PowerShell Transcription is a feature that records all input and output of PowerShell sessions into text files. While highly recommended for auditing and security monitoring, there may be specific testing environments or privacy-sensitive scenarios where transcription must be temporarily disabled to prevent logging sensitive data. This guide demonstrates how to completely disable PowerShell Transcription using Group Policy in Windows 11.
Prerequisites
You must have administrative privileges to modify Group Policy settings on the target Windows 11 machine.
Disable PowerShell Transcription Using Group Policy
Open the Group Policy Editor
Press the Windows Key + R, type gpedit.msc, and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
Navigate to the PowerShell Policies
In the left pane, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows PowerShell.
Locate the Transcription Policy
In the right pane, find the policy named Turn on PowerShell Transcription and double-click it.
Disable the Policy
Change the setting to Disabled. Click Apply, then OK to save your configuration.
Force a Policy Update
Open an elevated Command Prompt and execute gpupdate /force to apply the Group Policy changes immediately.
Verify the Configuration
To verify that transcription is disabled, launch a new PowerShell session. Attempt to manually start transcription by typing Start-Transcript. If the policy is successfully enforced, the command may fail or transcription will be blocked system-wide, and no log files will be generated in the designated output directories.