How to see what data windows 10 is sending to microsoft

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Microsoft is making Windows 10’s telemetry more transparent with the April 2018 Update. You can now view the exact diagnostic information your Windows PC is sending to Microsoft. You can even delete it from Microsoft’s servers.

A new Privacy Dashboard attached to your Microsoft account is now available, too. It provides a single place where you can view much of the information Microsoft knows about you—and delete it.

How to View the Diagnostic Data Your PC Is Sending

Windows 10 now allows you to view the exact details its diagnostics and telemetry services send to Microsoft, but you’ll need to enable data viewing before you can do this. It’s off by default because Windows needs up to 1 GB of disk space to store the data on your PC.

To enable data viewing, head to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback. Scroll down to the Diagnostic Data Viewer section and flip the switch to the “On” position.

Click the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” button that becomes available and you’re be taken to the Microsoft Store to download the Diagnostic Data Viewer application. Go ahead and do that to continue.

After you’ve installed the app, you can either click the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” button again under Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback to open it, or launch the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” shortcut that appears in your Start menu.

The Diagnostic Data Viewer app exposes a large number of diagnostic “events” in the left pane. You can click an event to view its details, which includes a full copy of all the information that is sent to Microsoft.

You can also use the search box in the application to find data associated with an application or something else.

For example, we launched Microsoft Edge, and then ran a search for “Edge” in the Viewer application. We found several events associated with Edge’s launch and creation of new tabs. This is the exact diagnostic information Windows sends to Microsoft. Microsoft uses it to understand how well Edge is performing and how frequently people use Edge’s various features.

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You can export this data into a comma-separated values (CSV) file by clicking the “Export events into a .csv file” button in the sidebar. It’s possible that utilities created in the future would allow you to further analyze this data, or you could dig into it yourself.

If you don’t plan on using this feature regularly, consider heading back to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback and flipping the switch under Diagnostic Data Viewer back to the “Off” position. You’ll save up to a gigabyte of storage space.

How to Make Windows Collect Less Diagnostic Data

By default, Windows 10 collects “Full” diagnostic data and sends it to Microsoft. If you’d like Windows to collect less diagnostic data, you can head to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback and select “Basic” under Diagnostic Data. Windows will then send the minimum amount of diagnostic data Microsoft requires. You can test this by looking at the Diagnostic Data Viewer and seeing just how much less data is sent to Microsoft.

How to Wipe Your PC’s Diagnostic Data From Microsoft’s Servers

Windows 10 now allows you to delete the diagnostic data that’s been collected from your PC from Microsoft’s servers. To do so, head to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback, scroll down to the “Delete diagnostic data” section, and then click the “Delete” button.

How to View Your Microsoft Account’s Privacy Dashboard

Microsoft also offers a new Privacy Dashboard website that shows other private information associated with your Microsoft account and allows you to delete it. To use it, visit the dashboard and sign in with your Microsoft account. You can also click the “Microsoft Account portal” link under the Delete Diagnostic Data section at Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback.

You’ll see options for viewing and deleting your Microsoft Edge browser history, Bing search history, Cortana voice activity, location history, and media activity (which music you listen to and videos you watch). There are also options for telemetry-related data, including application and service usage history and application performance data.

You can click the “Activity History” link on the page to see much of the data Microsoft has associated with your account.

You can also download your data should you want your very own copy, for whatever reason.

Microsoft’s and its partners’ engineers use the telemetry data from Windows 10 to diagnose crashes, learn about its users hardware configurations and more. It’s on by default and while Microsoft tells you that it collects this data and gives you a choice between basic (the default setting) and “full” diagnostics, it never allowed you to actually see exactly what was being sent back to Redmond. That’s changing now, though. Windows 10 insiders will soon be able to install a new program from the Microsoft Store, the “Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer,” that gives them full access to all the diagnostic data from their Windows device.

As Marisa Rogers, Microsoft’s privacy officer for its Windows and Devices Group, told me, the idea here is to give users the option to see “that next layer of transparency from Microsoft” and allow them to verify that the company is doing what its documentation says. Users can download this free tool without the need for a Microsoft account.

Microsoft itself, of course, has long had tools to view this data internally, but the Data Viewer tool puts a user-friendly interface on top of this data.

What kind of data can you expect to see? Here is Microsoft’s list:

• Common Data, like the Operating System’s name, the Version, Device ID, Device Class,
  Diagnostic level selection and so on.
• Device Connectivity and Configuration such as device properties and capabilities, preferences and settings, peripherals, and device network information.
• Product and Service Performance data that show device health, performance and reliability data, movie consumption functionality on the device and device file queries. It’s important to note that this functionality is not intended to capture user viewing or, listening habits.
• Product and Service Usage data includes details about the usage of the device, operating system, applications and services.
• Software Setup and Inventory such as installed applications and install history, device update information.

While Microsoft hopes that this tool allows users to validate and verify what it has been telling them all along, it may still come as a shock to some people that Microsoft is collecting this data by default, even if it’s only technical data about their devices. “I hope that people have been paying attention to the messaging we have been providing over the last few month,” Rogers said. But outside of the world of Microsoft enthusiasts, few people are probably even fully aware of this telemetry program, so it’ll be interesting to watch the reaction.

In addition to this new tool, Microsoft is also launching a small update to its Privacy Dashboard. Here, the company will now provide a news feed-like view of all the data it collects as you search on Bing, talk to Cortana and use other Microsoft services where you are an authenticated user. Until now, that data was organized into different categories and it was hard to get a quick overview of the activities the company tracked. The new so-called “Activity History” view makes that a lot easier.

Activity history helps keep track of the things you do on your device, such as the apps and services you use, the files you open, and the websites you browse. Your activity history is stored locally on your device, and if you’ve signed in to your device with a work or school account and given your permission, Windows sends your activity history to Microsoft. Microsoft uses the activity history data to provide you with personalized experiences (such as ordering your activities based on duration of use) and relevant suggestions (such as anticipating what your needs might be based on your activity history).

The following Windows features use your activity history. Be sure to refer back to this page following future releases and updates to Windows to learn what additional services and features use your activity history:

Timeline. See a timeline of activities and be able to resume those activities from your device. For example, let’s say that you were editing a Word document on your device, but you were unable to finish before you had to leave the office for the day. If you selected the Store my activity history on this device check box on the Activity history settings page, you would see that Word activity in your timeline the following day, and for the next several days, and from there, you could resume working on it. If you signed in to the device with a work or school account and selected the Send my activity history to Microsoft check box and you were unable to finish before you had to leave the office for the day, you could resume working on it later from another device.

Microsoft Edge. When you use Microsoft Edge Legacy, your browsing history will be included in your activity history. Activity history will not be saved when browsing with InPrivate windows.

If you’ve signed in to your device with a work or school account and turned on the setting to send Microsoft your activity history, Microsoft uses your activity history data to enable cross-device experiences. So even when you switch devices, you will be able to see notifications about your activities and resume them. For example, your activity history can also be sent to Microsoft when using another Windows device. You can continue activities that you started from those other devices on your Windows device.

Microsoft will also use your activity history to improve Microsoft products and services when the setting for sending your activity history to Microsoft is turned on. We do this by applying machine-learning techniques to better understand how customers in general use our products and services. We also diagnose where customers encounter errors and then help fix them.

Your Microsoft account settings do not allow you to send your activity history to Microsoft, but your activity history will be stored on your device to help keep track of the things you do.

Regarding multiple accounts: Activity history is collected and stored locally for each local account, Microsoft account, or work or school account that you have associated with your device in Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts. When you choose to send the activity history for your work or school account to Microsoft, activities from the primary work or school account on that device are sent to Microsoft. If you have more than one device, and you have multiple accounts on one or more of those devices, you can see activity history from your second device’s primary account on the first device (as a secondary account). You can also see these accounts in Windows 10 under Settings > Privacy > Activity history and in Windows 11 under Settings > Privacy & security > Activity history, where you can filter out activities from specific accounts from showing in your timeline. Hiding an account does not delete the data on the device, nor in the cloud. See the following section for more details on managing your data.

