The best way to protect your privacy in Windows 11 – Computerworld

1. Click your profile icon within the lower-left corner of the Copilot screen and click on Sign out.
2. To sign back in, click the icon again and click on Register.

Note that in case your profile icon doesn’t appear, you’re probably using Copilot in a mode that doesn’t include its left pane. To display the pane, have a look at the upper left of the Copilot screen, then click the icon simply to the appropriate of the Copilot icon — it’s a small box with a right-facing arrow in it. That can display the left pane, where you possibly can sign out of or into your Microsoft account at the underside left.

Turn off Windows Recall on Copilot+ PCs

If you could have a Copilot+ PC and also you’re nervous about privacy, be certain that its Recall feature is turned off. This feature takes a screenshot of your screen every few seconds, performs optical character recognition on it, and saves it in your computer in a searchable database.

This makes it easy to search out what you’ve been performing some time prior to now, but is also a privacy nightmare. Microsoft says Recall’s snapshots are encrypted, and there are filters to remove sensitive data comparable to banking information from snapshots. In tests, nonetheless, those protections have fallen short or been easily circumvented.

Recall is turned off by default, but it surely’s value checking to be certain that you didn’t opt in to it through the initial Windows 11 setup process. To show off Recall and delete all of the screenshots it’s taken:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots and move the toggle for “Save snapshots” to Off.
2. Then click Delete to delete all of your existing snapshots.

To uninstall Recall out of your system completely:

1. Type turn windows features on or off in Windows search. You’ll see an inventory of optional Windows features.
2. If the Recall box is checked, uncheck it. Recall shall be uninstalled, its stored snapshots shall be deleted, and your PC will reboot.

Suggestions for the truly paranoid

If you should take privacy even further, there are just a few more things you possibly can do.

Stop using OneDrive

In case you don’t like the thought of syncing your data to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service, you possibly can stop using it. (There’s no solution to uninstall it.)

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon on the notification tray at the underside right of the Windows desktop and choose Settings from the menu that pops open.
2. Within the OneDrive Settings window, go to the Account tab, then click the Unlink this PC link.
3. Next, go to Settings > Apps > Startup, scroll to the Microsoft OneDrive setting and move the slider to Off.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

Don’t sync Windows settings across devices

As well as, you possibly can say no to syncing your Windows settings amongst different devices. Whenever you sync your settings, the best way you’ve customized and arrange Windows 11 shall be synced to Microsoft’s servers. If you should turn it off, go to Settings > Accounts > Windows backup and switch the slider from On to Off next to “Remember my preferences.”

Don’t share Windows updates

Finally, you possibly can change the best way Windows updates. In Settings > Windows Updates > Advanced options > Delivery optimization, move the slider from On to Off next to “Allow downloads from other devices.” When turned on, this function lets your Windows 11 system share its update files with other Windows devices on the web and your individual network through peer-to-peer distribution.

These steps can take you a great distance towards ensuring that Windows 11 doesn’t cross the road into gathering data you’d prefer remain private.

This text was originally published in February 2023 and most recently updated in November 2025.

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