Microsoft has made its digital personal assistant, Cortana, available for Windows 10. It makes the computing experience much easier as all you have to do is say the word “Hey, Cortana” to get things done. Some of the things that you can do with this service are as follows:
- Set reminders
- Track flights, teams
- Send emails
- Find information
- Open an app
- Manage and play music
- Manage your calendar
Although this is quite a good service there are people who would like to turn it off due to privacy reasons. Before the windows 10 Anniversary update it was quite easy to turn this service off as it came with an off switch. With the latest software update this toggle switch has been removed. You can however still turn off Cortana by following the steps listed below.
How To Turn Off Cortana In Windows 10
First remove your personal data from the Microsoft servers.
- Click the search box or the Cortana icon next to the Start key.
- Open Cortana’s settings panel with the gear icon.
- In the settings screen, turn off every toggle from On to Off.
- Next, scroll to the very top of the settings panel, and click on Change what Cortana knows about me in the cloud.
- Microsoft will fetch a page from the Internet called Personal Information in the same Start panel.
- When it loads, scroll to the very bottom, and hit Clear.
You should also stop Cortana from collecting data from your typing and talking
- Hit the Start key.
- Click the Settings gear icon.
- Select Privacy.
- In the left panel, look for Speech, inking & typing.
- Click Stop getting to know me.
If you are using Windows 10 Pro then follow these steps to turn off Cortana
- Hit the Start key, search for Edit group policy, and open it.
- Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search.
- Find Allow Cortana, and double-click to open it.
- Click Disabled, and then hit OK.
If you are using Windows 10 Home then follow these steps to turn off Cortana
- Hit the Start Key, search for regedit, and open it.
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows.
- Right-click the Windows directory, and choose New > Key. Type in Windows Search, and hit enter.
- Select Windows Search. In the right-hand side pane, right-click in the empty area and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type in AllowCortana, and hit enter.
- Double-click AllowCortana, and type in 0 under Value Data.
Restart your computer once all steps have been performed. Once your computer starts Cortana will no longer be active.
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