privacy controls

Microsoft is developing a Windows 11 setting that will let users turn off web results in the operating system’s built-in search interface, with the option previewed at a Windows Insider event in San Francisco ahead of Build 2026 and expected to reach Insider builds before general release. The...

Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26300.8553 to the Experimental Channel on May 29, 2026, adding a more modular Start menu that can hide or show individual sections, switch between small and large layouts, and remove the visible account name and profile image. The update is not...

Microsoft said on May 13, 2026, that it is retiring Copilot Mode in Microsoft Edge and moving its AI browsing features directly into Edge on desktop and mobile, including multi-tab reasoning, screen-aware voice assistance, Journeys, quizzes, podcasts, and writing help. The change is less a...

PCMag UK’s hands-on look at AppControl, a free Windows 10 and Windows 11 utility from developer Jon Hundley, argues that the app gives power users a 72-hour view into process behavior, hardware usage, privacy-sensitive access, and system changes that Windows Task Manager still largely treats as...

Microsoft’s Copilot Vision is now being treated as part of the normal Windows 11 AI experience in current builds, letting users intentionally share an app, browser tab, or desktop view with Copilot so the assistant can interpret what is visible on screen. That makes it the clearest test yet of...

Switching to Claude no longer means starting your AI relationship from zero. Anthropic has added a memory import flow that lets users bring over context from services such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, turning what used to be a tedious reset into a guided copy-and-paste process. That matters...

Google’s move to roll Personal Intelligence into three flagship entry points — the Gemini app, AI Mode in Search, and the Gemini integration inside Chrome — marks a deliberate shift from AI novelty toward everyday utility. The company has begun enabling an opt‑in experience that lets Gemini draw...

Microsoft’s sudden decision to pull back several high‑visibility Copilot integrations from Windows 11 marks a clear inflection point: after two years of aggressive, surface‑wide AI rollouts, the company is quietly prioritizing privacy, reliability, and administrability over ubiquity, and that...

Microsoft’s sudden retreat from an “AI everywhere” push inside Windows 11 — trimming visible Copilot surfaces, shelving intrusive UI experiments, and re‑gating a controversial “Recall” memory feature — marks a significant course correction in how Microsoft plans to deliver generative AI on the...

Microsoft's quietly announced rollback of several high-profile Copilot integrations in Windows 11 marks a significant course correction for Microsoft's desktop AI strategy — one driven as much by user backlash and enterprise pushback as by engineering trade‑offs. In mid‑March 2026 the company...

Microsoft’s decision to take Gaming Copilot from PC and mobile onto Xbox consoles marks the latest — and perhaps most consequential — phase in its strategy to weave AI into the everyday fabric of play. Announced at this year’s Game Developers Conference, Xbox staff confirmed the assistant will...

Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot — the AI assistant Microsoft has been testing inside Xbox Game Bar and on mobile — is officially headed to Xbox Series X|S consoles later this year, the company confirmed during its GDC 2026 presentation. What began as a Windows-centered beta and mobile preview is now...

Microsoft’s plans to fold Copilot deeper into the Windows 11 user experience appear to have taken a visible turn: multiple industry reports now say Microsoft has abandoned a planned integration of Copilot into the Windows 11 Notification Center and certain Settings surfaces, leaving questions...

Microsoft’s long-gestured promise to turn Copilot into an ambient, system‑level assistant inside Windows 11—popping up inside Settings, File Explorer, and even toast notifications—has quietly been put on the shelf, leaving a much more conservative, selective rollout in its wake. What was billed...

Microsoft Edge’s New Tab is no longer a simple gateway to the web — it now opens a full Copilot workspace by default for many users, and Microsoft’s effort to make Edge an “AI-first” browser has blurred the line between assistant and browser in ways that matter for privacy, performance, and user...

Windows 11 can feel like a tiny, insistent salesperson living inside your machine — popping up with suggestions, ads, and reminders just when you want to do real work. Many users have described a setup that goes from mildly annoying to actively disruptive: lengthy out‑of‑box setup screens...

Microsoft is quietly reshaping how Copilot and the web interact on Windows 11: in the latest Insider preview the Copilot app can open web links in a docked side pane next to your conversation, save per‑conversation tabs, and — if you opt in — surface saved passwords and form data so the...

If you’ve been thinking “I’ll try these new AI helpers later,” you’re not alone — they don’t wait. Over the past year major platforms have started embedding generative‑AI features directly into search, browsers, email, productivity apps, and even system shells. That convenience comes with real...

WinToys squeezes the everyday friction out of Windows settings by gathering hidden toggles, repair utilities, and performance switches into a single, approachable interface—so much so that many users say they rarely open the built-in Settings app anymore. Background Windows has collected more...

Microsoft’s Copilot has quietly added a toggle that allows the assistant to harvest “Microsoft usage data” from other Microsoft properties — and that toggle appears to be enabled by default for many users, meaning Copilot can seed its Memory and personalization features with signals from Edge...