The virtual assistant of Microsoft that comes integrated with Windows 10 is called Cortana. It is capable of helping you with a wide range of tasks. As it learns more about you through your interactions, it will be able to help you more effectively. You can say “Hey, Cortana” and you can use its service to get answers regarding weather forecasts, searching the internet, setting reminders, keeping track of your flights and many more. Additionally, it can also tell jokes if you are looking for a distraction after having a tiring day at work.
With all these amazing features, however, there are some privacy issues with Cortana that bother the users. It collects the personal information of the users like internet history, location, calendar, contacts, and typing, inking, speech, and favorites and many more. Many users find this an invasion of privacy by Microsoft. So, it is better to know how to turn Cortana off. If you do not know the process, then do not worry. I will be discussing the ways to disable Cortana in Windows 10.
Methods to disable Cortana in Windows 10?
If you are looking for how to turn off Cortana, there are two ways of doing that. You can either choose to turn off its settings for recording your browser history and searches or disable Cortana on Windows 10 completely. So, let’s check out these two methods in a step by step manner.
How to turn off Cortana settings so that it is unable to record online data of the user?
Some users do not take the matter of Microsoft keeping track of their personal data lightly. They are very concerned about this process of Microsoft. The only solution to this problem is to disable Cortana completely. Another method is to disable the settings that enable Cortana to record this information. So, let us see the process to prevent Cortana from recording any of your online data.
- Open the Start Menu and in the search box, you have to write “Cortana”. Now, you have to click on the option of “Cortana & Search Settings” from the search result.
- After that, go to the tab of “Permission & History”. Then, set the options to “Off” for all the options on the page.
- Now, click on the “Manage the information Cortana can access from this device” option located at the top of the page.
- On this page, you have to select “Off” for all the options.
- After that, choose the option of “Speech privacy settings” located at the bottom of this page.
- Now. switch “Off” the option of “Online Speech Recognition”.
- Next, you have to return to the setting page of Cortana by pressing the back arrow at the top-left corner of the screen. Then, on the settings page, you have to select the option of “Change what Cortana knows about me in the Cloud”.
- After that, the page of your “Personal Information” will show up in the Start panel. Then, go to the bottom of the page, and click on the option of “Clear”.
After this procedure is complete, Cortana will not be removed from your computer, but it will not be able to record your activity online anymore. So, this is the process to disable Cortana. However, if you ever want to use Cortana in the future, you have to select the option of “On” all the options that you have selected “Off” in the above process.
How to get rid of Cortana permanently?
Getting rid of Cortana permanently may affect the user experience as it is heavily integrated into Windows 10. However, the Windows 10 Home version users can use the Registry Editor Tool to disable Cortana. The Windows 10 Enterprise and Pro users can use the Group Policy Manager or Registry Editor to disable Cortana. So, let’s see how to disable Cortana permanently using each of these methods step by step.
Group Policy Editor
The users on Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Pro can disable Cortana using the Registry Editor. Follow the steps below to successfully complete the process of “Windows 10 disable Cortana”:-
- Open the Command Prompt by pressing the R and the Windows button at the same time. Then, in the command box, you have to type “gpedit.msc” and hit Enter.
- Now, go to the option of “Computer Configuration” and then to “Administrative Templates”. After that, select the folder of “Windows Components” and then go to the folder of “Search”. Now, within the folder of “Search”, on the right panel, you have to double-click on the folder of “Allow Cortana”.
- In the new window that appears on the screen, you have to click on the option of “Disabled”. After that, click on “OK” to save the changes.
- Next, restart your computer after closing the Group Policy Editor window.
So, this is how to turn off Cortana permanently using the Group Policy Editor.
Windows Registry Editor
Before you start this method to disable Cortana on Windows 10, you must create a restore point for your system. This is because, during this process, the computer may become unstable. Creating a restore point will help you get your old system back if you face some problems.
- Go to the Windows icon and right-click on it. Select the option of Run. Then write “cmd” and press Enter. This will bring up the Command Prompt.
- Then write “regedit” in the command prompt and hit Enter.
- After that, go to “HKEY_Local_Machine. Then, enter the option of “SOFTWARE”. Next, enter “Policies” then “Microsoft” and then “Windows”. After that, on the option of “Windows”, you have to right-click and select the option of “New” and then “Key”.
- The new folder that you have created, you have to name it “Windows Search”.
- Now, on the folder of “Windows Search”, right-click on it and choose the option of “New”. Then select the “DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- After that, the new file that you have created, name it “Allow Cortana”.
- Now, open the “AllowCortana” file and set the Value to “0” and then click “OK”.
- Lastly, close the Registry Editor. After that, restart your computer.
This is how to disable Cortana on Windows 10.
Conclusion
I hope that you are able to understand the process of stopping Cortana from recording your online data and the methods to stop it completely. These methods to disable Cortana are the most effective and pretty easy and straightforward to follow. These processes, once applied correctly, will prevent Cortana from being able to record your online activity.