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Windows 11’s Personalized offers setting can use more than diagnostic data. Microsoft says that, when the setting is enabled, Windows may combine device and activity information with account information and data from other Microsoft products and services to personalize tips, ads, and recommendations. Some personalization may happen locally, but Microsoft does not publish a complete per-user record showing which inputs stay on the device and which are sent to Microsoft.
What Windows 11 may use for Personalized offers
Microsoft describes several possible sources for personalized tips, ads, and recommendations. These are categories the company says it may use, not a guarantee that every category is collected for every person.
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- Device information: details about the device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is working properly. Microsoft says required diagnostic data may contribute to personalization.
- Optional diagnostic data, if enabled: additional information about app and feature use and device health may also inform offers.
- Account and Microsoft-service information: possible examples include Edge web activity when the user has permitted Edge to collect it for personalized search, ads, and news; activity involving services such as Bing, Microsoft 365, and Xbox; activity on Microsoft websites such as MSN.com; and subscription or purchase history.
- Information from third-party websites: Microsoft says data shared with it by third-party websites may be used.
- Interactions with offers: interactions with tips, recommendations, and promotions may be used to provide and improve personalized offers and similar messages in other Microsoft products.
Microsoft also says it may use device and activity information to personalize offers locally, even when that information does not leave the device. That does not mean all personalization is local: Microsoft also describes combining Windows information with account and other Microsoft-service data. The support page does not provide a complete field-by-field transmission ledger or a user-specific breakdown of what was sent.
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Required and optional diagnostics are different
| Diagnostic level | Microsoft’s description | Relevance to offers |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Information about the device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is performing properly. | Microsoft says required diagnostic data may be used for personalized offers when that setting is on. |
| Optional | Additional information that may include app and feature use, device health, browsing and device activity, enhanced error reporting, and crash memory state. | Microsoft says optional diagnostics can add app- and feature-use and device-health information that may inform personalization. It does not say every optional diagnostic item is used for offers. |
Optional diagnostic data includes required data when enabled. Microsoft says the exact items may change and some optional data is collected only from a sample of devices. Its Diagnostics, feedback, and privacy in Windows page describes these categories and caveats.
What Microsoft says is not used for offer personalization
Microsoft says it does not use the content of crash dumps, speech, typing, or inking input data to personalize offers. This is a statement about this particular personalization use, not a promise that these data types can never be collected under another Windows setting or for another purpose.
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The diagnostic-data explanation adds an important distinction: optional diagnostic data can include enhanced error reporting and memory state at a crash, which may unintentionally include parts of a file that was in use. Microsoft says crash dumps themselves are not collected without additional permissions, such as choosing optional diagnostic data. These statements describe different scopes and should not be read as a blanket exclusion of all crash-related diagnostics.
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Which privacy controls affect suggestions, ads, or diagnostics
Windows groups several controls near one another, but they do not all do the same thing. Turning off one does not automatically turn off the others.
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| Control | What it affects | Where to review it |
|---|---|---|
| Personalized offers | The described use of Windows activity and other eligible information for personalized tips, ads, and recommendations. | Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Personalized offers |
| Advertising ID | A user-level identifier used by apps that rely on it for advertising. Turning it off does not remove ads; Microsoft says ads may be less relevant. It does not control every Microsoft or third-party interest-based advertising method. | Review the Advertising ID control under Privacy & security. |
| Website access to the language list | Whether websites can access preferred-language information to offer locally relevant content. | Review the corresponding control under Privacy & security. |
| Start and search app-launch tracking | Whether Windows can use apps launched to personalize Start and search or surface frequently used apps. | Review the app-launch tracking control under Privacy & security. |
| Suggested content in Settings | Suggestions displayed in the Settings app. | Review the Suggested content control under Privacy & security. |
| Diagnostics & feedback | Whether optional diagnostic data is sent in addition to required diagnostic data; this area also provides the Diagnostic Data Viewer. | Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback |
| Device usage | Choices such as gaming, family, creativity, school, entertainment, development, or business may influence suggestions. Microsoft gives examples including Xbox Game Pass, family setup, OneDrive, and a Microsoft 365 Business trial; these are examples, not promised results. | Review device usage choices in Settings; Microsoft says they can be changed or turned off. |
Microsoft explains the Advertising ID’s limited scope in its Recommendations & offers privacy guidance. The device usage examples and controls are described in Personalize Your Windows Experience With Device Usage Settings.
How to review and limit these settings
- Check Personalized offers: Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Personalized offers and review the setting for personalized tips, ads, and recommendations. Turn it off if you do not want Windows activity used for that described personalization.
- Review adjacent Recommendations & offers controls: Consider the Advertising ID, website language-list access, app-launch tracking, and Suggested content controls individually if those are also concerns. Disabling Personalized offers does not substitute for reviewing these separate settings.
- Choose a diagnostic-data level: Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback and review whether optional diagnostic data is enabled. You can open Diagnostic Data Viewer there if you want to inspect data available while the viewer is running; it does not provide a history.
- Check whether the device is managed: If a setting is unavailable or marked as managed, a work or school administrator may control it. Microsoft notes that organizational management can affect diagnostic-data settings.
What the settings can and cannot tell you
These controls let you make choices about categories and uses, but they are not a complete audit interface. The Diagnostic Data Viewer shows data available while it is running, rather than a historical record, and Microsoft says diagnostic items may change over time. Its documentation also notes that some optional data is collected only from a sample of devices. The published pages therefore explain possible categories and purposes; they do not establish a forensic list of every event transmitted by a particular PC.
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Older devices may still use the label “Tailored experiences” for related diagnostics personalization, and Windows managed by an organization may present different choices. Microsoft’s published guidance does not provide a build-by-build availability matrix.
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