To learn more about how Microsoft products and services use this data to personalize experiences while respecting your privacy, see the Privacy Statement.

Manage activity history settings

On your device

To stop saving activity history locally on your device

Do one of the following:

In Windows 10, select Start , then select Settings > Privacy > Activity history.

In Windows 11, select Start , then select Settings > Privacy & security > Activity history.

Clear the Store my activity history on this device check box.

If you turn this setting off, you won’t be able to use any of the on-device features that rely on activity history, such as your timeline. You will still be able to see your browsing history in Microsoft Edge.

In previous versions of Windows, this setting was called Let Windows collect my activities from this PC.

To stop sending the activity history for your work or school account to Microsoft

Do one of the following:

In Windows 10, select Start , then select Settings > Privacy > Activity history.

In Windows 11, select Start , then select Settings > Privacy & security > Activity history.

Clear the Send my activity history to Microsoft check box.

In previous versions of Windows, this setting was called Let Windows sync my activities from this PC to the cloud.

Windows has additional privacy settings that control whether app activity and browsing history data is sent to Microsoft, such as the Diagnostic data setting.

You can clear and delete both the activity history stored on your device and the activity history that’s sent to the Microsoft cloud.

To clear your activity history

Do one of the following:

In Windows 10, select Start , then select Settings > Privacy > Activity history.

In Windows 11, select Start , then select Settings > Privacy & security > Activity history.

Under Clear activity history, select Clear.

If you have multiple accounts, and your work or school account is the primary account on the device, then clearing your activity history will delete any of your work and/or school activity history that is synced to the cloud.

In your timeline, you can clear individual activities, or all activities from an individual day. To do so, right-click an activity and select the option you prefer.

The next big update to Windows 10 will be even more transparent about what it collects.

Ars Staff – Jan 24, 2018 5:41 pm UTC

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Following the publication last year of the data collected by Windows 10’s built-in telemetry and diagnostic tracking, Microsoft today announced that the next major Windows 10 update, due around March or April, will support a new app, the Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer, that will allow Windows users to browse and inspect the data that the system has collected.

Windows 10 has two settings for its data collection, “basic” and “full.” The documentation last year described all the data collected in the “basic” setting but only gave a broad outline of the kinds of things that the “full” setting collected. The new app will show users precisely what the full setting entails and a comparison with what would be sent with the basic setting.

The utility of the app will tend to vary depending on what data is being inspected. The presentation is low-level (Microsoft’s screenshots show JSON structured data using various magic numbers—numeric values that encode information but without any key to explain what information each number encodes), so straightforward reading and interpretation will remain limited.

As with the specification from last year, the new tool is a step forward in openness but arguably not really addressing any of the data-collection complaints that Windows 10 has generated. The reaction we’ve seen consistently in comment threads, e-mail, Twitter, and beyond, is not so much a concern over what Microsoft is collecting but, rather, the mere fact that Microsoft is collecting data. The view that has been expressed to us repeatedly, and at length, is that the company should offer an option to mainstream users that has no data collection at all (an option already offered by the Enterprise edition).

Being more transparent about first basic and now full data collection doesn’t move any closer to offering such an option. It shows that Microsoft feels it has nothing to hide and that there is nothing untoward about the collected information, but the company continues to maintain that this collection serves an essential role for detecting, diagnosing, and addressing bugs and incompatibilities across the enormously diverse Windows ecosystem.

Do you think Windows 10 is evil and Microsoft shouldn’t know or get any information about how you use your computer?

Do you want to stop all the “spying” services and block them from sending usage data to Microsoft?

Well my friend, I have spent hours looking for all the tips and tricks on how you can prevent Microsoft from “cheating” on your activity in Windows 10.

If you think that Microsoft have the right to collect data in order to improve the operating system that’s OK. And we are free to choose what to do in those kind of circumstances.

Some of us want to have complete control over their computer and data. This tutorial was made for them.

You have to keep in mind that those services (Telemetry, Autologger, Connected User Experience, …) are enabled by default and there is no way to disable them from the Settings app of Windows 10.

It’s true that you can always go to “Settings app” ( Win + I ) > “Privacy” > “Feedback and Diagnostics” to choose which kind of usage data to send to Microsoft (Basic, Enhanced or Full) but you can’t disable it in the same place.

The truth about this data is that is may contain the following:

• What is installed on your device,
• Most used apps and features,
• Memory and peripherals state,
• Informations about crashes and time,
• Access personal files and typed keys.

If you wish to completely turn off or disable sending data to Microsoft, here is how you can do it by tweaking the registry. This tutorial will work on both Windows 10 Pro and Home. And some of the tricks may also work on Windows 7-8-8.1.

1. Disable Telemetry and Data collection Using Registry Editor

Open the Run command prompt using the Win + R key combination. Type in the command regedit and hit “OK“.

Please follow the following path in the Registry Editor:

Here you need to create a new 32-bit DWORD called AllowTelemetry .

Double-click on the newly created DWORD Value “AllowTelemetry” and change its value to 0 . Click “OK“.

Close the Registry editor.

2. Disable Telemetry and Tracking Services

Access Services by typing the command services.msc in Run ( Win + R ). Click “OK“.

Look for the services “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry“, go to properties and disable them.

For example here I had to click “Stop” to end the service current session, and change “Startup type:” to “Disabled” to prevent it from running in the future. Click “OK“.

Please note that the service “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry” used to be called “Diagnostics tracking service” in previous builds and older versions of Windows.

You can also disable theses services using the Command Prompt. Open the command prompt from Start menu (search CMD ).

Or type CMD in Start menu or Run ( Win + R ).

Then run the following commands in your Command Prompt:

3. Disable Telemetry Services Using PowerShell

Alternatively you disable these services using the PowerShell. You will need to run PowerShell as administrator, either from Start menu by searching for it and right-clicking “Run as administrator” or using the Task Manager.

Type in the following commands and hit Enter key:

4. Disable the AutoLogger in Windows 10

Disable the AutoLogger Using the Registry Editor

Open the Registry Editor using the command regedit in Run ( Win + R ).

Go to the following path:

You will find the DWORD Value Start in the right-side, double-click it!

Put on the value 0 and click “OK“.

Disable the AutoLogger Using CMD

Open the Command Prompt with administrative privileges.

Paste the following commands and hit Enter for the last one to run:

5. Disconnect from All Telemetry Servers

Open Notepad as administrator from the Start menu.

Go to “File” > “Open“.

Find the file host inside the following path:

And add the following lines:

Once done, restart your Windows 10 PC!

From now on, all your data on how you use your computer are kept safe and not even recorded.

Feel free to share this post with your beloved ones and geeks around you. Thanks a lot!

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Want to see what your Windows 10 is sending to Microsoft and delete this data? Here’s how the latest version of Windows makes it easy.

Windows 10’s April Update brings a slew of new features. Some of these make existing Windows 10 tools even better, while others address longtime concerns of users.

One tool that falls into the latter category is a new diagnostic data viewer. Windows 10 has long received criticism for collecting extensive telemetry data and sending it back to Microsoft. Now, the company is giving you the ability to review what your PC collects and delete it if you wish. (Note that you must be running the April 2018 Update to use this feature.)

How to See and Delete the Data Windows 10 Collects

1. First, enable data viewing. Head to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback. and enable the Diagnostic data viewer. Note that this will take up about 1GB of space.
2. Click the Diagnostic Data Viewer button and you’ll jump to the Microsoft Store to download the Diagnostic Data Viewer app. Install it, then click that button again or launch the app from your Start Menu.
3. Inside the app, you’ll see a lot of diagnostic information. The left side collects “events,” and clicking one shows you exactly what was sent to Microsoft.
4. Use the search box to look for information about certain apps if you like. You may want to try this after spending some time in your favorite programs.
5. To export a copy of the data for your own use, click the Export button on the left to download it as a CSV file.
6. Finally, if you’d like to delete this diagnostic data from Microsoft’s servers, click the Delete button back on the Settings page.

