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How to Disable or Uninstall Cortana in Windows 11

In this guide, we will show you the steps to temporarily or permanently disable Cortana or even uninstall it from your Windows 11 PC. Microsoft’s virtual assistant never really touched the same heights that the one from Google or Amazon managed to achieve. However, that didn’t stop the OS giants from placing it on every user’s PC, whether they like it or not. And this is where things begin to go south.

For once, I have never been a fan of this notion to force a product or service to the userbase. Rather giving a voluntary choice to the users should be the right approach. Even if we keep this ideology aside, there are still quite a few others issues associated with it. To begin with, the personal assistant would keep a track of all our activities and stores them over to the Microsoft clouds. This in itself is a major privacy concern.

Then the fact that is continuously running in the background would tend to slow down the performance of the system as well. All in all, there are quite a few reasons why one would like to bid adieu to this Microsoft product. If you also echo any of these reasons, then this guide is here to help you out. Given hereby are the various methods to disable and uninstall Cortana from your Windows 11 PC.

how to disable or uninstall cortana in windows 11

Disable Cortana when you Log-in to Windows 11

As soon as you type in your account credentials for logging in to your PC, Cortana gets up and running at that instance itself. So let’s start off by preventing that from happening:

  1. Bring up the Settings menu via the Windows+I shortcut keys.
  2. Then go to Apps from the left menu bar and select Apps and Features from the right-hand side.
    how to disable cortana in windows 11
  3. Scroll to the Cortana app, click on the overflow icon situated next to it and select Advanced options.
    how to disable cortana in windows 11
  4. Finally, turn off the Cortana toggle under the Run at log-in section.
    how to disable cortana in windows 11

That’s it. These were the steps to disable Cortana when you log in to Windows 11.

Disable Cortana at Windows 11 Boot Up

When your PC starts up, so does Cortana. This would unnecessarily add a few extra seconds to the system’s boot-up time. So it’s better to stop it from booting up when your PC is starting up. Here’s how it could be done:

how to disable cortana in windows 11

  1. Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc shortcut keys to open Task Manager.
  2. Then go to the Startup tab and select Cortana from the list of apps.
  3. Finally, click on the Disable button situated at the bottom right.

With this, Cortana has been disabled from the boot-up phase on your Windows 11 PC.

Disable Cortana’s Microphone Access in Windows 11

If you want to take a little bit less restrive approach, then you could also consider just disabling the voice assistant’s access to your PC’s microphone. Here’s how:

how to disable cortana in windows 11

  1. Head over to the Start menu and search Microphone Privacy Settings.
  2. You should be taken to the Microphone’s section of the Privacy & Security page.
  3. Disable the toggle next to Cortana and your task stands complete.

So this is how you could disable Cortana’s access to Microphone in Windows 11.

Disable Cortana Permanently via Registry Editor in Windows 11

Up until now, the three methods which we have discussed would end up temporarily disabling Cortana as some or other components would still be active. However, if you are looking to permanently disable Cortana from your Windows 11 PC, then this one or the next method shall help you out. Follow along for the instructions:

  1. Use the Windows+R shortcut keys to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Then type in regedit and hit Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
  3. After that, copy-paste the below location in the Editor’s address bar:
    Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
  4. However, if the Windows Search folder isn’t there, then right-click on the Windows folder and select New > Key. Then name this key Windows Search.
    how to uninstall cortana in windows 11
  5. Now right-click on the Windows Search folder, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
    how to uninstall cortana in windows 11
  6. Name it AllowCortana and then double click to open it. Then type in 0 under Value Data and hit OK.
    how to disable cortana in windows 11

So this is how you could permanently disable Cortana in Windows via Registry Editor. Turns out there’s another method to carry out this task. let’s check that out as well.

Disable Cortana Permanently via Group Policy Editor in Windows 11

This is a slightly longer method as compared to the previous one as the GPE only comes enabled in the Windows Profession Editon. If you are having the Home, Student, or Enterprise edition, then you will first have to enable it.

  1. So start off by referring to our guide to Enable Group Policy Editor in Windows 11 Home.
  2. Once that is done, bring up the Run dialog box via the Windows+R shortcut.
  3. Then type in gpedit.msc and hit Enter to launch the Group Policy Editor.
  4. Now go to the following location from the left menu bar:
    Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search

    how to disable cortana in windows 11

  5. Once you reach the Search folder, you should see the Allow Cortana setting on the right, double click to open it.
  6. Finally, select Disable from the top left of your screen and hit OK to save the changes.
    how to disable cortana in windows 11

So these were the steps to permanently disable Cortana in Windows 11 via GPE, let’s now check out the steps to uninstall it from your PC.

How to Uninstall Cortana in Windows 11

Till now, all the methods that we have discussed would either temporarily or permanently disable Cortana. So while the assistant would no longer be carrying out its normal functionality, it would still be having an abode on your PC. To completely remove each and every bit of it from your system, you should consider uninstalling it altogether. Here’s how it could be done:

  1. Head over to the Start menu, search CMD, and launch Command Prompt as an administrator.
  2. Now, if you wish to uninstall Cortana only for the current Windows 11 user, then execute the below command in the CMD window:
    Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.549981C3F5F10* | Remove-AppxPackage

    how to uninstall cortana in windows 11

  3. On the other hand, to uninstall Cortana for all the current Windows 11 users, use the following command:
    Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

    how to uninstall cortana in windows 11

  4. That’s it. You have successfully uninstalled Cortana from your Windows 11 PC.

So with this, we conclude the guide on how you could temporarily or permanently disable or uninstall Cortana from your Windows 11 PC. If you have any queries concerning any of the aforementioned methods, do let us know in the comments section. Rounding off, let’s make you aware of the steps to re-enable/re-install Cortana, if you ever plan on doing so.

FAQ: How to Re-Enable or Re-Install Cortana

If there’s a change in plan and you wish to give this personal assistant another chance, then here’s what you need to do.

  • For the first three methods, you just need to revert your action, i.e. re-enable the toggle next to Cortana.
  • However, if you have permanently disabled Cortana via Registry Editor, then you need to change the value of AllowCortana from 0 to 1.
  • Likewise, if the disabling was done via Group Policy, then open the Allow Cortana setting option and change its state to Allow.
  • But if you have completely removed (uninstalled) Cortana from your Windows 11 PC, then you will have to re-install it from the Microsoft Store.
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