How to Turn On or Off Cortana Location Permissions in Windows 10


This tutorial is no longer valid starting with Windows 10 version 2004.


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 you’re 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 isn’t 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. You’re 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 don’t sign in, or you choose to sign out, your experiences will be more limited and they won’t be personalized with your Cortana data. On iOS and Android devices, Cortana only works when you sign in.

To help you get around when you visit places, learn your routines by collecting changes in your location, and learn which places are important to you, Cortana needs your device location data. Cortana can save commonly visited places as your favorites, and these also appear in other Microsoft services such as the Maps app. This feature will let Cortana help you by giving you traffic alerts before you need to leave or sending reminders based on location like “You’re near the grocery store, where you wanted to buy milk.” Cortana collects your location periodically even if you’re not interacting with her, as in when you connect to Wi‑Fi or disconnect from Bluetooth. When using Cortana, she also has access to your device location data and will automatically send it to Bing when Cortana suggests web search terms and results for Bing to use

You can manage permissions for what Cortana can see and use for your account in Windows 10.

You can choose whether Cortana accesses your location information in order to give you the most relevant notices and results and to make suggestions that help save you time, such as traffic information and location-based reminders. If you grant permission, Cortana will regularly collect and use your current location, location history, and other location signals (such as locations tagged on photos you upload to OneDrive). Location information collected by Cortana may also be used in de-identified form to improve the Windows Location Services.

For more information, see:

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Cortana using your location and location history in Windows 10.

You will need to sign in to Cortana with your Microsoft account and turn on location services to be able to turn on allowing Cortana to use your location and location history.



Here's How:

1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Cortana icon.

2. Click/tap on Permissions on the left side, and click/tap on the Manage the information Cortana can access from this device link under Permissions on the right side. (see screenshot below)

Turn On or Off Cortana Location Permissions in Windows 10-cortana_permissions.png

3. Turn On (default) or Off Location for what you want. (see screenshot below)

Turn On or Off Cortana Location Permissions in Windows 10-cortana_location_permissions-2.jpg

4. When finished, you can close Settings if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


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