Windows 11 privacy in 2026: 14 telemetry settings worth checking

Diagnostic data: what actually leaves the machine

Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback. The default is “Optional diagnostic data” — which is not just counters but content fragments: URLs of visited sites when Edge crashes, document fragments when Office crashes, your installed software list. Switching “Send optional diagnostic data” to Off leaves Microsoft only what updates and Defender genuinely need. The feedback-prompt frequency lives right next to it — set it to Never.

A separate toggle — “Tailored experiences” — links diagnostic data to your Microsoft account so that Start-menu suggestions get “smarter”. For privacy this is the most direct channel: turn it off. And Activity History — the log of launched apps and opened files that goes to the cloud by default if you are signed into a Microsoft account: uncheck both boxes, local storage and cloud upload.

• Diagnostics & feedback → Optional data → Off
• Diagnostics & feedback → Feedback frequency → Never
• Personalization → Tailored experiences → Off
• Activity history → both toggles → Off
• Account → Sync settings — only what you actually need

The advertising ID and app tracking

The shared advertising ID (Settings → Privacy → General) is a unique number by which ad networks recognize you across Microsoft Store apps. It gives websites in your browser nothing, but Store apps with ads build a profile on it. Disabling it resets the ID and forbids reissuing — two toggles in the same section: “Let apps show me personalized ads” and “Show suggestions on how I use Windows” (a third — “Track app launches” — powers Start-menu recommendations; it barely affects them).

App permissions hold the sensitive stuff: location, camera, microphone, contacts, calendar, documents, radio. Walk every subsection top to bottom: half the apps in those lists have no legitimate reason for what they request. “App diagnostics data” deserves special attention — access to other programs' logs, needed almost exclusively by optimizer tools and crash reporters; unless you are a developer, deny it to everyone.

Speech: “Speech → Online speech recognition” uploads your voice recordings to the cloud for dictation. Keyboard → “Custom dictionary” and “Inking and typing” build local models but sync to Microsoft when account sync is on. Cortana can simply be uninstalled — in 2026 she is no longer part of Windows, but her traces remain in the permission lists.

DNS, the browser, and anti-spy tools

Network level: Windows 11 uses Smart Multi-Homed Name Resolution — DNS queries go out to several servers in parallel, including strangers'. It is disabled by local policy (gpedit.msc → Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Network → DNS Client → “Disable smart multi-homed name resolution”), and for DNS privacy overall — switch to DNS-over-HTTPS, which Windows 11 supports natively per-adapter with a provider choice.

A word on “anti-spy” utilities promising to “rip Windows telemetry out in one click”. Support practice shows two patterns: aggressive blockers edit dozens of registry keys and later break updates, the Store and OneDrive for people who will not remember why; and most of what they disable is switchable by the stock toggles from this article. The honest alternative is a one-time 15-minute walk through Settings plus a restore point before experimenting.

What NOT to disable for privacy: update delivery (DoSvc) — “delivery to other PCs” has long been optional and off by default, and updates themselves are your security; SmartScreen — it checks URLs against a phishing base and saves you more risk than it creates; Defender — sample telemetry is what catches new malware. Privacy is selective hygiene, not a total blockade.

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