Windows 11 provides privacy settings that let you control how your data is used for recommendations and personalization. These include the Windows Advertising ID, website access to your language list, and Start and search personalization settings, which use your activity and preferences to customize content and suggestions across Windows.
Personalized offers
If you choose to turn on Personalized offers, we will use information about your device and how you use it, including Windows diagnostic data, in combination with your account info and data collected by other Microsoft products and services to offer you personalized tips, ads, and recommendations to enhance your Windows experiences. Personalized offers include suggestions on how to customize and optimize Windows, as well as ads and recommendations for Microsoft and third-party products and services, features, apps, and hardware to enhance your Windows experiences. For example, Windows might tell you about new features to help you get the most out of your device. If you stream movies in your browser, Windows might recommend an app from the Microsoft Store that streams more efficiently. Or, if you are running out of space on your hard drive, Windows might recommend you try OneDrive or purchase hardware to add more storage.
When Personalized offers is on, Windows may use your required diagnostic data to personalize offers. This data may include information about your device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is performing properly. If you have decided to share optional diagnostic data, the data used to personalize offers may also include information about how you use apps and features, plus additional information about the health of your device. We may also use information about your device and your activity to personalize offers locally on your device, even when the data does not leave your device. We do not use the content of crash dumps, speech, typing, or inking input data for personalizing offers.
In addition to information about your device and how you use it, including Windows diagnostic data, we may use or combine the following data from other Microsoft products and your account with Windows diagnostic data to personalize offers:
Web activity, if you give Microsoft Edge permission to collect your web activity for personalized search, ads, and news.
Info about your use of other Microsoft products and services, including Microsoft Bing, Microsoft 365, XBOX, and Microsoft websites, such as MSN.com.
Subscription and purchase history.
Data from third-party websites which may be shared with Microsoft.
We may also use information about your interactions with tips, recommendations, and promotions to provide and improve the personalized offers and similar messages in other Microsoft products.
To manage how data collected by other Microsoft products is used to personalize offers, you can visit your Personalized ads and offers page to opt in or out.
To change your personalized offers setting:
Select Start and choose Settings.
Select Privacy & security and choose Personalized offers.
Choose your preferred setting for Get personalized tips, ads, and recommendations based on my Windows activity.
For more information, see Personalized offers.
Advertising ID
Windows generates a unique advertising ID for each user on a device, which app developers and advertising networks can then use for their own purposes, including providing more relevant advertising in apps. When the advertising ID is enabled, apps can access and use it in much the same way that websites can access and use a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Thus, app developers (and the advertising networks they work with) can associate personal data they collect about you with your advertising ID and use that personal data to provide more relevant advertising and other personalized experiences across their apps.
The advertising ID setting applies to Windows apps using the Windows advertising identifier. The advertising ID setting does not apply to other methods of interest-based advertising delivered by Microsoft or third parties, such as cookies used to provide interest-based display ads on websites. Third-party products accessed through or installed on Windows may also deliver other forms of interest-based advertising subject to their own privacy policies. Microsoft delivers other forms of interest-based ads in certain Microsoft products, both directly and by partnering with third-party ad providers. Learn more about other interest-based advertising from Microsoft
To change your advertising ID setting:
- Select Start and choose Settings.
- Select Privacy & security and choose Recommendations & offers.
- Choose your preferred setting for Let apps show my personalized ads by using my advertising ID.
For more info, see Personalized ads & offers.
Note
Turning the advertising ID off will not reduce the number of ads you see, but it may mean that ads are less interesting and relevant to you. Turning it back on will reset the advertising ID.
Website access of the language list
Some websites may have their content available in different languages. Windows can share information about your preferred language list with websites so that they can have the opportunity to respect your language preferences without you having to independently set them for each site.
To change website access to the language list:
- Select Start and choose Settings.
- Select Privacy & security and choose Recomendations & offers.
- Choose your preferred setting for Let websites show me locally relevant content by accessing my language list.
Improve Start and search results
Windows can personalize your Start menu based on the apps that you launch. This allows you to quickly have access to your list of most-used apps both in the Start menu and when you search your device.
To change app launch tracking:
- Select Start and choose Settings.
- Select Privacy & security and choose Recommendations & offers.
- Choose your preferred setting for Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launches.
Recommendations and offers in Settings
Microsoft can offer you suggestions throughout Settings. This content comes in a variety of forms, and can help you discover new features within Settings, or suggest new content and apps you might find interesting.
To change suggested content in Settings:
Select Start and choose Settings.
Select Privacy & security and choose Recommendations & offers .
Choose your preferred setting for Show me suggested content in the Settings app.