Don’t forget to disable this setting and save 1GB of space if you don’t plan to check it often. Also, on the Diagnostics & feedback page, you can change your setting from Full to Basic to send Microsoft less information.

Profile fads and bio trends often crop up on Twitter, and now there’s a new one on the scene: hexagonal profile pictures. What’s the story?

Ben is the Editor in Chief at MakeUseOf. He left his IT job to write full-time in 2016 and has never looked back. He’s been covering tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a professional writer for over seven years.

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To view Windows 10 diagnostic data:

1. Navigate to Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback in the Settings app.
2. Enable the “Diagnostic data viewer” option.
3. Install the Diagnostic Data Viewer app from the Microsoft Store and use it to access and view the diagnostic files.

With the Windows 10 April 2018 update, Microsoft finally reduced some of the secrecy around its Windows 10 telemetry collection. You can now view the diagnostic data which your PC is sending home to Microsoft, although it won’t necessarily be easy to understand.

First, you have to explicitly enable diagnostic data viewing from the Settings app. Open Settings and navigate to Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback. Scroll down the page to the “Diagnostic data viewer” section.

Under this heading, turn the toggle button to the on position. Diagnostic files will now be retained on your device, so you can view them. This will consume additional space – Microsoft estimates up to 1GB – as diagnostic files are normally removed after they’re uploaded to the cloud.

Although you’ve enabled telemetry viewing, the Settings app doesn’t provide a way to actually access the files. Instead, you’ll need a separate app, “Diagnostic Data Viewer,” from the Microsoft Store. Click the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” button to open a link to the Store. Click the blue “Get” button to download the app.

Once the app has installed, click the blue “Launch” button on the Microsoft Store page to open it. Alternatively, search for the app in the Start menu.

The app has a simple two-pane layout. On the left, you’ll see a list of all the diagnostic files on your device; on the right, the contents of each file appears when it’s selected. If you’ve only just enabled diagnostic viewing, there may not be many files to show – it will take time for diagnostic logs to be created and stored on your device.

You can filter the diagnostic data using the filter button at the top of the interface, next to the search bar. This lets you choose to view a specific category of telemetry information, which might be helpful when investigating a particular problem on your device.

Unfortunately, you may find the diagnostic data hard to interpret, unless you’re already fairly familiar with Windows internals. The data is presented in its raw JSON format. If you were hoping for a readable breakdown of what’s being sent, you’re still out of luck. The telemetry contains a wealth of your data about your device and the events occurring on it, but the lack of explanation may leave you none the wiser when it comes to understanding what Microsoft is collecting.

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In another attempt to give Windows 10 users more control over their data, Microsoft is making a few changes to its Settings app and Group Policy settings in the latest Windows 10 preview build (19577). In the Settings app, basic diagnostic data will now be known as “required,” and full diagnostic data will be known as “optional.” Theoretically, Windows 10 will make it easier to switch between sharing required and optional diagnostic data with Microsoft.

Required data will include things like your IP address and the type and version of your device — data Microsoft needs to maintain and improve its products and services. Optional data will scrape less-critical info, like what pictures people are inserting into Word documents to provide better image options. If you’re a commercial customer and select the optional setting, Microsoft will offer more granular Group Policy settings. Those will allow you to configure which data is collected within your organization.

For years, Microsoft has been trying to convince people that Windows 10 doesn’t violate users’ privacy, even though it collects a disconcerting amount of data. To mend its reputation, Microsoft has given Windows 10 a privacy dashboard and offered users more control over app permissions. These changes are the latest effort to improve transparency, and Microsoft says it will share more specifics when it gets closer to the retail release.

(Updated Oct. 9, 2018) – While the overall reception to Windows 10 has been mostly positive, more than a few IT administrators remain wary of potential privacy and security issues. The telemetry service in Windows 10 particularly irks security-minded IT pros. Why? The default-enabled Windows 10 telemetry feature set periodically sends usage and performance data to select Microsoft IP addresses.

Microsoft says telemetry helps improve user experience and fix potential issues. Obviously this raises privacy concerns for many users. Is it OK to disable Windows 10 telemetry? Yes. We’ll cover managing your privacy in Windows 10, and share tools that clamp down on what data you send to Microsoft.

What is telemetry data?

Windows 10 telemetry data includes basic system diagnostics information, logs of how frequently you use features and applications, system files, and likely more metrics that have yet to be disclosed. Fortunately, Microsoft allows users to set the amount of data they wish to share, but it cannot be completely turned off. Enterprise installations have an even more minimal setting but even then a small amount of security and diagnostic information is sent.

Microsoft splits telemetry settings into four tiers.

• Security – Data and logs pertaining to Windows security, including client settings and metrics collected from the Malicious Software Removal Tool and Windows Defender. Available only on Enterprise installations.
• Basic – Device information including application compatibility and security.
• Enhanced – Everything from the Security and Basic tiers, plus data about how Windows and Windows application use and performance.
• Full – Everything from the three other tiers and more. This information can include user content that may have triggered a crash or problem.

So what exactly does Microsoft capture and transmit, and how often? According to InvestmentWatch, Windows 10 transmits the following data back to the company:

• Typed text on keyboard sent every 30 minutes
• Transmits anything you say into a microphone
• Transcripts of things you say while using Cortana
• Index of all media files on your computer
• When your webcam is first enabled, 35mb of data
• Telemetry data

What does Windows 10 Telemetry data look like?

The Microsoft Privacy Dashboard (introduced March 2018) enables you to view and manage telemetry data in Windows 10. You do everything in a web-based dashboard () upon signing in with Microsoft account credentials. Here you can view and clear data such as:

• Browsing history (Cortana-enabled with Edge)
• Search history (Bing)
• Location activity
• Cortana’s Notebook
• Heath activity collected by HealthVault, Microsoft Band, other trackers
• Privacy settings across Microsoft application ecosystem

As of Windows 10 v1803 (April 2018) you can view diagnostic data you’re transmitting to Microsoft using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer. Open Windows Settings, and go to Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback. You will need this install a free Microsoft app on your PC. Click the Diagnostic Data Viewer icon to begin.

Inside the app you see telemetry data grouped by category.

• Browsing history
• Device Connectivity and Configuration; settings and peripheral data
• Inking Typing and Speech Utterance; keyboard and microphone captures
• Product and Service Performance; reliability data and file queries
• Product and Service Usage; uptime, apps used, OS info
• Software Setup and Inventory; installs and updates for applications

How do I turn off telemetry?

To completely shut down telemetry the quick and easy way, Reddit user 10se1ucgo created a user-friendly program in Python that shuts down telemetry and diagnostic services. Aptly named DisableWinTracking, the program can be found for free on GitHub.

Another option is to use the Microsoft Telemetry Removal Tool, which works across Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. It goes far beyond turning off telemetry. The tool will disable your Windows Update settings, SkyDrive, and several other useful features. In short, it shuts down all the features that Windows 10 automates.

But keep in mind the fact that you’re running third party scripts and applications to fix a privacy issue. If sending Microsoft your telemetry data makes you feel squeamish, running a program from an unverified source probably does the same. So then what?

Disabling telemetry the manual way

Thankfully, there is documentation for turning off telemetry manually. Microsoft has published a TechNet article detailing how to disable certain features for Enterprise users. For users of Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home, Reddit user lit3brit3 has compiled a list of common settings that controls the amount of telemetry collected and sent. Instead of running a script you can change each of these settings manually. It’s more time consuming, but cuts out any risk that you’re introducing anything malicious into your system.

Microsoft assures users that they collect telemetry data only to help them improve user experience and fix bugs and problems. Still many system administrators don’t want sensitive user or company information sent over the Internet. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments if you support or are against the gathering of Windows 10 telemetry.

