Windows 10 and 11 bring a lot of new features and aims to make your daily work as easy and hassle-free as possible. Microsoft does grant you some further rights in order that you can set your privacy the way you would like it. However, these new settings often only apply to programs that were installed after the Update, and some old settings are simply reset to “Standard“ automatically. Windows 10 and 11 quite freely shares your personal data with Microsoft and certain apps. Some services protocol your entire keyboard entries, share your WLAN access data with your Facebook contacts or connect your computer without asking permission to a public – and potentially unprotected – network. While this means that you and your contacts do not have to grapple with complicated WLAN passwords, it also poses a significant security risk.
Windows lets you manage some of the available privacy settings in a new easier to use dashboard. Unfortunately, it does not give you full control over your privacy on your very own PC. Without a deep understanding of Windows, it is very difficult to protect your privacy.
Protect your privacy under Windows 10 and Windows 11 – Free!
O&O Software’s freeware O&O ShutUp10 means you have full control over which comfort functions under Windows 10 and Windows 11 you wish to use, and you decide when the passing on of your data goes too far. Using a very simple interface, you decide how Windows 10 and 11 should respect your privacy by making recommendations and giving tips for which unwanted functions should be deactivated. And should you change your mind later on, e.g. giving the personal assistant Cortana a try, all changes can be reverted with a single click.
Alternatively, ensure permanent, automatic privacy with the Premium Edition
The new O&O ShutUp10 Premium Edition ensures that your chosen privacy settings remain permanently enforced – fully automatically, even after Windows updates or system changes. Once configured, O&O ShutUp10 Premium continuously monitors your system and automatically restores your preferred settings whenever changes are detected. This gives you permanent control over what Windows is allowed to collect and share about you.
Particularly after Windows updates or major system modifications, it is common for previously configured privacy options to be reactivated or altered. O&O ShutUp10 Premium detects such changes and ensures that the desired configurations remain permanently intact.
New in Version 3.7.1143
Added:
- Disable sharing of browsing data with other Windows features
- Disable backup of Windows settings
- PREM: “Accept changes made outside O&O ShutUp10” switch: automatic protection no longer reverts changes to the listed settings and shows them as differences from the profile instead
- PREM: “Differences from profile” list: take differences into the profile, save them as a new profile, or restore the profile value; a notice above the settings list shows when settings differ from the profile
- PREM: “Activity log” item in the notification area icon menu opens the log without restoring the main window
Improved:
- Title and description of the Edge address bar suggestions from browsing history and favorites say what the setting disables; the Microsoft Search in Bing settings get their own matching texts
- Description of recently used files points out that the additional actions in the Start menu and Windows Search such as “Run as administrator” are no longer offered
- “Secure Boot” tab gives its own recommendation for repairing the boot files on update failure 0x80070002 (file not found)
- Command-line help lists all 17 language codes for the /lang: start parameter
- PREM: Notification area icon context menu uses more compact rows
Fixed:
- The /lang: start parameter is honored again and also sets the language of the command-line help
- Typed text in the title bar search box is vertically centered
- The settings lists no longer load with a delay on domain-joined PCs that cannot reach the domain controller (e.g. over VPN)
- Polish: the “AI related” column header and the notice about machine-level settings are now translated correctly
- Czech, Russian: recommendation for failed Secure Boot certificate updates translated correctly
- PREM: A change made in O&O ShutUp10 with automatic protection on no longer silently takes outside changes into the profile
- PREM: For “Replace-All” profiles, enabled settings outside the profile now count as differences
- PREM: “Source” column in the activity log is shown in the program language
- PREM: Activity log filter stays fully readable in narrow windows and in all languages; German filtered-entries count corrected
- PREM: Highlight in the notification area icon context menu is visible in light mode
- PREM: Settings can be changed even when the computer name equals the user name; they were wrongly shown as blocked before
- PREM: “Review differences” resets an active search so that all differences are shown
- PREM: Settings changed while the service was stopped are no longer reverted by automatic protection when the service starts again
Info:
- Compatible with Windows 11 and Windows 10; x86, x64, and ARM architecture
- Available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese (simplified), Czech, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Turkish, Ukrainian, and Chinese (Traditional)
Download now – no install, no crapware!
Download O&O ShutUp10 free from our Website. The free Edition of O&O ShutUp10 does not have to be installed – it can be simply run directly and immediately on your PC (portable). And it will not install or download retrospectively unwanted or unnecessary software – no crapware.
