Windows 11 Privacy Settings: Turn Off Optional Diagnostics, Ads, Offers and Location Tracking

That caveat matters. The four toggles are real and worth checking, but each one controls something different. Below, each setting is checked against Microsoft's own support documentation, with its location in Settings, what it actually does and what it leaves alone.

The four switches at a glance​

Summary: these are four separate controls with four separate jobs. None of them is a master "stop sharing" switch.

1. Optional diagnostic data​

Steps:

1. Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback.
2. Under Diagnostic data, choose the setting you want. Turning off optional data leaves only required data.

What changes: Microsoft's support page says optional diagnostic data adds more detail about your device and how healthy it is. It can also include the websites you browse, device activity and enhanced error reporting. It can even include the device's memory state when a crash happens, which may accidentally capture parts of a file you had open. Microsoft also says that a device sending only required data is "just as secure" and works normally. Turning optional data off doesn't cost you security updates.

What doesn't change: required diagnostic data is always sent. Microsoft calls it the minimum needed to keep a device reliable, secure and up to date. This is why the video's own description admits that telemetry continues.

If the options are greyed out: your PC may be managed by an employer or school. In that case Microsoft says the page will show "Some settings are hidden or managed by your organization." Policy from your IT department overrides the switch, so ask your admin.

Optional extras on the same page:

• Improve inking and typing. Turn it off to stop sending samples of what you type and handwrite.
• Delete diagnostic data. This removes diagnostic data stored for this device. Microsoft notes it doesn't delete data tied to your Microsoft account, and it doesn't stop future collection.
• Diagnostic Data Viewer. It shows events live while it's running. It is not a history of what was sent.

2. Advertising ID​

Steps:

1. Open Settings (Win+I) and go to Privacy & security.
2. Select Recommendations & offers.
3. Turn off Let apps show my personalized ads by using my advertising ID.

Microsoft's support page lists the Windows Advertising ID as one of the privacy settings that control website access to your language list, and Start and search personalization settings, which use your activity and preferences to customize content and suggestions across Windows.

Version note: where this toggle lives depends on your build. Tech2Geek's guide for Windows 11 26H2 says that on some builds, the option may still appear under Settings → Privacy & security → General rather than Recommendations & offers. If it isn't on one page, check the other.

What doesn't change: Microsoft is clear about this one. Turning the ID off won't reduce the number of ads you see, though the ads may be less relevant to you. The setting only covers Windows apps that use the Windows advertising identifier. It doesn't affect cookie-based ads on websites, or third-party software that runs its own ad tracking under its own privacy policy. One more detail: if you turn the ID back on later, Windows gives you a new ID instead of restoring the old one.

3. Personalized offers​

Steps:

1. Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security.
2. Select Personalized offers.
3. Turn off Get personalized tips, ads, and recommendations based on my Windows activity.

What it controls: Microsoft says that when this setting is on, it uses information about your device and how you use it, including Windows diagnostic data, in combination with your account info and data collected by other Microsoft products and services to show personalized tips, ads and recommendations. Microsoft adds that it may also use information about your device and your activity to personalize offers locally on your device, even when the data does not leave your device.

On the plus side, Microsoft says it does not use the content of crash dumps, speech, typing or inking input to personalize offers.

If you can't find it: this setting has been renamed more than once. Microsoft's diagnostics page says Tailored experiences is being replaced by Personalized offers. If you haven't installed recent updates, you may still see the old name on the Diagnostics & feedback page. Tech2Geek adds that depending on your build, the option may appear under: Privacy & security → Recommendations & offers.

What doesn't change: this switch only covers personalization based on your Windows activity. Microsoft points to a separate Personalized ads and offers page in your Microsoft account for data collected by its other products, such as Bing, Microsoft 365, Xbox and MSN. Turning off the Windows toggle doesn't change those account-level choices.

4. Location permissions​

Steps:

1. Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
2. If you're an administrator, Location services turns location on or off for the whole device. Standard users won't see this switch.
3. To control just your own account, use Let apps access your location.
4. With access on, review which apps get precise location. Apps that aren't allowed precise location get only coarse, approximate data.

Signs it's working: when an app uses your location through the Windows location service, a location icon appears in the taskbar notification area. Hover over it to see which app is using it. The Location page also shows when each app last accessed your precise location.

Trade-offs: Microsoft notes that features such as automatic time zone and Find my device depend on location services. Turn location off and those features may stop working.

What doesn't change: Microsoft lists several exceptions:

• Desktop apps, the kind you install from the web or from media, don't support per-app control over precise location.
• Some third-party apps can estimate your location in other ways, such as Bluetooth, IP address or a cellular modem.
• When you make an emergency call, Windows will try to find and share your precise location regardless of your settings.
• Some Windows features, such as weather on the taskbar, can use your IP address for local information even when location services are off.

Cloud history: if you're signed in with a Microsoft account, your last-known location may be saved to the cloud. Microsoft says you can clear it at account.microsoft.com with Clear location activity. Local location history storage was removed in March 2025.

Summary: the location toggle is the closest of the four to a hard block, and it still has documented exceptions.

Related switches the video doesn't cover​

The video sticks to four settings. If you're already in Settings, the same Recommendations & offers page has several more controls worth checking. As an earlier WindowsForum breakdown of these settings noted, there are Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launches. Windows uses the apps you open to rank your most-used apps in Start and search. There is also Show me suggested content in the Settings app, plus a toggle that lets websites read your language list. These are optional extras, not part of the video's walkthrough.

Our take: useful steps, misleading title​

The video gets the substance right. Its description even says up front that required telemetry continues, which is more honest than most "lock down Windows" clickbait. The headline, "Windows 11 Is Sharing Your Data," suggests that four toggles shut the tap. They don't. Microsoft's own documentation says required diagnostic data keeps flowing, the advertising ID doesn't reduce ads, and location has documented exceptions.

So is the walkthrough worth ten minutes? Yes. Turning off optional diagnostics stops crash memory dumps and browsing-related data from leaving your PC. Turning off personalized offers ends a stream of upsells, and checking location permissions often turns up apps that have no business knowing where you are. Just treat these switches as ways to reduce what Windows shares, not as a complete privacy lockdown.

For business IT teams, the point is different. On managed devices, these user-level toggles may be greyed out or overridden by organizational policy. Configure diagnostic levels centrally rather than expecting each user to do it.

Checklist:

• Diagnostics & feedback: optional data off, inking and typing off, delete stored data if you want.
• Recommendations & offers (or General on older builds): advertising ID off.
• Personalized offers (or Tailored experiences on older builds): off.
• Location: review app access, decide whether you need location services at all, and clear cloud location activity from your Microsoft account.

Expect some data to keep flowing even with all four switches off. Microsoft documents that limit itself.