Originally published Oct. 14, 2015 and updated Oct. 9, 2018

It’s a well-known fact that Windows 10 sends a lot of diagnostics data to Microsoft. Since the release of Windows 10, users who are concerned about their privacy, are worried about the data that Microsoft collects from Windows 10 devices.

A large number of users are worried and curious to know the data Windows 10 transmits to Microsoft and how the data is used.

According to Microsoft, it uses the collected data to focus decisions and provide a better platform possible. In short, the data is used to improve Windows 10. In the past, Microsoft has responded to privacy concerns by users and even shared what type of data it collects from Windows 10 devices.

Windows Diagnostics Data Viewer

To help Windows 10 users to view what data Microsoft collects from their Windows 10 devices, Microsoft has introduced a new app called Windows Diagnostics Data Viewer. The Windows Diagnostics Data Viewer is available in 1803 and later versions of Windows 10.

The new Diagnostics Data Viewer can be accessed by navigating to Settings app > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback section.

To install and launch the Diagnostics Data Viewer app, enable If data viewing is enabled, you can see your diagnostics data option, click the Diagnostics Data Viewer to open the app’s page in the Store app, click the Get button to install the app (one-time exercise) and then launch the app.

As said earlier, the Diagnostics Data Viewer is designed to help users view the diagnostics data your Windows 10 device is sending to Microsoft.

As you can see in pictures, you can view the diagnostics events in the left column. You can use the search box at the top of the app to search to view the diagnostics event that you are looking for. To view the diagnostic event categories, click the menu button.

Most PC users will not be able to make out anything from the Data Viewer app.

Microsoft recommends users to turn off data viewing as it can consume up to 1 GB of disk space on your PC. You can turn off data viewing by navigating to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback and then turning off If data viewing is enabled, you can see your diagnostics data option.

Tests suggest Microsoft is letting enterprise customers completely shut off Windows 10 telemetry data collection.

Liam Tung is a full-time freelance technology journalist who writes for several Australian publications.

Microsoft has quietly rolled out a change in Windows 10 version 1909 – the latest version of Windows 10 – that allows enterprise customers to stop devices sending telemetry data to Microsoft’s servers.

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That’s according to the findings of the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision, an influential data-protection authority in Germany, which a recent study showed was “strongly dependent” on the Redmond company for its software needs.

European data-protection authorities have raised numerous concerns about Microsoft’s telemetry data collection from Windows 10 devices, including the Netherlands’ recent efforts to limit Office 365 data collection to ensure the company’s practices complied with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Microsoft recently changed its terms for Office 365 globally to fall in line with recommendations from the Dutch Ministry of Justice.

Microsoft has also made some changes to Windows 10 in version 1909, the November 2019 Update, as reported by German Windows-focused blogs Borncity and Deskmodder.

The Bavarian DPA recently released cautiously worded findings about the configurations in Windows 10 that suggest enterprise admins may be able to completely shut off Microsoft’s unwanted telemetry data collection.

The authority conducted a laboratory analysis on one Windows 10 workstation with an Enterprise version of Windows 10 version 1909 that had telemetry data completely deactivated and found that it doesn’t appear to be a data-protection threat.

Remember that Microsoft rolled out new tools in early 2018 to allow users to inspect and control what telemetry data Microsoft’s servers collected. Home and Pro users, for example, can set these to ‘basic’ or ‘full’, reducing but not stopping this type of data collection.

However, Enterprise and Education customers can put a stronger clamp on this data leakage to Microsoft. According to the Bavarian DPA, its initial tests suggest that telemetry data transmission to Microsoft can be totally shut off.

“As part of this laboratory analysis, it was found that the telemetry data from one Windows 10 computer with the Enterprise version can be completely deactivated,” wrote the Bavarian DPA.

However, the Bavarian DPA says although the controls now exist to cut off all telemetry transmissions, it warns that doing so could expose an organization to greater security risks.

“Only calls to (Microsoft) servers that deliver current cryptographic certificates could not be switched off with this configuration, as these are required to ensure that a Windows 10 system can be operated securely on a daily basis (for example, when a user calls back a valid SSL root certificate),” it said.

“These calls can also be prevented by targeted system configurations, although such a procedure is by no means recommended for reasons of security.”

The authority’s assessment is that telemetry data collection in Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 10 is no longer a reason to avoid adopting Windows 10. But it also warns that the finding must be confirmed on a production Windows 10 machine running version 1909.

Nonetheless, it optimistically wrote: “If this result is confirmed in real use of Windows 10 by companies, then at least the handling of telemetry data in Windows 10 Enterprise (even in managed environments) does not constitute a data-protection hindrance to the use of this operating system.”

By sman,
January 28, 2020 in General Chat

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When Windows 10 first rolled out, many users were upset about the amount and types of data that the operating system was sending to Microsoft by default. The users’ backlash, coupled with the creation of data privacy laws like EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has prompted Microsoft to become more transparent about its data collection practices. It has also resulted in Microsoft giving users more control over the types of data being collected from them.

To provide more transparency about the diagnostic data it collects, Microsoft introduced the Diagnostic Data Viewer in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. You can use this tool to view the data that your Windows 10 computer has sent to Microsoft’s servers for analysis. Microsoft groups the diagnostic data (aka diagnostic events) it receives into categories based on how it uses the information. Here are the categories and the types of data in them:

• Common. Includes the data commonly found in the headers of most diagnostic events (e.g., a device’s unique ID, the unique ID associated with a person’s Microsoft account or local account).
• Device Connectivity and Configuration. Contains details about a device’s configuration, connectivity capabilities, and connectivity status (e.g., a device’s processor and wireless capabilities).
• Software Setup and Inventory. Includes data about software installations and updates (e.g., which apps and drivers are on a computer and when they were installed).
• Product and Service Performance. Contains information about the health of a device’s operating system, apps, and other components (e.g., error codes and messages received, system settings such as registry keys).
• Product and Service Usage. Includes details about the usage and states of a device’s operating system and apps (e.g., how often apps are used, when they were used, and for how long).
• Browsing History. Contains information about web browsing activities in Microsoft browsers (e.g., text entered in the address bar and search box).
• Inking, Typing, and Speech Utterance. Includes details about the usage of Windows 10’s inking, typing, and voice input features (e.g., recognized text in speech recognition results).

The Diagnostic Data Viewer is a fairly large program (about 46 MB). Plus, the diagnostic data it displays can take up to 1 GB on your computer. However, you can reclaim the 1 GB of space by disabling the viewer once you are done using it. You can enable it again at any time.

How to Obtain and Use the Viewer

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update added an option in the Settings app that lets you easily download the Diagnostic Data Viewer from the Microsoft Store. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu by clicking the Windows button.
2. Click the gear icon in the lower left corner of the Start menu to open the Settings app.
3. Choose “Privacy”.
4. Select “Diagnostics & feedback” to open the Diagnostics & Feedback page in the Settings app.
5. Move the “Diagnostic data viewer” switch into the “On” position.
6. Click the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” button, which launches the Microsoft Store app.
7. Click the “Get” button to download the viewer, which will be automatically installed.
8. Click the “Launch” button that appears in the Microsoft Store app to open the viewer. You can also launch the viewer at any time by clicking the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” entry in the Start menu.

When the Diagnostic Data Viewer opens, you will see a list of events in the left pane. Clicking an event will reveal its category and details in the right pane.

By default, Windows 10 is configured to send a large amount of diagnostic data. So, if you run the Diagnostic Data Viewer and have not changed the “Diagnostic data” setting, you will likely see numerous events. You can easily search them using the viewer’s search box. For example, Figure 1 shows the search results for “Excel” after Microsoft Excel was opened on a Windows 10 laptop. The right pane shows the details of the first event triggered. As you can see, the details are not presented in a user-friendly format.

You can also filter the diagnostic data by category (e.g., Device Connectivity and Configuration, Product and Service Usage). Clicking the button with the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner of the viewer exposes the filtering options.

