How to Stop Telemetry Services From Slowing Down Windows 11

Quick fix: Open services.msc, set Connected User Experiences and Telemetry and dmwappushservice to Disabled. Then in Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback, choose Required diagnostic data (the lower level). Together these stop the two heaviest telemetry sources.

Task Manager shows Service Host: Diagnostic Policy Service or Connected User Experiences and Telemetry spiking CPU and disk activity, especially during idle. The processes upload usage data, error reports, and app activity to Microsoft. On lower-end PCs and on networks with strict bandwidth limits, this can add up to noticeable slowdown.

What causes this

Windows 11 collects diagnostic data via several services: Connected User Experiences and Telemetry (DiagTrack), dmwappushservice (WAP push messaging), Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS), and Diagnostic System Host. They buffer data locally, occasionally upload to Microsoft, and run analyzers on error logs.

For most users the impact is negligible. On older hardware (4 GB RAM, HDD storage), constrained bandwidth, or privacy-sensitive setups, reducing telemetry is reasonable. Disabling telemetry services doesn’t break Windows functionality, but it does reduce the data Microsoft uses to improve Windows.

Method 1: Reduce telemetry level in Settings

The least aggressive option. Keeps services running but minimizes data sent.

1. Open Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback.
2. Under Diagnostic data, set to Required diagnostic data only. (The other option is Optional diagnostic data, which sends much more.)
3. Toggle off Improve inking and typing.
4. Toggle off Tailored experiences.
5. Toggle off View diagnostic data if you don’t need the Diagnostic Data Viewer app.
6. Scroll down to Feedback frequency. Set to Never.
7. Click Delete next to Delete diagnostic data to clear any locally cached telemetry.
8. Close Settings.

This reduces telemetry by ~80% without disabling services. Sufficient for most performance concerns.

Method 2: Disable the telemetry services entirely

The standard performance fix when you want to stop telemetry CPU/disk activity completely.

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, press Enter.
2. Scroll to Connected User Experiences and Telemetry. Right-click → Properties.
3. Set Startup type to Disabled. Click Stop. Click Apply → OK.
4. Repeat for dmwappushservice (may also be labeled WAP Push Message Routing Service).
5. For more aggressive cleanup, also disable: Diagnostic Policy Service, Diagnostic Service Host, Diagnostic System Host. These analyze problem reports; disabling means Action Center can’t recommend fixes from diagnostic patterns. Some users prefer to leave these enabled.
6. Open Task Scheduler. Navigate to Microsoft → Windows → Application Experience. Disable: Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser, ProgramDataUpdater.
7. Navigate to Microsoft → Windows → Customer Experience Improvement Program. Disable all entries there.
8. Navigate to Microsoft → Windows → Autochk. Disable Proxy.
9. Reboot.

This stops all major telemetry collection. Windows continues to function normally for daily use.

Method 3: Use Group Policy (Pro/Enterprise) or registry (Home)

For the most thorough lockdown. Group Policy ensures settings persist across feature updates.

1. For Windows 11 Pro: Run gpedit.msc. Navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Data Collection and Preview Builds.
2. Open Allow Telemetry. Set to Enabled, then in the dropdown pick 0 – Off (Security only). (Enterprise: this fully disables; Pro/Home this caps at Required level.)
3. Also enable Configure telemetry opt-in setting user interface → Enabled, Disable telemetry opt-in Settings.
4. Run gpupdate /force in Terminal (Admin).
5. For Windows 11 Home (no gpedit): open Registry Editor → HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection. Create DWORD AllowTelemetry = 0.
6. Also create DWORD MaxTelemetryAllowed = 0 at the same location.
7. Disable Customer Experience Improvement Program: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows → DWORD CEIPEnable = 0.
8. Reboot.

Group Policy/registry persistence prevents Windows from re-enabling telemetry during feature updates.

How to verify the fix worked

• Open Task Manager → Performance. CPU and disk activity during idle should drop noticeably.
• Run Get-Service DiagTrack, dmwappushservice | Format-Table Name, Status, StartType in PowerShell. Status: Stopped, StartType: Disabled.
• Open Resource Monitor. Check Network tab. Idle outbound traffic to Microsoft servers should drop substantially.

If none of these work

If CPU and disk activity persists after disabling telemetry, the activity isn’t telemetry — it’s something else. Identify the actual process: Task Manager → Performance → Open Resource Monitor → CPU tab. Sort by CPU usage. The top processes during idle are the real culprits. Often this is Windows Search indexing, Antimalware Service Executable (Windows Defender scanning), Update Orchestrator, or a third-party app. For Windows Defender high CPU: add %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\OneDrive, %LocalAppData%\Temp, and other heavily-written folders to Defender’s exclusion list. For Update Orchestrator: this can’t be disabled without breaking Windows Update. Pause updates instead. For PCs that feel slow despite low CPU: the disk may be the bottleneck. Check Get-PhysicalDisk | Format-List FriendlyName, HealthStatus, Wear in PowerShell. Wear above 80% or HealthStatus not Healthy means the SSD is degrading; replace it.

Bottom line: Settings → Diagnostics & feedback reduces telemetry without breaking anything. Disable DiagTrack and dmwappushservice via services.msc for full performance reclaim. Group Policy/registry locks the settings against feature-update reverts.