Take Back Your Data: How to Disable Telemetry in Windows 10 & 11 (Safely)

Windows 10 and 11 constantly send telemetry and diagnostic data back to Microsoft to “improve the experience”, but many users see it as unnecessary tracking and bandwidth waste. In this post, you’ll learn how to reduce telemetry as much as Windows allows, using both built‑in settings and deeper tweaks I know.

What Is Telemetry (In Plain English)? 🔗

Telemetry is automatic background reporting about:

• How you use Windows and built‑in apps
• System performance, crashes, and hardware info
• Some configuration and usage patterns

On Home/Pro you can’t legally turn it off 100%, but you can push it to the minimum level and disable most related tasks and services.

Step 1 – Turn Off Extra Diagnostic Data in Settings 🔗

This step is simple and safe, and works on Windows 10 and 11, Home and Pro.

1. Press ⊞ Win + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback (or Privacy → Diagnostics & feedback on Windows 10).
3. Turn off:
   • “Send optional diagnostic data”
   • “Tailored experiences”
   • Any “Improve inking & typing” or similar personalization toggles

This reduces what Windows is allowed to collect before we apply the deeper tweaks.

Step 2 – Set AllowTelemetry to 0 via Registry 🔗

2.1 Main system telemetry keys 🔗

You can apply these via Registry Editor or a .reg file.

• Path:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\DataCollection

  • AllowTelemetry = 0 (DWORD)

• Path:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection

  • AllowTelemetry = 0 (DWORD)

Setting AllowTelemetry to 0 tells Windows to use the lowest possible telemetry level allowed for your edition.

2.2 Content delivery & “suggestions” 🔗

These keys match your JSON ContentDeliveryManager entries and effectively disable “cloud‑pushed” suggestions and silent installs.

Under:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager

Set the following to 0 (DWORD), creating them if needed:

• ContentDeliveryAllowed
• OemPreInstalledAppsEnabled
• PreInstalledAppsEnabled
• PreInstalledAppsEverEnabled
• SilentInstalledAppsEnabled
• SubscribedContent-338387Enabled
• SubscribedContent-338388Enabled
• SubscribedContent-338389Enabled
• SubscribedContent-353698Enabled
• SystemPaneSuggestionsEnabled

This stops Windows from silently installing/promoting apps and content tied to telemetry and user profiling.

2.3 Feedback & tailored experiences 🔗

Disable feedback pop‑ups and personalized experiences:

• Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Siuf\Rules

  • NumberOfSIUFInPeriod = 0 (DWORD)

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection

  • DoNotShowFeedbackNotifications = 1 (DWORD)

• Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent

  • DisableTailoredExperiencesWithDiagnosticData = 1 (DWORD)

This reduces prompts asking for feedback and stops some personalization tied to diagnostic data.

2.4 Advertising ID and error reporting 🔗

To avoid app‑level tracking and automatic error uploads:

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AdvertisingInfo

  • DisabledByGroupPolicy = 1 (DWORD)

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting

  • Disabled = 1 (DWORD)

This disables the system‑wide advertising ID and turns off automatic Windows Error Reporting (WER).

2.5 Delivery Optimization 🔗

Delivery Optimization uses your bandwidth to share updates with other machines.

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DeliveryOptimization\Config

  • DODownloadMode = 0 (DWORD)

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeliveryOptimization

  • DODownloadMode = 0 (DWORD)

0 forces downloads from Microsoft only, not peer‑to‑peer.

Step 3 – Disable Telemetry‑Related Scheduled Tasks 🔗

Disable a set of tasks most debloat scripts target. You can do this via Task Scheduler:

1. Press ⊞ Win + R , type taskschd.msc, press ↵ Enter .
2. In the left panel, expand Task Scheduler Library → Microsoft → Windows.
3. Disable these tasks (right‑click → Disable):

From Autochk:

• Proxy

From Customer Experience Improvement Program:

• Consolidator
• UsbCeip

From DiskDiagnostic:

• Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector

From Feedback\Siuf:

• DmClient
• DmClientOnScenarioDownload

From Windows Error Reporting:

• QueueReporting

From Application Experience:

• MareBackup
• StartupAppTask
• PcaPatchDbTask

These tasks are responsible for sending usage and reliability data back to Microsoft and for compatibility/experience improvement programs.

Step 4 – Optional: Disable Defender Sample Submission 🔗

You can disable it via this PowerShell snippet:

# Disable Defender Auto Sample Submission
Set-MpPreference -SubmitSamplesConsent 2

The Set-MpPreference cmdlet controls Microsoft Defender behavior, including how it uploads suspicious files for cloud analysis. Setting -SubmitSamplesConsent 2 configures it to never automatically send samples, although Defender may still ask in some cases depending on policy.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you know a person who can benefit from this information, send them a link of this post. If you want to get notified about new posts, follow me on YouTube , Twitter (x) , LinkedIn , and GitHub .