How to Minimize the Amount of Data Sent

If you are uncomfortable with the amount and types of diagnostic data being sent to Microsoft, you can change several settings to minimize it. (There is no way to completely stop it.) These settings are located in the Diagnostics & Feedback page of the Settings app.

For starters, you can change the “Diagnostic data” setting from “Full” (the default) to “Basic”. When you select the Basic level, Microsoft will only send data about your device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is performing properly. If you want to compare the types of data sent under each level, Microsoft provides complete listings for the Full and Basic levels.

Another change you can make is to move the “Improve inking & typing recognition” switch from “On” (the default) to “Off”. When enabled, your computer sends details about your inking and typing actions to Microsoft so that the company can improve the language recognition and suggestion capabilities of apps and services running on Windows 10. Selecting “Off” will stop this data from being collected.

Finally, you can make sure the “Tailored experiences” option is not enabled. It is typically set to “Off” by default, but it might have been turned on at some point. When enabled, Microsoft uses some of the diagnostic data it receives from your device to provide you with more personalized tips, ads, and recommendations when using Windows 10. Having this option set to “off” prevents Microsoft from using your data for this purpose.

How to Minimize the Amount of Data Stored

You can delete the diagnostic data that Microsoft has stored about your computer at any time by clicking the “Delete” button in the “Delete diagnostic data” section of the Diagnostics & Feedback page. Afterward, you will see the message “Last delete request” followed by the date, which will persist after you close the Settings app.

The “Last delete request” date is important since Microsoft will continue to receive diagnostic data from your device at the level you configured. (Remember, you cannot completely stop the collection of this data.) So, if you want to minimize the amount of data stored by Microsoft, you will need to periodically use the “Delete” button.

As Microsoft notes in the “Delete diagnostic data” section, there might be additional diagnostic data to delete if you have a Microsoft Account. You can manage and delete any additional data by accessing your account through the Microsoft Account portal.

It’s All in the Details b And They Can Be Confusing

Although downloading and using the Diagnostic Data Viewer is pretty straightforward, the event details you see in it can be confusing. We can help you better understand the diagnostic data and your options to minimize it.

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Published by Timothy Tibbetts on 01/06/2022

This tutorial looks at what Diagnostic data your Windows 10 or 11 computer can send to Microsft and how to change the settings.

TIP : Hard to fix Windows Problems? Repair/Restore Missing Windows OS Files Damaged by Malware with a few clicks

Diagnostic data is a Windows 10 and 11 setting that determines how much data you send to Microsoft about your computer. Information about your computer settings and capabilities is sent at the basic level. At the full level, all the data mentioned above is sent, as well as information about websites you browse, apps and features you use, and error reporting.

1: Settings

Click on Start > Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback.

Click on Basic.

Scroll down and uncheck Diagnostics & feedback, and View diagnostic data.

Finally, click on Delete under Delete Diagnostic data.

But, wait, there’s more (that always sounds funnier in my head).

Scroll further down and click the dropdown box where you see Windows should ask for my feedback. Click Never.

You can also change when troubleshooters run while you’re poking around.

2: During Windows Setup

While it’s probably too late for you now, you should know that the option to disable Diagnostic Data appears when you install Windows 10. Look for this screen:

We uncheck everything but the location option here.

In a world that’s constantly evolving with new technologies like Artificial Intelligence and smart devices, our commitment to deliver on our Privacy Principles and work with you to evolve the Windows privacy experience doesn’t change.

To kick off the new year ahead of Data Privacy Day we are giving our Windows Insiders an early preview of the Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer coming in our next release of Windows. Our commitment is to be fully transparent on the diagnostic data collected from your Windows devices, how it is used, and to provide you with increased control over that data. This is all part of our commitment to increase your trust and confidence in our products and services.

In addition, the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard will enable you to see and manage more data associated with your Microsoft account. These changes are part of the greater enhancements we are rolling out now and in the coming months.

Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer:

The Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer provides even greater transparency to all the diagnostic data received from your Windows device. Available to everyone in the Microsoft Store, the Diagnostic Data Viewer is separate from the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard and allows you to see, search, and take action with your diagnostic data.

You are able to see and search all Windows diagnostic data that’s in the cloud related to your specific device.

The diagnostic data presented in the menu includes;

• Common Data, like the Operating System’s name, the Version, Device ID, Device Class, Diagnostic level selection and so on.
• Device Connectivity and Configuration such as device properties and capabilities, preferences and settings, peripherals, and device network information.
• Product and Service Performance data that show device health, performance and reliability data, movie consumption functionality on the device and device file queries. It’s important to note that this functionality is not intended to capture user viewing or, listening habits.
• Product and Service Usage data includes details about the usage of the device, operating system, applications, and services.
• Software Setup and Inventory such as installed applications and install history, device update information.

The Diagnostic Data Viewer shows the exact details sent to Microsoft

The Diagnostic Data Viewer provides you with the features such as view, search and filter of your diagnostic data, as well as the ability to provide feedback about the viewer.

The apps Menu button opens the detailed menu. In here, you’ll find a list of diagnostic event categories, which define how the events are used by Microsoft. Selecting a checkbox lets you filter between the diagnostic event categories. More details about these categories can be found here.

Microsoft Privacy Dashboard

We’ve updated the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard with a new Activity History page which provides a clear and easy to navigate way to see the data that is saved with your Microsoft account. The Microsoft Privacy Dashboard allows you to manage your data and change what data is collected by adjusting the privacy settings on your device or browser at any time.

And in the coming months, we’ll also bring additional features that will allow you to;

• View and manage media consumption data, as well as product and service activity on the Activity History page
• Export for any of the data you see on the dashboard
• Delete specific items to allow for greater individual control

Participants in the Windows Insider Program will have the first opportunity to explore all of these new features. They’ll also get an early look at some additional changes in functionality and settings in the coming weeks, and we’re looking forward to their feedback.

Your data privacy will continue to be a priority towards making Windows 10 the best and most secure experience. From improving in-product control, transparency and information about your privacy, while providing a complete list of the diagnostic data collected at the Basic level, among others, to launching the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard and the enhancements we’ve made since then, we want you to be able to easily see and manage your activity data online across multiple Microsoft services.

I look forward to the continued dialogue around our privacy enhancements and welcome you to submit your feedback here, too.

Microsoft introduces new privacy tools ahead of Data Privacy Day

Microsoft has already come under fire for the default privacy settings on the new operating system — but even tweaking those doesn’t seem to fix all concerns

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Windows 10 is sending personal information about computers up to Microsoft, even if users have changed all their settings to tell it not to do so.

Computers running the new operating system regularly get in contact with Microsoft servers to download and upload identifying data, an analysis by Ars Technica has found. While much of the information is harmless, some of it includes an identification number that could be traced back to the computers’ users.

The technology website set up a computer with the privacy settings set at their most careful — disabling voice assistant Cortana and not signing up for a Microsoft login, for instance. But they still found that the computer was sending requests to those services, even when they’d been turned off.

For example, Windows 10 computers “periodically send data to a Microsoft server named ssw.live.com,” according to the site. That server seems to be used for Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage system, but the information is sent whether or not users have signed up for it.

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Ars Technica said that the OneDrive seemed to be sending telemetry settings — data about how the computer is being used.

Other information that the computers send out is “quite impenetrable”, according to the site. The computers seem to be sending out information through a special network that means that it can’t be monitored.

There are also less worrying uses for the traffic, like requests to Cortana even when it is disabled, and updates for the live tiles that are on the home screen, despite them being turned off.

“The traffic could be innocuous, but the inclusion of a machine ID gives it a suspicious appearance,” concludes Peter Bright, writing for the site.

Microsoft told Ars Technica that “as part of delivering Windows 10 as a service, updates may be delivered to provide ongoing new features to Bing search, such as new visual layouts, styles and search code.

“No query or search usage data is sent to Microsoft, in accordance with the customer’s chosen privacy settings. This also applies to searching offline for items such as apps, files and settings on the device.”

