How to Completely Block Windows 11 ‘Telemetry Data Collection’ via HOSTS File

By default, Windows 11 constantly monitors how you use your computer. It records which applications you open, how long you use them, and occasionally captures memory dumps when software crashes. This information is bundled into a “Telemetry” package and silently uploaded to Microsoft’s diagnostic servers in the background. While Microsoft claims this data is anonymized and used to improve the operating system, many privacy-conscious users find it highly invasive.

While you can toggle the “Diagnostic data” settings in the Windows 11 Settings app to “Required only,” you cannot turn it off completely through the graphical interface. To truly stop your computer from communicating with Microsoft’s telemetry servers, you must manually block the specific network domains by editing the core Windows HOSTS file, effectively blacklisting them at the network level.

How to Completely Block Windows 11 Telemetry via HOSTS File

You must use an administrative Notepad window to edit the protected network routing file.

1. Click the Start button and type Notepad.
2. Right-click on the Notepad app in the search results and select Run as administrator. (Click “Yes” on the UAC prompt).
3. In Notepad, click File in the top-left corner and select Open.
4. Navigate to this exact folder path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
5. In the bottom-right corner of the Open window, change the drop-down menu from “Text Documents (*.txt)” to All Files (*.*).
6. Double-click the file named hosts.
7. The file will open. Scroll down to the very bottom, past all the text that begins with the # symbol.
8. Carefully copy and paste the following lines exactly as written, pressing Enter after each one to place them on new lines: 0.0.0.0 vortex.data.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 vortex-win.data.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
9. Click File and select Save.

Close Notepad and restart your computer. By routing these specific Microsoft data-collection domains to 0.0.0.0 (a non-existent IP address), your computer will now instantly drop all background telemetry packets. The tracking service will still run locally, but it will be physically unable to upload your usage data to Microsoft.