Now that we all know about Windows 10 being quite sneaky in its working, it's time to try to cut down on at least some level of possible spying and user data retrieval. No matter if you are searching for a local file on your PC or for something online, it goes to Bing, as set by default. You will have to keep this setting enabled if you use Windows 10's most talked-about feature: Cortana. However, if you don't and your search on the computer is limited to local files and folders, it is a better choice to just break this link between search and online servers.
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Stop Cortana from sending your search data online:
With reports on Windows 10 possibly sending your personal files to Microsoft servers, it seems essential to try to stop this potential spying. Following are a few steps, you can follow to stop your Windows 10 powered machine from running your search data automatically through Microsoft's Bing search engine.
- Click on the Search icon in your taskbar.
- Click on the Settings icon in the left-hand menu.
- Toggle Cortana off.
- Scroll down and disable Search online and include web results as well.
If you click or tap on the Search menu now, you will see a message saying Start typing to search for apps, files, and settings. No more Bing news stories for you!
Let's hope this actually works by stopping Windows 10 from syncing the online search with local file search or we are in a huge privacy mess here.