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By default, Windows 10 will automatically collect diagnostic and usage Data by using the built-in Telemetry feature. According to Microsoft, it helps to improve the quality of Windows. If you’re worry about this automatic data collection for privacy concern, here are simple ways to restrict / disable Telemetry from collecting diagnostic and usage data in Windows 10.

Method 1: Change Diagnostic and Usage Data Settings from Settings

Press the WIN + I keys together to open the Settings app. Click Privacy.

Under the Feedback and diagnostics section, you can select how much data you send to Microsoft. By default, it’s set to Full, which sends pretty much everything. If you choose Basic, Windows 10 will send the minimum amount of data to Microsoft’s servers.

Method 2: Change Diagnostic and Usage Data Settings from Group Policy

Open the Local Group Policy Editor. Browse to the following location:
Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Data Collection and Preview Builds

Next, double-click on the policy “Allow Telemetry” appearing on the right pane.
Select the Enabled checkbox. Under the Options section, you can choose the data collection level: Security, Basic, Enhanced, Full.

Note that the Security option only takes effect for Windows 10 Enterprise edition. If you’re running Windows 10 Home/Pro, Basic is the lowest telemetry level you can choose.

Method 3: Prevent Windows 10 from collecting Diagnostic and Usage Data

If you want to completely stop the Windows 10 telemetry from sending out any data to Microsoft, you can disable the “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry” service. Follow these steps:

Press the WIN + R keys together to open the Run dialog. Type services.msc and press Enter.

When the Services window opens, locate the service “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry” in the right pane, and then double-click it.

Select Disabled from the “Startup type” drop-down box, and click the Stop button to stop the running service. Click OK to save your changes.

So after Apple apologized to its users out of nowhere, Microsoft is out now to give us a few more shocks. The company is “finally” telling us how much data it’s collecting with its highly popular and equally controversial Windows 10 operating system. What’s happening to everyone this year? No clues, but it’s all in favor of the end user. In a blog post today, the company detailed what data users should expect the company to collect when they use Windows 10 Creators Update.

“For the first time, we have published a complete list of the diagnostic data collected at the Basic level,” Windows chief Terry Myerson explained in a blog post. “We are also providing a detailed summary of the data we collect from users at both Basic and Full levels of diagnostics.”

While Microsoft has repeatedly claimed that Windows 10 doesn’t violate user privacy, we had to take its word because the company never shared exactly what diagnostic data it was collecting. Today, the company has shared details of both the data collected at the Basic and Full level. While we already (kinda) knew what to expect when you go Full (default settings), the summary published today shows the entire summary of collected data, which is a little concerning.

Windows 10 data collection – Summaries of Basic and Full level published

As previously reported, the Redmond software maker is also introducing better data collection controls to allow users to switch between basic and full levels and learn about what data is being sent to the company. “Our teams have also worked diligently since the Anniversary Update to re-assess what data is strictly necessary at the Basic level to keep Windows 10 devices up to date and secure,” Myerson wrote. “As a result, we have reduced the number of events collected and reduced, by about half, the volume of data we collect at the Basic level.”

The TechNet summary detailed the data collection at Basic level, which is information that Microsoft considers “critical for understanding the device and its configuration including: basic device information, quality-related information, app compatibility, and Windows Store.”

The Basic level helps to identify problems that can occur on a particular device hardware or software configuration. For example, it can help determine if crashes are more frequent on devices with a specific amount of memory or that are running a particular driver version. This helps Microsoft fix operating system or app problems.

The Full level includes all the information that Microsoft collects with Basic level, and more. This additional data includes device connectivity and configuration data, content consumption, Inking typing, and browser, search and query data, among others. To give you a glimpse, here is what Microsoft collects about web browsing, search and query activity in the “Microsoft browsers and Cortana, and local file searches on the device.”

Browser Data – Information about Address bar and search box performance on the device such as:

• Text typed in address bar and search box
• Text selected for Ask Cortana search
• Service response time
• Auto-completed text if there was an auto-complete
• Navigation suggestions provided based on local history and favorites
• Browser ID
• URLs (which may include search terms)
• Page title

On-Device Search – Information about local search activity on the device such as:

• Kind of query issued and index type (ConstraintIndex, SystemIndex)
• Number of items requested and retrieved
• File extension of search result user interacted with
• Launched item kind, file extension, index of origin, and the App ID of the opening app.
• Name of process calling the indexer and time to service the query.
• A hash of the search scope (file, Outlook, OneNote, IE history)
• The state of the indices (fully optimized, partially optimized, being built)

Coming to the Content Consumption Data, this section appears to be collecting more than it should, including things like the language of a book you are reading. Here’s a screenshot taken from the summary.

Microsoft has come a long way since the early days of Windows 10 release when the company wouldn’t even bother to respond to even the most critical of reports, such as forced update installations and telemetry stories. Whether it’s the growing number of lawsuits or the troubles it is facing in Europe, the Windows maker is definitely trying to do better, and more importantly become more transparent about its Windows 10 data collection and privacy controls.

“We will also share more information about how we will ensure Windows 10 is compliant with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation,” Marisa Rogers, Microsoft’s Windows and devices privacy officer said.

It will be interesting to see if these latest details and improved privacy controls that Microsoft is launching with Windows 10 Creators Update are going to ease concerns among the privacy-conscious crowd, including foreign governments. Users who don’t want Microsoft to collect their browsing or file data can opt out of Full (tailored experiences) and toggle it back to Basic level.

– For those interested, details about Basic level data collection can be found here; summary of Full level Windows 10 data collection (version 1703) is also available at TechNet.

Telemetry data is the basis for solutions like Windows analytics. Telemetry data includes information about hardware, updates, application up-time, crashes, etc. Let’s Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer.

Introduction

Last year I wrote a blog on Telemetry. This area has gone through a lot of transformations and improved a lot. As we know, Desktop analytics will soon replace Windows analytics, which adds a lot more new features.

For more details on Desktop Analytics, refer to Anoops post. Before enabling telemetry, customers want to understand what data is being sent from the computer to Microsoft. Microsoft published documentation on privacy, compliance, and data types collected.

But still, a common question from the customers is, “Is there a log on my computer which shows what Microsoft collects data”?. The answer to this is “Yes,” This is possible using the Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer app.

What is Windows diagnostic data ?

Windows diagnostic data is technical data sent from Windows devices about the device, OS, and other software performance. Microsoft uses this data to improve the Windows 10 build and dependent components.

What is Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer app?

Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer is a tool to review diagnostic data collected from your devices and sent to Microsoft. This tool will help to increase trust and confidence for those who want to know what data is being sent in telemetry.

This tool is can also be used with PowerShell commands. This tool works on Windows 10 1803 and above.

How to Enable and use Diagnostic Telemetry Data?

There are different ways to enable telemetry like SCCM, Intune, GPO, Script, etc. For more details, refer here. In this post, I will be allowing the telemetry to manually to the full, as shown below. In this scenario, Windows will then send the full diagnostic data to Microsoft.

• Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

To enable data viewing, Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback. Scroll down to the Diagnostic Data Viewer section and turn the switch “On.”

Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

Where is Telemetry Data Stored?

Telemetry data stored in a hidden folder %programdata%\Microsoft\Diagnostics. The data in this folder is encrypted. Hence we cannot see any raw data to analyze without any tool.

Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

How to View/Analyse Telemetry Data?

So let’s install the tool “Windows Diagnostic Data viewer.” This tool is available in the Windows store. After installation, you can either click the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” button. Or launch the “Diagnostic Data Viewer” shortcut that appears in your Start menu.

Diagnostic Data Viewer Overview

• Let’s go through different options in the Diagnostic Data Viewer app.
• Click on “About your data” for overview and top applications sending data.

Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

• Navigate below to understand the different categories of diagnostics data. And no of events captured in each category.
• Click on the top right corner to export this view or data to CSV.

