Open Settings, Privacy and security, Inking and typing personalization on any fresh Windows 11 install, and there it is: a toggle that quietly ships samples of what you type, write with a stylus, and dictate to Microsoft. The switch has been on by default since Windows 10, and most people never approved it. Microsoft says the data trains autocorrect and handwriting recognition, and that samples are scrubbed of unique identifiers before upload. That still leaves the reality that a personal machine is streaming keyboard and pen behaviour to a cloud service without a consent screen anyone remembers seeing. Windows input privacy is not a single toggle problem either. Diagnostic data, activity history, advertising ID, and telemetry services all pipe metadata about your usage back to Redmond. The seven tools below shut off the input personalization vector and the wider telemetry surface around it.
What to look for in a Windows privacy app
Not every debloat tool is worth trusting with a working machine. Before we picked our shortlist, we filtered on five things:
- Per-service toggles instead of one blind sweep. You want to see each setting, read what it does, and decide. Nuke-it-all scripts break Bluetooth, break the Store, break Windows Update, and leave you rolling back the OS.
- Revertibility. The tool should create a restore point or export a rollback before it changes a registry key or disables a service. Undo has to be one click, not a support-forum thread.
- No bundled adware. A privacy tool that ships an installer stub with third-party offers has already lost the argument.
- Source available or actively audited. Open source is preferred. Where the code is closed, we want a public track record, a real publisher, and recent releases.
- Active maintenance. Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 keep moving the goalposts. A tool that has not shipped a build in three years cannot keep up with new telemetry endpoints.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O&O ShutUp10++ | Safe one-click privacy presets | Yes, full featured | Free | 4.6 / 5 |
| Windows Privacy Dashboard (WPD) | Live telemetry monitoring | Yes, full featured | Free | 4.4 / 5 |
| Simplewall | Lightweight outbound firewall | Yes, full featured | Free | 4.7 / 5 |
| Portmaster | Per-app rules plus DNS filtering | Yes, full featured | 80 EUR / year Pro | 4.6 / 5 |
| W10Privacy | Deep per-setting tuning | Yes, full featured | Donationware | 4.5 / 5 |
| DoNotSpy11 | Broad privacy tweak catalogue | Yes, 259 settings | From 5 USD Pro | 4.2 / 5 |
| Privatezilla | Fast privacy check and fix | Yes, full featured | Free | 4.4 / 5 |
#1. O&O ShutUp10++ — Best for safe one-click privacy presets
O&O ShutUp10++ is the tool most Windows admins reach for first, because it groups every telemetry, tracking, and input-personalization setting into a single scrollable list with three preset levels: recommended, recommended plus limited, and all. Green ticks mean the setting is already private, and every entry has a plain-language explanation of what turning it off actually does. It creates a restore point before it writes a single key, and the September 2026 build (3.5.1130) tracks changes through Windows 11 24H2.
Where it falls short: It only reads and writes documented Windows settings, so it cannot block outbound network traffic if a service ignores its own toggle. It also has no network monitor.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set, no upsell, no bundled installer
- Paid: none
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11
Download: Publisher site: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
Bottom line: The safest first pass for anyone who wants Windows quieter without breaking it.
#2. Windows Privacy Dashboard (WPD) — Best for live telemetry monitoring
WPD wraps privacy tweaks around a live view of what Windows is actually doing. You get three panels: a settings tuner for telemetry, Cortana, advertising ID, activity history, and input personalization, an app uninstaller for the preinstalled UWP bundle, and a firewall pane that plants block rules against Microsoft telemetry endpoints. The IP block list is where its age shows, but the tweak engine still lands most of the switches you want on modern builds.
Where it falls short: Development stalled after 2021, and the bundled IP block list has not been refreshed since 2022. New Windows 11 endpoints may slip past the firewall panel.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set, portable, no installer
- Paid: none
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11
Download: Publisher site: https://wpd.app
Bottom line: Still useful for its live monitor, but pair it with an actively maintained tool for the firewall side.
#3. Simplewall — Best for a lightweight outbound firewall
Simplewall by henrypp is a thin front end for the Windows Filtering Platform, the same kernel layer the built-in firewall uses. It runs portable, weighs a few megabytes, and asks permission the first time each process tries to reach the network. That is where input privacy meets the wire: you can outright block SearchApp, the diagnostics tracking service, and other components that phone home even after you flip their toggles. Version 3.9.1 shipped in July 2026.
Where it falls short: The interface is dense and assumes you know which process is which. There is no per-URL or per-domain granularity.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set
- Paid: none
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11
Download: Publisher site: https://www.henrypp.org/product/simplewall
Bottom line: The classic pick for anyone who wants a plain-Windows outbound firewall with no telemetry of its own.
#4. Portmaster — Best for per-app rules plus DNS filtering
Portmaster from Safing pushes the firewall idea further. Every connection is intercepted at the kernel with the Windows Filtering Platform, and you get per-application rules, tracker and ad blocking at the DNS level, and a live traffic graph that shows which processes are talking to whom. It was audited by Cure53 in 2024 with no critical findings, and the 2026 build brings a redesigned Safing Privacy Network for optional anonymised routing.
Where it falls short: It uses more memory than Simplewall because of the DNS filter and analytics, and the SPN routing is a paid extra. First-launch onboarding takes a few minutes.
