---
title: "Disabling Windows telemetry: AllowTelemetry, DiagTrack, and what actually stops"
description: "The AllowTelemetry policy value and the DiagTrack service, what disabling them genuinely stops, and the performance claims that are overstated."
url: https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-windows-telemetry
author: Frost LIVE, Founder of Frozen Tweaks
published: 2026-08-30
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Security"
source: Frozen Tweaks (https://frozentweaks.com)
---

# Disabling Windows telemetry: AllowTelemetry, DiagTrack, and what actually stops

**Short answer:** Setting AllowTelemetry to 0 under SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection and disabling the DiagTrack service stops the Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service collecting and uploading diagnostic data. The privacy benefit is real. The performance benefit is small: this is a privacy tweak that gets marketed as an FPS tweak.

## In the app

- Switch: Disable Telemetry (Security, Pro, Advanced)
- Undo: Partial. Switching it off sets the telemetry service (DiagTrack) to Manual. Windows ships it as Automatic.
- Catalog row: https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks#t-1019

## What it does

DiagTrack batches diagnostic and usage data and uploads it periodically. It is not continuously heavy, which is why the FPS claims around it are overstated.

Windows only honors AllowTelemetry 0 on Enterprise and Education editions. Home and Pro treat it as the lowest level they allow, required diagnostic data. Disabling the service is the part that reliably takes effect.

## When it helps

- A genuine reduction in what leaves your machine.
- Removes periodic background disk and network activity, which occasionally coincides with a hitch.

## When it hurts

- Windows Feedback and some diagnostic tooling stop working properly.
- Certain Windows Update troubleshooting paths rely on this data being present.
- The frame-rate improvement is close to unmeasurable on any modern system. Treat this as privacy, not performance.

## What it writes

Read from the app's source. "Switching it off" is what the app writes when you turn the tweak off again.

Registry values:

| Key | Value | With the tweak | Switching it off | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection` | `AllowTelemetry` | `0` | Not set (the value is deleted; Windows decides) | Policy setting requesting the lowest telemetry level. |

Services (startup type):

| Service | With the tweak | Switching it off | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `DiagTrack` (Connected User Experiences and Telemetry) | Disabled | Manual (Windows ships it as Automatic) | Collects diagnostic and usage data and uploads it. Disabled, it no longer runs or uploads. |

Source: Tweaks/telemetry_disable.hpp in the app's source, app 2.0.0, checked 2026-10-08.

## The same change by hand

Run in a Command Prompt opened as administrator. Make a restore point first.

```bat
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection" /v "AllowTelemetry" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
sc config "DiagTrack" start= disabled
```

Put it back:

```bat
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection" /v "AllowTelemetry" /f
sc config "DiagTrack" start= demand
```

See what it is set to now:

```bat
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection" /v "AllowTelemetry"
```

## How to undo it

Delete the AllowTelemetry value and set DiagTrack back to Automatic. Switching it off in Frozen Tweaks deletes the policy value but sets DiagTrack to Manual, not Automatic, so set it to Automatic in services.msc if you want it back the way Windows ships it.

## Verdict

Do it for privacy reasons if you want to. Do not expect frames, and be sceptical of anyone selling it as a performance tweak.

## Related guides

- [Windows 11 Gaming Optimization: What Still Works in 2026](https://frozentweaks.com/guides/windows-11-gaming-optimization)
- [Is PC Optimization Software Safe? What to Check Before Installing](https://frozentweaks.com/guides/is-pc-optimization-software-safe)

## More tweak explainers

- [Defender scheduled scans](https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/limit-defender-scans)
- [Hyper-V hypervisor](https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-hyper-v-hypervisor)
- [SmartScreen](https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-smartscreen)

---
Written by Frost LIVE, founder of Frozen Tweaks. Canonical version: https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-windows-telemetry