Event categories include:

• Browsing history
• Device Connectivity and Configuration
• Inking Typing and Speech Utterance
• Product and Service Performance
• Product and Service Usage
• Software Setup and Inventory

Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

Json Data

• To understand more details about these events, navigate to “view diagnostics data.”
• Refer to this link to understand the data types and events collected by diagnostics data.Then use the search feature to check whether a particular data type is getting collected or not.
• On the right side, the data displays in JSON format. It will also show the category of the data it belongs to. Microsoft uses this event data to understand how the device and app performance.

Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

View Problem Reports

Next, ‘let’s select the “View problem reports” tab. Here you will see problem reports from the system like host process or service hung, etc. We can also check whether this problem report is sent to Microsoft.

Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

Storage Size Capacity

By default, diagnostic data can consume max 1 GB of Hard disk and 30 days retention period. But you can change the default value is required.

Storage Size Capacity Analyse Telemetry Data using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer

Conclusion:

I think at this stage; this tool needs a lot more capabilities. Let’s see whether Microsoft will bring more features in upcoming versions.

Overall, this tool is interesting from the analysis and troubleshooting point of view. When we encounter any errors or performance issues, we can refer to this tool for some guidance. We may find some information in other logs or event viewer.

But I think this tool will be a single pane to view all analytics data from the local computer. For each telemetry level, it also helps to understand how much data is sent to Microsoft. This will help to decide for those who are concerned about privacy.

Windows 10 just can’t get enough of your activity data, even if you tell the OS to stop recording your every action. Apparently Microsoft’s OS will continue to shovel your user data over to its data centres whether you have checked the “Send my activity history to Microsoft” box in your settings or not.

Activity History is a feature introduced into Windows back with the April update. It allows users to “jump back into what you were doing on your device by storing your activity history, including info about websites you browse and how you use apps and services,” according to Microsoft, and is available across signed-in devices.

Users can opt to either have this turned off, their activity stored locally, or their activity sent to Microsoft. Or supposedly anyways. Reports from across the web indicate that whether you switch off the very clearly defined “Send my activity history to Microsoft” button, it doesn’t make any difference to whether your information is sent away. Redditors found that, regardless of setting, their information is still being reported within the Privacy Dashboard.

Microsoft has confirmed to The Register that there is indeed a “naming issue” between Activity History and the Privacy dashboard, and it is working on a fix within a future update. It also confirmed that you need to visit two places to turn off sharing your Activity History:

• Uncheck the aforementioned checkbox in Settings/Privacy/Activity History
• Switch diagnostics over to ‘basic’ within Settings/Privacy/Diagnostics & feedback.

But users are still miffed that the very clearly outlined checkbox to not send your data doesn’t actually work as you might assume it to. Not only public perception is at risk, either. With the EU very much on the prowl for privacy breaches, Microsoft runs the risk of the privacy bailiffs knocking at the door, fine in hand, if it’s found in breach of GDPR’s strict data privacy provisions.

Get involved in the conversation by heading over to our Facebook and Instagram pages. To stay up to date with the latest PC gaming guides, news, and reviews, follow PCGamesN on Twitter and Steam News Hub, or download our free app for Overwolf.

Published: Dec 14, 2018

Jacob describes himself as the hardware team’s resident wildcard. He is currently on an unremitting quest to create the world’s ugliest gaming PC and is often found tinkering on the testbench in a vain attempt to resurrect another failed RGB experiment gone awry.

By Paul Wagenseil published 12 December 18

Is Microsoft spying on Windows 10 users who don’t want to be spied on? Some Reddit users think so, but there may be an innocent, if confusing, explanation.

Credit: Thaneree Deepul/Shutterstock

The April 2018 build of Windows 10 introduced the Timeline, a feature that lets you pick up where you left off when switching from one Windows device to another. You can browse websites and work on documents on one machine, then move to another machine and have the same stuff cued up for you when you log in. (MacOS has has a similar feature for a few years.)

To do this, Windows 10 sends a ton of data about what you’re doing to up to Microsoft’s servers so that those servers can sent that “Activity History” back down to you when you log into a different Windows machine.

Naturally, some people find this intrusive, and they make sure that the box marked “Let Windows sync my activities from this PC to the cloud” is unchecked under Settings > Privacy > Activity History. To seal the deal, they can also uncheck the neighboring box marked “Let Windows collect my activity from this PC”, which seems to be checked on by default.

Yet this past weekend, Reddit user “a_potato_is_missing” noticed that even though he (or possibly she) had unchecked both boxes on his machine’s settings, he could still sign into his Microsoft account online, navigate to the Privacy Dashboard, click the tab marked, yep, “Activity History,” and see that he’d been running Microsoft Office, Forza Horizon 4 and Counter-Strike Global Offensive.

Mr. Missing Potato wrote that he was only able to stop this by using online tools to edit a Windows Registry key. That’s not something we recommend your average Windows user do.

Over at our sister site TechRadar, Darren Allan was able to reproduce this issue. He noted that his Activity History remained in the online Privacy Dashboard even after he pressed the “Clear Activity History” button in his machine’s Settings.

So what’s going on? We don’t know for sure, but Chris Hoffman at How-To Geek thinks the answer is both simple and stupid: The Windows 10 Settings Activity History isn’t the same as the online Privacy Dashboard Activity History.

Hoffman points out that Windows 10 still sends Microsoft’s servers telemetry data about your machine whether or not you’ve disabled Activity History collection in Settings. The telemetry data — how your machine is running, and so forth — is controlled by a different Settings menu, Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics and Feedback.

There are two telemetry settings. “Basic” sends Microsoft “only info about your device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is performing properly.” “Full” sends all that plus “info about the websites you browse and how you use apps and features” — which sound a lot like Activity History cloud syncing.

But it’s probably not the same thing. Microsoft has a rich history of building overlapping, parallel and contradictory settings, as anyone who’s tried to get a wireless headset working on a Windows conference call, or tried to get a child’s Xbox Live account working properly, can testify.

Hoffman’s theory is that the Activity History you’re seeing in the online Privacy Dashboard is collated from the telemetry data gathered by Windows diagnostics, not from the Activity History in Settings. Anyone who’s got the diagnostics set to “Full” is also sending their application usage history, which then shows up on the Privacy Dashboard.

Over at TechRadar, Darren Allan countered that his machine had diagnostics collection set to Basic, “which doesn’t allow for sending info about the apps used, websites visited and so on.” He implied that he was still able to see “apps used, websites visited and so on.”

Is Allan right about that? In the Diagnostics menu, the explanation next to the Full option does say that information sent upstream includes “how you use apps,” while Basic is supposed to “send only info about your device.” But “how you use apps” may not be the same thing as “which apps you use.”

From our somewhat limited experience, basic telemetry data usually includes a list of which processes are active on a device. After all, you’d want a snapshot of exactly what was running if a machine were to crash or freeze up. Those processes would naturally include applications, especially system-taxing ones like Forza Horizon 4.

That would explain why both we (using a personal Microsoft account not linked to our office work machine) and a_potato_is_missing could see a list of applications used in the online Activity History.

However, browsing history is in a different tab, the Overview, along with Search History and Location History — and, perhaps contrary to Allan’s experience, there was nothing listed in any of those categories on our own account.

On an explainer page, Microsoft says that browsing history in the Overview “only appears if you enable Cortana in Windows, turn on browsing history in Cortana [and/or] enable Cortana in Microsoft Edge.” We’ve done none of those.

It’s possible Cortana (though unlikely) that is gathering Allan’s browsing history without his knowledge. It’s also possible that Microsoft really is hoovering up all this data without your permission.

But it’s more likely that this is a typical Microsoft duplicate-settings mess, with the using accompanying explanatory language that doesn’t explain enough. That would make sense — if you’re Microsoft.

This post originally appeared on Tom’s Guide.

Microsoft has opened up about the data it collects from devices to help the company improve services, offer tailored products to users and keep Windows “up-to-date, secure, and operating properly”.

