Windows 10: Enable or Disable Cortana in Windows 10

How to: Enable or Disable Cortana in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Cortana in Windows 10


Cortana is your cloud-based personal assistant that works across your devices and other Microsoft services. Depending on the capabilities of your device and the version of Cortana youre using, Cortana can provide a range of features, some of which are personalized. Cortana on Windows is available in certain regions and languages. If Cortana isnt available for your Windows device, you can still search for files on your device in the search box on the taskbar. Cortana is also available on other platforms, such as Android and iOS, in select markets.

Cortana works best when you sign in and let her use data from your device, other Microsoft services, and third-party services you choose to connect. To provide you with personalized experiences, Cortana learns from certain data about you, such as your searches, calendar, contacts, and location. Youre in control of how much data you share. If you choose not to sign into Cortana on Windows, you can still chat with Cortana and use her to help you search the web, documents stored in Microsoft services like OneDrive, and your Windows device. See the section about Windows Search in the Privacy Statement for more information. If you dont sign in, or you choose to sign out, your experiences will be more limited and they wont be personalized with your Cortana data. On iOS and Android devices, Cortana only works when you sign in.

For more information about Cortana, see:

• What is Cortana - Microsoft Windows
• Cortana, Search, and privacy: FAQ - Microsoft Windows
  
• Microsoft Privacy Statement - Microsoft privacy
• Cortana's regions and languages

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Cortana for all users in Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to enable or disable Cortana.

*note This will only enable or disable Cortana the personal assistant, and not the Cortana process (SearchUI.exe) used by Windows Search.

*note If you disable Cortana, you will see a search icon or search icon on the search box instead of a Cortana icon on the taskbar. See: How to Hide or Show Search Box or Cortana Icon on Taskbar in Windows 10


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Enable or Disable Cortana using Group Policy
• Option Two: To Enable or Disable Cortana using a REG file

OPTION ONE [/i] To Enable or Disable Cortana using Group Policy

*note Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Two below.
1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Search




3. In the right pane of Search in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Allow Cortana policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Enable Cortana
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

*note Not Configured is the default setting.

6. To Disable Cortana
A) Select (dot) Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




7. When finished, close the Local Group Policy Editor.

8. Either restart the computer to apply.





OPTION TWO [/i] To Enable or Disable Cortana using a REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will add and change the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

AllowCortana DWORD

0 = Disable
1 or delete = Enable

1. Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable Cortana
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_Cortana.reg

Download

3. To Disable Cortana
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_Cortana.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. Either restart the computer to apply.

8. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Reinstall and Re-register Cortana in Windows 10
• How to Sign in or Sign out of Cortana in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Cortana in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10
• Turn On or Off Cortana Using Your Microsoft Edge Browsing History in Windows 10
• How to Clear Your Personal Data and Info from Cortana
• How to Turn On or Off Cortana Tips in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Cortana Listening Mode Keyboard Shortcut in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Cortana Location Permissions in Windows 10
• Turn On or Off Cortana Contacts, Email, Calendar, and Communication Permissions in Windows 10
• How to Change Cortana Language in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Get Phone Notifications from Cortana in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Cortana Suggested Reminders in Windows 10
• How to Connect Cortana to Gmail Account in Windows 10
• How to Hide or Show Cortana Button on Taskbar in Windows 10

:)

 

Why is my Cortana turned off because of company policy when I am not part of a company???

Enable or Disable Cortana in Windows 10 Windows 10 Apps
Enable it using these steps.

 

Cortana

See here for how to disable Cortana:
https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/enable-or-disable-cortana-in-windows-10.7866/.

 

Hello Michael, *Smile

This tutorial uses a group policy to disable Cortana. If you don't have the Search key, then it just means that you do not have the policy added and enabled. The options to disable Cortana in the tutorial adds the policy to the registry for you.

Disabling Cortana will disable the ability of all users to be able to turn on or off Cortana in their account.

 

Ah, I see. I went for this option because it could be achieved through the registry. I don't suppose you know of a way to only turn it off via the registry (rather than disable it entirely)? I suppose I should be asking this in the other thread...

 

I'm not sure for a .reg file option yet for just turning off Cortana.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4...dows-10-a.html

However, disabling Cortana would also turn off Cortana, but for all users.

 

I get a notice that Cortana is disabled by company policy. I am running win10 64 home. I opend regedit and when to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search. My reg does not have AllowCortana DWORD.
Since this is home edition there is no Group policy either. Is there another way?

 

Hello tropicallime, *Smile

Check to see if you may have the DWORD in the registry key below instead.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

 

Brink,
Thanks for help. I have two PC one with Pro the other is home edition. The Pro PC works fine. I could not find the DWORD at this location on either PC.
-> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

 

Hi Brink,

I am running Win 10x64 Pro. I used your reg file to disable Cortana but I still see it resident as a process with reserved memory;





I also see it listed here and it showed a minimum amount of usage after I executed your reg file, deleted usage history, and rebooted:





Are those expected results after disabling Cortana via your reg file?

Thanks,

 

Hello aardvark, *Smile

Yep, that's normal. That Cortana process is actually for Search instead of Cortana the assistant.

 

Are you joined to a domain by chance?

If so, it will be a policy that only the domain administrator can change.

If not, then you may have some other policy that was manually set in the registry to disable it. Do you have any 3rd party tweaking programs installed that may have a setting that disabled this?

 

Oh wow, thanks for that info!

Regards,

 

You're most welcome. *Smile

 

So I joined this forum just yo ask you this one questions and hopefully you'll see this.

I'm having problems using Local GPO on a domain-connected PC. Several of the policys I enable dont appear to be working. It is to my understanding that when something is is disabled via GPO (local or domain), it will be greyed out. Can you provide any insight?