When you are signed in with a Microsoft account in Windows 11, your apps and preferences are synced. By synchronizing this data, Windows 11 ensures that when you log in with your Microsoft account on another device, you have access to your apps and the settings for these apps.
In addition to apps, settings are also synchronized such as:
- Accessibility settings.
- Accounts, WiFi networks and passwords.
- Personal settings such as background and theme(s).
- Language preferences and glossary.
- Other Windows settings.
In this article I will explain to you how to disable the synchronization of these apps and settings. For example, if you are concerned about your privacy, you may want to disable sync to prevent your personal settings and app data from being sent to Microsoft servers. This can be especially important if you have sensitive information on your device that you don't want to share.
Turning off sync gives you more control over the settings and apps on each device. This can be useful if you want to use different settings or apps on different devices without having them sync automatically.
If you are experiencing issues with your device that may be related to sync, such as conflicts between device settings or issues with syncing specific data, temporarily disabling sync can help identify and resolve the issue. Whatever the reason, here are two ways to disable sync. The first is through the settings and the second through a change in the Windows registry.
Disable apps and settings sync in Windows 11
Via settings
To begin open the settings. In the settings, click on “Accounts” in the left menu and then on “Windows Backup”.
To disable your apps and preferences syncing, change “remember my apps” to “off”. You do the same for “remember my preferences” and also change this setting to “off”.
You have now disabled Windows backup apps and settings synchronization. The next time you sign in with your Microsoft account again, your apps and preferences won't sync to the new device.
Via Windows registry
If you want to process this in a script, for example, you can also disable the application and preferences synchronization via the Windows registry.
Open the Windows registry. Go to key:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings
Double click on the value called:
value
and change the value data to “1” to disable synchronization or to “0” to allow synchronization.
I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
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