-Media |
Media Player, Movies & TV, Phone Link | …you use Phone Link to connect your phone, or these as default media apps. |
-All |
Everything above |
Every value written by these scripts, with its meaning. Values marked HKCU are per-user; HKLM are machine-wide.
| Key | Value | Set to | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection |
AllowTelemetry |
0 |
Telemetry to minimum permitted by edition |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\DataCollection |
AllowTelemetry |
0 |
Same, system key |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection |
LimitDiagnosticLogCollection |
1 |
No diagnostic log collection |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection |
LimitDumpCollection |
1 |
No memory dump uploads |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection |
DisableOneSettingsDownloads |
1 |
No remote config downloads |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection |
DoNotShowFeedbackNotifications |
1 |
No feedback prompts |
| Key | Value | Set to | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI |
DisableAIDataAnalysis |
1 |
Recall disabled |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI |
AllowRecallEnablement |
0 |
Recall cannot be re-enabled later |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI |
DisableClickToDo |
1 |
Click to Do disabled |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot |
TurnOffWindowsCopilot |
1 |
Copilot disabled |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge |
CopilotPageContext |
0 |
Edge Copilot cannot read pages |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge |
EdgeEntraCopilotPageContext |
0 |
Same, work accounts |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced (HKCU) |
ShowCopilotButton |
0 |
Taskbar button hidden |
| Key | Value | Set to | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AdvertisingInfo (HKCU) |
Enabled |
0 |
Advertising ID off |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AdvertisingInfo (HKLM) |
DisabledByGroupPolicy |
1 |
Advertising ID off for all users |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Privacy (HKCU) |
TailoredExperiencesWithDiagnosticDataEnabled |
0 |
No ad targeting from diagnostics |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced (HKCU) |
Start_TrackProgs |
0 |
App launch tracking off |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System (HKLM) |
PublishUserActivities |
0 |
Activity history not published |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System (HKLM) |
UploadUserActivities |
0 |
Activity history not uploaded |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System (HKLM) |
EnableActivityFeed |
0 |
Activity feed off |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Siuf\Rules (HKCU) |
NumberOfSIUFInPeriod |
0 |
Feedback frequency: never |
| Key | Value | Set to | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InputPersonalization |
RestrictImplicitTextCollection |
1 |
Typing patterns not collected |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InputPersonalization |
RestrictImplicitInkCollection |
1 |
Handwriting not collected |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InputPersonalization\TrainedDataStore |
HarvestContacts |
0 |
Contacts not harvested |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Personalization\Settings |
AcceptedPrivacyPolicy |
0 |
Input personalisation declined |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Settings\OnlineSpeechPrivacy |
HasAccepted |
0 |
Online speech recognition off |
All under SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager:
| Value | Set to | Effect |
|---|---|---|
SilentInstalledAppsEnabled |
0 |
No silent promoted-app installs |
SystemPaneSuggestionsEnabled |
0 |
No Start menu suggestions |
PreInstalledAppsEnabled |
0 |
No preinstalled promo apps |
OemPreInstalledAppsEnabled |
0 |
No OEM promo apps |
RotatingLockScreenOverlayEnabled |
0 |
No lock screen ads |
ContentDeliveryAllowed |
0 |
No promotional content delivery |
FeatureManagementEnabled |
0 |
No feature promotions |
SubscribedContent-310093Enabled |
0 |
Welcome experience |
SubscribedContent-338388Enabled |
0 |
Start menu suggestions |
SubscribedContent-338389Enabled |
0 |
Tips and tricks |
SubscribedContent-338393Enabled |
0 |
Settings suggestions |
SubscribedContent-353694Enabled |
0 |
Settings suggestions |
SubscribedContent-353696Enabled |
0 |
Settings suggestions |
SubscribedContent-353698Enabled |
0 |
Timeline suggestions |
SubscribedContent-88000326Enabled |
0 |
General promotions |
Machine-wide equivalents under SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent: DisableWindowsConsumerFeatures, DisableSoftLanding, DisableCloudOptimizedContent, all set to 1.
