Windows 10 privacy github
Windows 10 Privacy Guide — 1903 Update
Important: Maintainer needed!
I am switching to Linux as my main OS and 1903 will be the last update for this guide from me. Want to pick up the project?
Windows 10 has raised several concerns about privacy due to the fact that it has a lot of telemetry and online features. In response to these concerns, Microsoft released a document explaining exactly what data they collect, and now Windows 10 even has a Diagnostic Data Viewer. Most of it seems pretty legit stuff when telemetry is set to basic, but still, if you don’t trust them, here’s how to prevent Windows 10 from sending your data to Microsoft.
Last update: July 5, 2019
Important: This procedure cannot be reverted without reinstalling Windows. Do not follow this guide if:
- You are not an experienced user
- You need to use a Microsoft Account for any reason (outside of your web browser)
- You need to download anything from the Windows Store (including distros for the Linux subsystem if you want to use it)
- You need to add/remove user accounts to your PC (new accounts will not work properly)
You’re doing this at your own risk, I am not responsible for any data loss or damage that may occur.
Do not use the default settings
At the end of the setup process, create a local account, don’t use Cortana and turn off everything in the privacy settings. 
If you already installed Windows with the default settings, go to Start > Settings > Privacy to turn them off. You should also go to Account and disconnect your Microsoft account because this guide will prevent it from working properly.
Let it download all the updates
Once you get to the desktop, go to Settings > Updates and security, and let it download all the updates. Reboot and repeat until no more updates are available.
This is important because Windows Update may interfere with our activities. 
Now open the Store app, and let it download updates too.
Again, this is important because updates would interfere with our activities.
This may take some time. 
Make sure you check for updates several times, because we absolutely don’t want it to download stuff while we’re removing it.
Now that the system is fully updated, make sure Windows is activated with your license (or KMSPico).
Remove everything you can
Open the start menu and remove all the applications. Some of them, such as Microsoft Edge, will not have an uninstall option; we’ll remove them later.
What’s important now is to remove all the OEM software and the shitty games like Candy Crush and Minecraft.
If you used previous versions of Windows 10, you’ll notice that this time we can remove more stuff, like Paint 3D, without resorting to tricks.
- You will need Install_Wim_Tweak. Download this archive, extract it to your Desktop, then move it to C:\Windows\System32
This is a very handy tool that allows us to remove Windows components with a single command. You can delete it from System32 when you’re finished with this guide. - We need a command prompt, so click start, type cmd and run it as administrator
- We will also need PowerShell, so click start, type PowerShell and run it as administrator
Removing Windows Defender
In the command prompt, type the following commands:
This will take 1-2 minutes.
Unfortunately, since June 2018, the Windows Security icon in the Start menu can no longer be removed without breaking the system.
If Windows complains about the system being unprotected, right click the notification and hide it. 
We will now remove almost all UWP features in Windows. The only UWP app you’ll have left will be the settings app.
If you manually install UWP apps later (like cracked UWP games) they may not work properly.
Note: if some of the apps reappear after a few minutes, it’s because you didn’t wait for the updates to finish. You can simply remove them again using the same commands.
In the PowerShell, type:
You can ignore any error that pops up.
In the command prompt, type:
In the PowerShell, type:
Alternatives: MPC-HC, VLC, MPV
Xbox and Game DVR
In the PowerShell, type:
You can ignore any error that pops up.
In the command prompt, type:
Additionally, go to Start > Settings > Gaming and turn off everything.
In the PowerShell, type:
Alternatives: Notebot
In the PowerShell, type:
In the command prompt, type:
Alarms and Clock
In the PowerShell, type:
You can ignore any error that pops up.
In the PowerShell, type:
You can ignore any error that pops up.
