Turn off the advertising ID for every account — via Microsoft Learn
The advertising ID lets apps recognise you across apps for ad personalisation. This policy switches it off for the whole PC and stops users turning it back on. It does not remove ads; it only stops apps using this shared ID.
Restart the computer
Group Policy
Open gpedit.msc (Pro, Enterprise and Education only) and go to:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles > Turn off the advertising ID
Registry equivalent
Double-click a .reg file and confirm to merge it. Right-click → Edit first if you want to read it, which is always a good idea with any .reg file from the internet.
Apply
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Oddbyte.Me: Turn off the advertising ID for every account
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AdvertisingInfo]
"DisabledByGroupPolicy"=dword:00000001Undo
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Oddbyte.Me: undo Turn off the advertising ID for every account
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AdvertisingInfo]
"DisabledByGroupPolicy"=-Same thing from a command prompt
Run in an administrator Command Prompt or Terminal.
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AdvertisingInfo" /v "DisabledByGroupPolicy" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /fUndo:
reg delete "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AdvertisingInfo" /v "DisabledByGroupPolicy" /fMicrosoft lists this policy for Pro, Enterprise and Education. When it is not configured, each user controls the advertising ID in Settings.
Sources
- Privacy Policy CSP — by Microsoft Learn
- Manage connections from Windows to Microsoft services — by Microsoft Learn
- Source reviewed
- 2026-11-02
- Link checked
- 2026-11-02
- Tested hands-on
- Not by Oddbyte.Me
Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every Windows build, so keep the undo handy.