| Key | Value | Set to | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search (HKCU) |
BingSearchEnabled |
0 |
No Bing results in Start |
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search (HKCU) |
CortanaConsent |
0 |
Cortana consent revoked |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer (HKCU) |
DisableSearchBoxSuggestions |
1 |
No search box suggestions |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search (HKLM) |
AllowCortana |
0 |
Cortana disabled |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search (HKLM) |
ConnectedSearchUseWeb |
0 |
No web search from Start |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search (HKLM) |
DisableWebSearch |
1 |
Web results disabled |
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search (HKLM) |
AllowSearchToUseLocation |
0 |
Search cannot use location |
Local file and app search is unaffected. Only web results are removed.
| Service | Display name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
DiagTrack |
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry | The main telemetry collector. Continuously gathers usage data and uploads it to Microsoft. |
dmwappushservice |
WAP Push Message Routing Service | Transport used for device management and telemetry messages. |
| Task | Path | What it does |
|---|---|---|
Consolidator |
Customer Experience Improvement Program | Collects and uploads CEIP data |
UsbCeip |
Customer Experience Improvement Program | Reports USB device usage |
Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser |
Application Experience | Inventories installed software and uploads it |
Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser Exp |
Application Experience | Experimental variant of the above |
ProgramDataUpdater |
Application Experience | Updates the application inventory |
MareBackup |
Application Experience | Backs up compatibility appraiser data |
StartupAppTask |
Application Experience | Monitors startup applications |
DmClient |
Feedback\Siuf | Feedback client |
DmClientOnScenarioDownload |
Feedback\Siuf | Feedback scenario downloader |
Proxy |
Autochk | Collects and uploads network/SQM data |
Tasks not present on your Windows edition are skipped silently.
Both scripts create a backup before making any change, in:
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\windows-privacy-debloat-backup_<date>_<time>\
Each .reg file in that folder is the original state of one registry key.
Double-click any .reg file and confirm the prompt. Or restore all of them at once:
Get-ChildItem "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\windows-privacy-debloat-backup_*" -Filter *.reg -Recurse |
ForEach-Object { reg import $_.FullName }Restoring HKLM keys requires an elevated PowerShell.
Set-Service -Name DiagTrack -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service -Name DiagTrack
Set-Service -Name dmwappushservice -StartupType ManualEnable-ScheduledTask -TaskPath '\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Program\' -TaskName 'Consolidator'
Enable-ScheduledTask -TaskPath '\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\' -TaskName 'Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser'…and so on for each task listed above.
Open the Microsoft Store, search for the app by name and install it. Your account already owns all of them.
- Windows 10 (1809 or later) or Windows 11, any edition
- PowerShell 5.1 — included with Windows, no installation needed
- Administrator rights for the machine-wide part only
- No third-party dependencies, no downloads, no network access at runtime
Tested on Windows 11 Pro 24H2 and 25H2 (build 26100 / 26200).
Will this break Windows Update? No. Windows Update is untouched and continues to work normally.
Will feature updates undo these settings?
Major feature updates sometimes reset policy values. Re-run Run-All.cmd after a big update and check the output — anything already correct is reported as such.
Can I run just one part?
Yes. Each script in scripts\ is standalone. Run them individually with:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Disable-Tracking-User.ps1Does this stop all data going to Microsoft? No, and no script can honestly claim that. Windows Update, activation, Store, Defender definition updates and time sync all require server contact. This reduces optional and behavioural telemetry to the minimum your edition allows. Anything promising "zero telemetry" on Home or Pro is overstating what is achievable.
Why does the script refuse to run elevated?
HKEY_CURRENT_USER resolves to whichever account the process runs as. Elevated, that is the administrator account — so every per-user setting would apply to the wrong profile and silently do nothing for you.
Nothing happened after running it. Why? Most changes need a sign-out or restart. Some Start menu and taskbar changes need Explorer restarted:
Stop-Process -Name explorer -ForceIs -WhatIf supported?
Yes, on Remove-Bloatware.ps1, which is the only script that removes anything. Registry changes are backed up rather than previewed.
These scripts modify the Windows registry, stop system services and disable scheduled tasks. They are provided as-is, without warranty of any kind.
Read the code before running it. Every script is plain PowerShell with comments explaining each change. Automatic backups are created, but you remain responsible for your own system. Test on a non-critical machine first if you are unsure.
This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Microsoft Corporation. Windows, Copilot, Recall, Bing, Xbox and Edge are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
MIT — free to use, modify and redistribute.
Pull requests welcome, particularly for registry keys introduced in newer Windows builds.