Windows 11 ships with a long list of telemetry, advertising and location features switched on out of the box. Most people never see the small print, and over time the operating system builds up a surprisingly detailed picture of where you go, what you say to your microphone, and which apps you open. At our Edinburgh workshop we set up dozens of new laptops every month for customers in Stockbridge, Marchmont and Livingston, and the first thing we do on every machine is walk through the Windows 11 privacy settings and switch off the ones that don't earn their keep.
If you'd rather not work through this list yourself, our remote support team can dial in and harden any Windows 11 PC across Edinburgh and the Lothians in under an hour.
Why Bother With Privacy Settings at All?
Microsoft argues that diagnostics and personalisation make Windows better. That's partly true — crash data does help fix bugs. But the same toggles also feed advertising profiles, send typing samples and inking patterns to the cloud, and broadcast your approximate location to apps that have no business knowing it. None of this is illegal under UK GDPR, but you absolutely have the right to switch it off, and a clean privacy posture also makes a real difference if your laptop is ever lost or stolen.
1. Turn Off the Advertising ID
Open Settings → Privacy & security → General and switch off Let apps show me personalised ads by using my advertising ID. This is the single most pointless toggle Microsoft leaves enabled by default. While you're there, turn off the other three options on the same screen as well — tracking app launches, showing suggested content in Settings, and letting websites access your language list. You'll lose nothing useful and stop a steady drip of data heading to ad networks.
2. Clear and Restrict Activity History
Under Settings → Privacy & security → Activity history, untick Store my activity history on this device and click Clear history. Activity history was the engine behind the old "Timeline" feature, but the data is still collected on Windows 11 and synced to your Microsoft account if you let it. Switching it off stops the OS keeping a rolling log of every document, browser tab and app you've used.
3. Lock Down Location Services
Go to Settings → Privacy & security → Location. If you don't use Find My Device or a weather widget that actually matters to you, turn Location services off entirely. If you do need it, leave it on at the system level but scroll down and disable individual apps you don't trust — Edge, Cortana and any pre-installed games are usually safe to deny. Customers who travel between Edinburgh and Dunfermline on the train often find their browser quietly logging their commute — this is the screen that stops it.
4. Audit Camera and Microphone Permissions
Still in Privacy & security, click Camera and then Microphone. The top toggle controls system-wide access; below it is a per-app list. Switch off anything you don't actively use — LinkedIn, the Xbox Game Bar, Microsoft Store apps you installed once and forgot. We've seen plenty of laptops in for repair where a dodgy mobile-style game had been quietly given microphone access. If you suspect something on your machine is acting up, our software troubleshooting service can audit running processes for you.
5. Disable Diagnostic Data Sharing
Open Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback. Set Send optional diagnostic data to off, then expand the three sub-sections and switch off Improve inking and typing, Tailored experiences, and View diagnostic data. While you're here, click Delete diagnostic data to wipe what Microsoft already has. Required diagnostic data can't be disabled on consumer editions, but the optional bucket is much larger and contains the bits people actually care about.
6. Switch Off Online Speech Recognition
Under Privacy & security → Speech, turn off Online speech recognition. This is separate from the offline dictation that ships with Windows 11 — offline still works fine. The online variant sends voice samples to Microsoft to train their speech models. If you don't dictate to Cortana or use voice typing in cloud apps, there's no reason to leave it on.
7. Review App Permissions
Scroll right down the Privacy & security page to the App permissions section. You'll find separate entries for Contacts, Calendar, Phone calls, Call history, Email, Tasks, Messaging, Radios, Other devices, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music libraries, the File system, and Background apps. Go through each one and switch off any app you don't recognise or don't actively use. This is also where you'll catch any pre-installed bloatware quietly reading your documents folder — a particular favourite on new laptops we receive from customers in Marchmont and Glasgow.
8. Check Find My Device and Sign-in Options
Finally, open Settings → Privacy & security → Find my device. If you'd want to be able to locate your laptop if it's stolen, turn it on; if you'd rather not be tracked, turn it off. Then jump to Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options and make sure you've got either Windows Hello or a strong PIN configured — locking the privacy toggles down is pointless if anyone who picks up the laptop can simply log in. Our OS installation team always pairs these settings together on fresh builds.
What About Edge, OneDrive and Microsoft 365?
These all have their own separate privacy controls that sit outside the main Settings app. Edge has a Privacy, search and services page; OneDrive has its own sync options under the cloud icon; Microsoft 365 has Privacy settings tucked inside any Office app's File menu. Treat them as three more layers to work through. For businesses managing a fleet of laptops across multiple Edinburgh sites, our business IT support team can apply a consistent privacy baseline through Group Policy or Intune.
Pair This With Network and Account Privacy
Windows privacy settings only cover what your PC sends to Microsoft. The other half of the picture is what your network and online accounts give away. Our guides on setting up a VPN on Windows 11, public Wi-Fi safety and ransomware protection cover the rest of the stack. Together they take a stock Windows 11 install and turn it into something genuinely defensible.
Need a Hand in Edinburgh?
If you'd rather not click through twenty toggles on your own — or you've got a small office worth of machines to harden — our Edinburgh technicians can do the lot remotely or in person. Book a session online and we'll walk through every Windows 11 privacy setting on your PC, explain what it does, and lock down the ones that matter.