Alternatives: Thunderbird
In the PowerShell, type:
In the PowerShell, type:
Alternatives: JPEGView, or the old Windows Photo Viewer
In the PowerShell, type:
Ignore any error that pops up
In the PowerShell, type:
In the PowerShell, type:
Alternatives: SpeedCrunch
In the PowerShell, type:
Alternatives: Audacity
Since May 2019, Edge can no longer be fully removed without breaking Windows Update. We can neutralize it, but the icon will still be there in the start menu.
Right click the Edge icon on your taskbar and unpin it.
In the PowerShell, type:
Contact Support, Get Help
In the command prompt, type:
In the PowerShell, type:
Additionally, Go to Start > Settings > Apps > Manage optional features, and remove Contact Support (if present).
Microsoft Quick Assist
In the PowerShell, type:
In the command prompt, type:
In the PowerShell, type:
In the PowerShell, type:
In the command prompt, type:
Edit with 3D Paint / 3D Print
It is now possible to remove 3D Paint and 3D Print, but they forgot to remove the option in the context menu when you remove them. To remove it, run this in the command prompt:
In the PowerShell, type:
Reboot the system and you’re now free of UWP garbage.
With the Anniversary Update, Microsoft hid the option to disable Cortana.
Warning: Do not attempt to remove the Cortana package using install_wim_tweak or the PowerShell, as it will break Windows Search and you will have to reinstall Windows!
Open our command prompt again and use this command:
Reboot again and Cortana is gone. The icon is still there, but it will open the regular search instead.
Open the command prompt again.
Turn off Windows Error reporting
In the command prompt, type:
We will remove the service later, but in case an update reinstalls it, this will at least keep it turned off.
No more forced updates
This will notify when updates are available, and you decide when to install them.
In the command prompt, type:
No license checking
By default, Windows will check your license every time you turn on your PC, this will prevent it.
In the command prompt, type:
It doesn’t really affect you if you’re not using a Microsoft Account, but it will at least disable the Sync settings from the Settings app.
In the command prompt, type:
No Windows Tips
In the command prompt, type:
Removing Telemetry and other unnecessary services
In the command prompt type the following commands:
Press Win+R, type regedit, press enter, and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services.
Here we need to locate the following keys:
These keys have messed up permissions. To delete them, we must fix them, here’s a video showing how to do it: 
Right click the key and select Permissions, then click Advanced, change the Owner to your username, check «Replace owner on subcontainers and objects» and «Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object», if inheritance is enabled, disable it and convert to explicit permissions, apply, remove all the permission entries and add one for your username with Full control, confirm everything and delete the key.
Repeat for the 3 keys and you’re done.
Windows 10 has a huge amount of scheduled tasks that may report some data. Type these commands in the command prompt to remove them:
Some of these may not exist, it’s fine.
We must disable Windows Spotlight, and other «Suggestions» (literal ads).
Go to Start > Settings > Personalization > Lock screen:
- Set the background to Picture
- Set «Get fun facts, tips, tricks and more on your lock screen» to off
Go to Personalization > Start:
- Set Show suggestions occasionally in Start to off (They’re literally ads)
Go back to Settings and go to System > Notifications and actions:
- Set «Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows» to off
- Set «Show me the Windows welcome. » to off
Go to System > Multitasking:
- Set «Show suggestions occasionally in your timeline» to off
Go back to Settings and go to Privacy:
- Under General, turn off everything
- Under Activity history, turn off everything
- Under Speech, turn off everything
- Under Inking, turn off everything
- Under App diagnostics, set Let apps access diagnostic information to off
Go back to Settings and go to Search:
- Under Permissions & History, turn off everything
Later on, you might get a «Suggestions» notification. Right click it and turn it off.
For some applications (such as the settings app), the only way to prevent them from reporting data is to block them with a firewall. This is why you should use a firewall to block all traffic except the applications you explicitly allow, like your web browser. Personally, I allow Windows Update, Network discovery and sharing, DHCP, DNS, my web browser and nothing more.
SimpleWall is the new recommended firewall for this guide. If you used TinyWall before, it no longer works on 1903, so uninstall it.