The company revealed the information in documentation supporting its Creators Update, which is due to roll out to all Windows 10 users very soon.

The documentation is probably the most in-depth information Microsoft has ever released, carefully explaining the common data, device, connectivity and configuration data, product and service usage data, performance data, software setup and inventory data, content consumption data, browsing, search and query data, inking, typing, and speech utterance data and licensing and purchase data it collects across devices.

It details what each of these means, then how the company collects the information and goes on to use it to improve its services.

For example, for product and service usage data, Microsoft has broken down how it monitors app usage, the app or product state and login properties (such as if login was successful or not), with each section detailing exactly what Microsoft takes note of – from which features are in use, to how users navigate around the app and even whether they left feedback.

The new documentation will go some way towards appeasing customers who are a little concerned about how the company uses their data. By listing everything it reads, they can be reassured nothing is being recorded without their permission.

Microsoft said it won’t be producing similar documentation for older versions of Windows 10, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

If you see Your organization prevents sending optional diagnostic data to Microsoft error while changing Diagnostic data settings in Windows 11, then this post may be able to help you. This guide can also help when you if cannot turn on Send optional diagnostic data setting in the Windows Setting panel.

The entire message says:

Your organization prevents sending optional diagnostic data to Microsoft, which means you won’t get Windows Insider build. Contact your organization’s support person for more info.

In Windows 11, it is possible to switch from a stable version to Insider build from Windows Settings panel. For that, you must allow your system to send optional diagnostic data. Sending only the required diagnostic data might not be enough to opt for an Insider build or switch between builds. However, if the aforementioned error message appears while changing the corresponding setting and all the options are grayed out, the following solutions would be helpful for you.

Your organization prevents sending optional diagnostic data to Microsoft

If you see Your organization prevents sending optional diagnostic data to Microsoft error message in Windows 11 Settings, follow these steps and see if they help:

1. Enable the required Windows Services
2. Turn on using Group policy
3. Enable using Registry Editor

To learn more about these steps, continue reading.

1] Enable the required Windows Services

There are two services responsible for this error – Windows Insider service and Connected User Experiences and Telemetry. You must have them running on your computer. To verify if they are running, do the following:

• Search for services in the Taskbar search box.
• Right-click on the Services.
• Select the Run as administrator option and click the Yes button.
• Double-click on the Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service.
• Select Automatic from the Startup type menu.
• Click the Start button.
• Click the OK button.
• Double-click on the Windows Insider service.
• Choose Automatic from the Startup type list.
• Click the Start button.
• Click the OK button.

After that, close all the windows and restart your computer.

2] Turn on using Group Policy

It is possible to enable Send optional diagnostic data setting using the Local Group Policy Editor. For that, do the following:

• Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
• Type gpedit.msc and hit the Enter button.
• Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview Builds.
• Double-click on the Allow Diagnostic Data setting.
• Select the Enabled option.
• Choose Send optional diagnostic data option.
• Click the OK button.

After that, restart your computer and check if it has been turned on or not.

3] Enable using Registry Editor

The same thing can be enabled using Registry Editor as well. To change the diagnostic data collection setting using Registry Editor, do the following:

Press Win+R to display the Run dialog.

Type regedit and hit the Enter button.

Click the Yes option.

Go to this path:

Right-click on the DataCollection > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Name it as AllowTelemetry.

Double-click on it and enter 3 as the Value data.

Click the OK button.

Then, you need to restart your computer to get the job done.

How do I unlock Optional diagnostic data?

To unlock Optional diagnostic data in Windows 11, you need to open Windows Settings first. For that, press Win+I and go to Privacy & security > Diagnostic & feedback. Expand the Diagnostic data menu and toggle the Send optional diagnostic data button. Alternatively, you can use the Group Policy and Registry Editor mentioned above.

How do I enable Windows diagnostic data?

To enable Windows diagnostic data on Windows 11, open Windows Settings and navigate to Privacy & security > Diagnostic & feedback path. Here you can find a setting called Diagnostic data on the right-side. Expand this option and choose if you want to enable the Send optional diagnostic data option or not.

• Windows 11 continues to collect a lot of user sensitive data for Microsoft.
• Some of it is genuinely used to make Windows better.
• There’s an easy way to check what is being sent back to Microsoft’s servers.

I’m not going to insist too much on personal privacy. I’ve told you already countless times that I think it’s something we should guard dearly.

No, in this article I’m going to show you how to check what data is being sent to Microsoft from your Windows 11 computer. This is done with the official tool developed by Microsoft, called Diagnostic Data Viewer.

This official telemetry inspection tool only shows diagnostics data, which is just a part of what Microsoft is collecting through Windows.

You need to enable a few settings first. Here’s the entire process:

Guide: Check Windows Telemetry Data with Diagnostic Data Viewer

1. Open the Settings app (here are a few ways to do it).

2. Navigate to Privacy & security, then go to the Diagnostics & feedback section.

3. Scroll to View diagnostic data and enable Turn on the Diagnostic Data Viewer option. Make sure you have at least 1 GB of free space on your system partition.

If you’re still using Windows 10 you need to go to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback > View diagnostic data.

4. Click on Open Diagnostic Data Viewer.

5. If the app is not already installed (by default it isn’t) the following Windows Store window will open. All you have to do is click on Get.

6. Open the app after it’s downloaded and start inspecting the data that was already collected.

In the picture above you can see an example of a Brave browser crash report, with all the info associated with it. On the left side menu, you can switch between Diagnostic data and Problem reports.

If you want to change the collection interval and the amount of data that is stored and available for the Diagnostic Data Viewer app access the settings menu (lower-left corner). Data range can be selected from 128 MB to 10 GB while the record archive duration can be set anywhere between 1 day and 180 days.

Of course, this is just a part of what Windows sends back. Check the article linked below and you’ll see Microsofts can track even what apps you’re launching and how often, what you search, your location, and so on. This guide only deals with diagnostic data collected by Windows.

One aspect you need to keep in mind is that it’s possible for Microsoft to gather much more data that’s not necessarily shown in the Diagnostic Data Viewer.

I’m not saying it is, as I don’t have the skills or the time to run a package analyzer to see what data goes out of my network card. But we all know big tech companies do collect lots of data about their users.

While Microsoft’s data collection is not a problem right now for most of us, history has shown with Facebook that we should oppose these practices and fight for our right to privacy.

When Microsoft first launched Windows 10 a few years ago, users quickly discovered that the operating system would collect and send data about them back to Microsoft unless explicitly told not to.

In the years that followed, Microsoft created a Privacy Dashboard that would let all Windows 10 users better manage their privacy settings and prevent data from being sent to Microsoft’s servers. A new report now reveals that Microsoft may still be collecting some data from your Windows 10 device, even if you thought it wasn’t.

A Redditor noticed that Microsoft was still receiving Activity History data even though the setting was disabled on his machine. As ZDNet explains, Activity History is a crucial feature that makes the new Timeline feature work.

With Timeline, released as part of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, Windows users would be able to resume their activity on other devices and scroll back in time on specific apps and see website activity from the past. Naturally, someone would have to log that data to make it readily available to users — and that someone happens to be Microsoft — in order for Timeline to work across devices.

Windows 10 users, however, have the ability to disable the “Send my activity history to Microsoft” option in Activity History. But even if that box stays unchecked, apps and browsing data will still appear in the Privacy Dashboard in the Activity History section.

There is one explanation for the issue, HowToGeek says, and also a fix. The Windows 10 diagnostics data collection is set to Full by default instead of Basic. That’s how your activity reaches Microsoft’s servers, and that’s also how you can prevent it.

In other words, Windows 10 may indeed still collect data about you without your permission, but it’s all because Microsoft apparently failed to inform users how these data collection programs work, and how they’re connected. Hopefully, future versions of Windows 10 will prevent this privacy-infringing behavior.

Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he was sharing his views on tech stuff with readers around the world. Whenever he’s not writing about gadgets he miserably fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.