Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback and turn off Send optional diagnostic data. On the same screen, turn off Tailored experiences, which uses your diagnostic signals to personalize tips, ads, and suggestions. MakeUseOf calls turning off optional diagnostic data "step one," noting that it cuts a large amount of tracking before you change the advanced settings.

Set diagnostic data to required only:

"Required" still sends baseline reliability data, but drops the optional usage telemetry used for profiling. This setting is the most likely to revert after a big update. On Windows 10, you also find it under Diagnostics & feedback; the menu names differ slightly in our walkthrough on disabling Windows 10 tracking.

To remove Windows tracking at the service level, open the Services console.

Stop DiagTrack and dmwappushservice:

Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Connected User Experiences and Telemetry (service name DiagTrack). Right-click it, choose Properties, click Stop, then set Startup type to Disabled and click OK. PDQ recommends disabling dmwappushservice the same way.

For the command-line route, run sc config DiagTrack start= disabled in an elevated prompt, as documented by NinjaOne.

Group Policy (Windows 11 Pro and up):

Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview Builds and open Allow Diagnostic Data. Enable it and choose the lowest level your edition allows, as described by NinjaOne. Run gpupdate /force in a command prompt to apply it immediately.

If the diagnostic data toggle in Settings is greyed out and shows "managed by your organization," a policy is already enforcing the level, even on a home PC.

Registry (Windows Home):

Home has no Group Policy editor, so use the registry. Open regedit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection. Export the key before changing it; the backup takes ten seconds. Set (or create) a DWORD named AllowTelemetry to 0. Home and Pro treat 0 as "required," which caps the level.

Why Windows tracking comes back after updates

In a Microsoft Q&A thread, a user found Compatibility Telemetry still running after a cumulative update. The cause was a scheduled task, Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser. Updates install a fresh system layer, which can treat disabled tasks and services as unconfigured and restore their defaults.

If that task keeps bringing telemetry back, open Task Scheduler, go to Task Scheduler Library\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience, and disable Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser.
On a managed work PC, Group Policy enforces your settings. On a personal PC without policy enforcement, you need to check every setting after each update or use a program that remembers and re-applies your choices. I would avoid relying on manual checks over time: you can miss an update and forget to check. Our article on stopping Windows from spying on you explains what Microsoft collects and why collection persists.

For windows tracking protection in one place, Privacy Protector for Windows 11 brings together settings for diagnostic data, activity tracking, and the channels that send data to Microsoft.

You can repeat a 20-minute manual audit in a couple of clicks after each upgrade. The program runs locally on your PC, alongside programs like our system cleaner for clearing data already collected.

Pitfalls when you turn off Windows tracking

Sources

• PDQ How to disable Windows telemetry
• NinjaOne How to disable telemetry in Windows 11
• Microsoft Support General privacy settings in Windows
• HowToGeek 11 Windows 11 privacy settings to change
• MakeUseOf The one Windows feature to turn off for privacy
• Microsoft Q&A Disabling Compatibility Telemetry
• Microsoft Q&A Optional diagnostic data turning off after reboot