Pricing:
- Free: firewall, DNS filter, per-app rules, traffic graph
- Paid: SPN anonymised routing from 80 EUR per year
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Download: Publisher site: https://safing.io/portmaster/
Bottom line: The most complete free option if you want a modern firewall and DNS-level blocking together.
#5. W10Privacy — Best for deep per-setting tuning
W10Privacy is the tool of choice when you want to see every switch, not just the ones the publisher thinks matter. It groups tweaks into colour-coded tabs (green is recommended, yellow is optional, red is only if you know what you are doing) across telemetry, apps, services, Explorer, Edge, and network. It supports portable use, restore-point creation, and profile export so you can apply the same set of tweaks to a whole fleet. Version 6.3.0.1 landed in September 2026 with faster startup.
Where it falls short: The sheer depth of options is intimidating for a first-time user. There is no plain-English wizard.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set, donationware
- Paid: none
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11
Download: Publisher site: https://www.w10privacy.de/english-home/
Bottom line: Pick this when O&O ShutUp10++ does not go far enough and you want granular control.
#6. DoNotSpy11 — Best for a broad privacy tweak catalogue
DoNotSpy11 from pXc-coding is the direct successor to the older DoNotSpy10, and it now covers Windows 11 up to 25H2 and Windows 10 up to 22H2. The free version exposes 259 settings across Advertising, Apps, Defender, Edge, Office, Privacy, Search, Start, Updates, and Windows AI. Handy touches include multilingual UI (English, French, German), inline explanations for each setting, and a paid Pro tier that removes ads inside the app and lets you save profiles.
Where it falls short: The free tier displays ads inside the app. Some tweaks overlap with Group Policy settings that Home editions cannot honour.
Pricing:
- Free: 259 settings with in-app ads
- Paid: Pro from 5 USD, adds profile save and removes ads
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11
Download: Publisher site: https://pxc-coding.com/donotspy11/
Bottom line: The most exhaustive tweak catalogue, worth the Pro upgrade if you manage more than one machine.
#7. Privatezilla — Best for a fast privacy check and fix
Privatezilla from builtbybel takes the opposite approach: instead of hundreds of switches, it runs a quick scan and shows you which of a curated set of about sixty privacy settings are currently on or off. One click flips the ones you want. The tool bundles a small companion called LoveWindowsAgain that helps users cross from Windows 10 to 11 with those settings intact.
Where it falls short: The curated set is smaller than W10Privacy or DoNotSpy11. It targets the highest-value tweaks and leaves the long tail alone.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set, open source
- Paid: none
Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 11
Download: Publisher site: https://github.com/builtbybel/privatezilla
Bottom line: The fastest way to audit and fix Windows privacy in under five minutes.
How to pick the right one
Match the tool to the job, not the other way around. If you want a first pass on a personal machine and you have never touched Windows privacy tweaks before, run O&O ShutUp10++ with the recommended preset and stop there. It is the least likely to break anything, and it covers input personalization, telemetry, and activity history in one go.
If you also want to keep Windows components from phoning home when their own toggles do nothing, add an outbound firewall. Simplewall is the lean pick when you already know your processes. Portmaster is the better choice when you want tracker and ad blocking at the DNS layer bundled in, plus a nice traffic view for spotting the noisy apps.
If you administer several machines, want to see every switch, or need to export a profile, W10Privacy or DoNotSpy11 will get you there. Use Privatezilla when a friend hands you their laptop and you want an audit-and-fix in five minutes. Keep WPD around for its live monitor pane, but do not rely on its firewall list alone.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop Windows from sending my typing data to Microsoft?
Open Settings, then Privacy and security, then Inking and typing personalization, and switch it off. Also open Diagnostics and feedback in the same section and set Diagnostic data to Required only, then turn off Improve inking and typing, Tailored experiences, and View diagnostic data. Any of the tools in this list will flip the same switches, plus a few dozen more that live behind Group Policy or the registry.
Is Windows input personalization actually recording every keystroke?
No. Microsoft says samples are collected periodically, then processed to strip unique identifiers, email addresses, and numeric strings before upload. That still means fragments of what you type are leaving your machine. If that is not a bargain you agreed to, turn it off.
Are these privacy tools safe to run on my main PC?
Yes if you stick to recommended presets and let the tool create a restore point first. Skip the aggressive presets on a machine you rely on for work, because they can disable Windows Update, Defender, or the Store in ways that require a rollback. O&O ShutUp10++, W10Privacy, and Privatezilla all create restore points automatically.
Do I need a firewall on top of a privacy tool?
Only if you want to catch traffic that survives the toggles. Some Windows components ignore their own privacy settings on certain builds, and an outbound firewall like Simplewall or Portmaster is the only way to be sure. If your threat model is casual privacy rather than adversarial, the tweak tools alone are enough.
Will these tools survive a Windows feature update?
Most tweaks survive minor updates. Feature updates such as 24H2 or 25H2 sometimes re-enable a subset of settings or add new ones. Re-run the same tool after any large update and it will re-apply your profile, or in the case of Portmaster and Simplewall, keep enforcing at the network layer regardless.
Is Windows 11 Home missing some of these controls?
Yes. A handful of Group Policy switches are Pro-only, and Home editions fall back to registry-only tweaks. Every tool on this list handles that automatically, but a few advanced settings in W10Privacy and DoNotSpy11 will be greyed out on Home.