SimpleWall can block/unblock individual executables, UWP apps, and services, as well as filter by address, port and protocol.
Unlike TinyWall unfortunately, it doesn’t have an autolearn mode, but it has a very useful notification that pops up when an application is blocked, so you can decide if you want to block it or allow it permanently. This is very useful when installing new software. Get used to seeing a lot of these in the first hours.
My recommended configuration for SimpleWall is this:
- Under Settings > Mode, use Whitelist. This will block all traffic that you don’t explicitly allow
- Under Settings > Settings > General, enable «Load on system startup», «Start minimized», and «Skip User Account Control prompt»
- Under Settings > Settings > Rules, select «Enable boot-time filters»
- Under Settings > Settings > Rules > System Rules, allow smb (inbound and outbound), if you plan to use network file sharing, and also Windows Update
- Under File > Import, you can load my preset: download. It blocks some Windows features that aren’t already blocked by the guide, and allows all apps to access the local network but not the Internet.
- Click on Enable filtering, then select Whitelist
Feel free to experiment with SimpleWall, it is a very powerful tool.
The only disadvantage at the moment is that it blocks Windows Update even if you explicitly allow it. The developer is aware of this issue and it will probably be fixed in later releases. A temporary workaround is available here.
Congratulations! Your copy of Windows is now Debotnetted!
Things will change in the future, and I’ll do what I can to keep this guide updated. As of May 2018, this guide works on Windows 10 Pro.
Can Windows revert these changes?
When a major update is installed, almost all changes will be reverted and you’ll have to repeat this procedure. Major updates come out about twice a year.
Windows 10 privacy github
Windows 10 Privacy Scripts and Registry Files
This repository collects some scripts and registry files to improve the privacy using Windows 10.
Use it on your own liability!
Miscellaneous Privacy Related Options
The registry files Privacy_Group_Policy_Machine.reg and Privacy_Group_Policy_User.reg contain a collection of Windows Group Policy (GPO) entries improving the privacy using Windows 10. The file Privacy_Group_Policy_User.reg has to be installed for each Windows user separately.
The file Privacy_Group_Policy_Machine.reg configures the following policies (Computer Configuration):
- Turn off Active Help
- Turn On/Off Find My Device
- Turn off collection of InPrivate Filtering data
- Let Windows apps access diagnostic information about other apps
- Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences
- Turn off soft landing help tips
- Allow Telemetry
- Turn off Automatic Download and Update of Map Data
- Configure Windows Defender SmartScreen
- Disable Windows Error Reporting
- Don´t search the web or display web results in Search over metered connections
- Allow Cortana
- Allow Cortana above lock screen
- Allow search and Cortana to use location
- Prevent automatically adding shared folders to the Windows Search index
- Don´t search the web or display web results in Search
- Do not allow web search
- Prevent Windows Media DRM Internet Access
The file Privacy_Group_Policy_User.reg configures the following policies (User Configuration):
- Do not use diagnostic data for tailored experiences
- Do not suggest third-party content in Windows spotlight
- Turn off all Windows spotlight features
- Turn off storage and display of search history
In addition, the file Privacy_Group_Policy_User.reg configures the following settings at user level:
- It disables the device histroy for Cortana
- It disables the Bing Web Search (Cortana)
Both files have been tested using Windows 10 EDU 1903.
Restrict Cortana: Cortana.reg
This file disables the Web Search of Cortana and device history. Tested using Windows 10 EDU 1903.
Remove Apps: PowerShell Script removeApps.ps1
A PowerShell script to remove some often preinstalled apps that are potentially unwanted. To execute it follow the following steps:
- Run Windows PowerShell as administrator.
- Execute Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy ByPass
- Confirm
- Change to the directory of the downloaded PowerShell script (e.g. cd
\Download\Privacy-for-Windows-10 )
About
This repository collects some scripts and registry files to improve the privacy using Windows 10.
