How to Stop Windows Tracking and Personalized Ads
Windows collects diagnostic data and uses an advertising ID to show personalized ads, and apps request permissions for your location, camera, and more. You cannot turn all data collection off completely, but you can reduce it a lot with a few settings, and stop the personalized ads altogether.
Follow these steps
- Turn off the advertising ID. Open Settings, then Privacy and security, then General, and turn off Let apps show me personalized ads by using my advertising ID. This stops apps from using that ID to tailor ads to you.
- Limit diagnostic data. Open Settings, then Privacy and security, then Diagnostics and feedback, and choose the smallest diagnostic data option available, and turn off Tailored experiences if you see it. Windows still sends basic data needed to keep the system working, but far less about how you use it.
- Review app permissions by category. Open Settings, then Privacy and security, and go through Location, Camera, Microphone, and Contacts one by one. Turn off access for apps that do not need it, and leave it on only for apps where the permission is part of what the app does.
- Turn off location for apps that do not need it. In Location settings, turn off Location services entirely if you never use location-based apps on this computer, or leave it on and turn off individual apps instead. A desktop that never leaves your desk rarely needs location at all.
- Check which apps can run in the background. Open Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps, and for apps you rarely use, limit background activity. Background apps can collect data and send it even when you are not using them.
- Review these settings after major updates. Large Windows updates sometimes reset or add privacy settings. After a major update, spend two minutes rechecking the Privacy and security screens above to make sure your choices are still in place.
What NOT to do
- Install a privacy tool that promises to stop all tracking with one click. These tools can break Windows features and are hard to undo cleanly.
- Turn off every permission blindly, including the camera for video calls and the microphone for meetings you actually join. Review each permission against what the app does.
- Assume turning off the ad ID stops all ads. It stops personalized ads; you will still see ads, they just will not be tailored to you.
- Pay for a service that claims to remove you from Windows tracking entirely. Windows always sends some basic diagnostic data, and anyone promising zero collection is overstating what they can do.
With the ad ID off, diagnostic data limited, and app permissions reviewed, Windows collects noticeably less about you. Revisit these screens a few times a year, because new apps and updates keep adding new permission requests.