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Windows 11’s Personalized offers setting can let Microsoft use Windows diagnostic data, account information, and activity from other Microsoft products and services to tailor tips, ads, and recommendations. Microsoft also says some personalization can happen on your device. Its documentation describes possible data categories, not a complete record of what a particular PC sends.

What Personalized offers may use

Microsoft describes the setting as a way to personalize tips, ads, and recommendations based on Windows activity. When it is enabled, the information considered may extend beyond Windows diagnostics. Microsoft says the categories below may contribute; that does not mean every category applies to every person.

  • Device information and required diagnostics: information about the device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is working properly.
  • Optional diagnostics, if enabled: additional information about app and feature use, as well as more device-health information.
  • Account and Microsoft-service information: examples include Edge web activity when the user has permitted Edge to collect it for personalized search, ads, and news; use of services such as Bing, Microsoft 365, Xbox, and MSN.com; subscription and purchase history; and data from third-party websites that may be shared with Microsoft.
  • Interactions with offers: information about how a person responds to tips, recommendations, and promotions may be used to provide and improve similar personalized messages in Microsoft products.

Microsoft says it may also use device and activity information to personalize offers locally, without that data leaving the device. That does not mean all personalization is local: the same Microsoft Support explanation of Recommendations & offers describes combining Windows information with account and other Microsoft-service information.

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What the setting does not establish about data sent

Microsoft’s support pages explain possible categories and uses, but do not provide a per-user export or a complete field-by-field ledger of transmissions. They therefore cannot show exactly which inputs a specific PC used, which stayed on-device, or what was sent at a particular time.

Microsoft says settings and diagnostic items can change, and some optional diagnostic data may be collected only from a sample of devices. Treat the published categories as an explanation of possible use, not a forensic account of every Windows 11 installation.

Required and optional diagnostic data are different

Windows diagnostics and offer personalization are related, but they are not the same setting or purpose. Microsoft describes required diagnostics as device, settings, capability, and reliability information. Optional diagnostics includes required data and may add information about app and feature use, device health, browsing and device activity, and enhanced error reporting.

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Diagnostic level What Microsoft says it may include Relevance to offers
Required Device information, settings and capabilities, and whether the device is performing properly. Microsoft says this data may be used for personalized offers when that setting is on.
Optional Required data plus possible additional app and feature use, device-health details, browsing or device activity, and enhanced error reporting. Some items may be sampled. These additional categories may inform personalization; Microsoft does not say every optional diagnostic item is used for offers.

Microsoft says optional diagnostic data may include crash-related memory state that can unintentionally contain parts of a file open at the time. Its diagnostics guidance says crash dumps themselves are not collected without additional permissions, such as choosing optional diagnostic data. Separately, for offer personalization specifically, Microsoft says it does not use crash-dump content, speech, typing, or inking input. That exclusion is about this personalization use; it is not a claim that those categories can never be handled under another Windows setting or use. See Microsoft’s Diagnostics, feedback, and privacy in Windows for the diagnostic-data explanation.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Which Windows settings to review

Recommendations & offers groups several controls, but they govern different data sources or experiences. Turning off one does not automatically turn off the others.

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Control What it affects
Personalized offers The described use of Windows activity and other eligible information to tailor tips, ads, and recommendations.
Advertising ID A user-level identifier available to apps that use it. Turning it off does not remove ads; Microsoft says they may be less relevant. Other Microsoft or third-party interest-based ad methods are not all controlled by this switch.
Website access to language list Whether websites can access preferred-language information to offer locally relevant content.
Start and search app-launch tracking Whether Windows can personalize Start and search based on launched apps and surface frequently used apps.
Suggested content in Settings Suggestions shown in the Settings app.
Diagnostics & feedback The required-versus-optional diagnostic-data choice and access to Diagnostic Data Viewer.
Device usage Interest choices such as gaming, family, creativity, school, entertainment, development, or business that may influence suggestions. Microsoft gives examples including Xbox Game Pass, family setup, OneDrive, and a Microsoft 365 Business trial; these are illustrations, not guaranteed offers.

How to reduce personalization and review diagnostics

  1. Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Personalized offers. Review the personalized tips, ads, and recommendations control and switch it off if you do not want that use.
  2. On the same Recommendations & offers page, review the other switches individually if you also want to limit app-launch tracking, website access to your language list, or suggested content in Settings.
  3. Open Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback to review the required or optional diagnostic-data choice. You can also open Diagnostic Data Viewer. Microsoft says the viewer shows data available while it is running; it is not a history of previously collected data.
  4. If a setting is unavailable or marked as managed, your workplace or school may control it. Microsoft notes that organizational management can affect diagnostic-data settings.

Microsoft’s support directions and control descriptions are in its Windows 11 Recommendations & offers privacy settings and diagnostics and privacy guidance. Device-use choices are described in Personalize Your Windows Experience With Device Usage Settings.

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What to expect after changing the controls

Turning off Personalized offers limits the personalization use described by Microsoft; it is not a master switch for all diagnostics, ads, or data handled by other Microsoft services. Turning off Advertising ID affects apps that use that identifier, not whether ads appear. For a broader reduction in suggestions, review the separate Recommendations & offers controls and the device-usage choices as well.

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The wording and availability can vary: Microsoft says older devices may still show the label “Tailored experiences,” and work- or school-managed devices may have different controls. The guidance here reflects Microsoft’s published Windows 11 documentation checked October 7, 2026; Microsoft notes that diagnostic-data details and settings can change.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Quick Recap

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