Windows 11 is my go-to OS for work and play, but it's not perfect out of the box. While most of its settings work as advertised to optimize the user experience, others can pose security risks or cause performance issues. No operating system is perfect, and I can always adjust certain Windows settings to speed up performance or improve its appearance.

When using Windows 11, I want the smoothest experience possible without any unnecessary notifications or distractions. I'm also privacy-conscious and worry about third parties accessing my confidential information and tracking my activities without my authorization. That's why I always disable these five Windows 11 features to improve performance and security.

5 Telemetry

No tracking please

Microsoft can't resist harvesting my personal information under the guise of improving the Windows experience. The amount of data it collects is staggering, including keystrokes, browser history, speech recognition results, and other sensitive information. My pings to other sites and web browser history are then used to create user profiles for targeted advertising campaigns.

It's hard to tell exactly how much data is shared with Microsoft, but I have some control over what is sent. With this in mind, I first disable the Send optional diagnostic data setting on any Windows 11 PC. It's as easy as navigating to Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Diagnostics and feedback, and turning off a toggle switch. While I'm on the page, I also turn off the feature to "Let Microsoft use your diagnostic data to enhance your product experiences" and set the Feedback frequency to Never.

4 Windows Search

Less indexing, more speed

Windows Search is a service that runs in the background and indexes all your files and folders to mark their location. It does so to make future searches faster because it will already know where the files you're looking for are located. This service is great if you frequently move files and often need the search feature. On the other hand, it's another background service using precious system resources and is worth disabling if you seldom use it.

To disable this feature, I press the Windows key and type Services in the search bar. I then navigate to Services -> Windows Search and click on Properties. I click on Stop under Service status and change the Startup type to Disabled. I then click on the Recovery tab and set the first, second, and subsequent failure options to Take no Action. I can still perform regular Windows searches with indexing disabled and can always enable it later if needed.

3 Location Services

Prevent location tracking

The Location Services feature in Windows 11 is used to automatically update my laptop's time zone and enable features like Find My Device to work. It tracks my device's location and shares the information with Microsoft after removing my personal details. Some apps can also track my laptop's location when this setting is activated.

I disable Location services because I don't need it for the apps I use, and prefer not to have my location tracked. Turning off location services can improve my battery performance because it's not running in the background and attempting to connect to other devices. To turn off Location services, I navigate to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Location. I then turn the Location Services and Let apps access your location toggles to Off.

2 Network Discovery

Minimize security risks

Network Discovery is a useful tool to communicate with other devices on my home or work networks. However, it can become a security risk if I'm using public Wi-Fi because it makes my laptop visible to other devices on the network. That's why I keep Network Discovery off on my Public and Private networks and only enable it if I need access to shared drives, printers, or other resources.

I disable Network Discovery by navigating to Settings -> Network & Internet -> Advanced Network Settings -> Advanced sharing settings. Then I use the toggles to disable Network Discovery on both the Public and Private networks. While I'm on the page, I can also disable File and Printer sharing for both network types if I want to add another layer of security.

1 Connect automatically to a Wi-Fi network

You can't trust every network

I love that my laptop automatically connects to my home Wi-Fi network whenever I'm in range. There's no need to waste time connecting manually, and I take it for granted that my downloads and updates are running in the background. However, I don't want my laptop to automatically connect to public networks unless I want to, because of the potential security risks.

Windows enables the option to automatically connect to a known network by default whenever it connects to a new one for the first time. If you aren't careful enough to disable it, you could end up automatically connecting to the public networks stored on your PC without being aware of it.

To prevent this from happening, I navigate to Settings -> Network & Internet -> Wi-Fi -> Manage known networks to view the Wi-Fi networks I've previously connected to. Then, I scroll through the list and click on the public networks to ensure that "Connect Automatically when in range" isn't ticked.

Disabling these Windows 11 features to improve performance and security

It's safe to disable the Windows features listed here without experiencing any issues. You'll end up with a more secure PC and a better overall experience with fewer distractions. If you feel that you need them running, you can always enable them later.