The Telemetry Profile
Windows 11 includes a highly intrusive telemetry feature called “Device Usage.” When you set up a new PC, Microsoft asks you to categorize how you plan to use the machine—for example, “Gaming,” “Family,” “Creativity,” or “School.” Windows then uses this profile to aggressively alter your operating system experience, pushing targeted advertising to your lock screen, prioritizing specific apps in the Start menu, and altering your search results based on the demographic profile you selected. To maintain a neutral, sterile operating system that does not attempt to predict your behavior, you must completely disable these usage categories.
How to Turn Off Device Usage Settings
You can permanently wipe your demographic profile from the operating system via the Personalization settings.
- Click the Start Menu and type Settings, or press the Windows Key + I.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Personalization.
- Scroll down the main window and click on Device usage.
- You will see a list of categories (Gaming, Family, Creativity, School, Entertainment, Business).
- Ensure that every single toggle switch in this list is turned to the Off position.
A Neutral OS
The change is instantaneous. Windows 11 will completely terminate the background personalization algorithms. The operating system will instantly stop pushing targeted app recommendations to your Start menu, and it will cease displaying category-specific tips and advertisements. Your PC will revert to a baseline, un-profiled state, ensuring you are not subjected to Microsoft’s behavioral marketing experiments.