Hellbovine

Well-Known Member
This guide is designed to eliminate the background activity of Cortana and tame it, without breaking anything in the operating system, while still leaving the app available for people that want to use it. This is an alternative method to removing the component, since uninstalling Cortana can cause parts of Windows to stop working properly, such as the "Settings" pages and search functionality. This guide was tested for Windows 10 21H2 Home, but may need some minor changes for other versions, because Microsoft frequently updates Cortana.

STEP 1: INTEGRATE TWEAKS
First we need to integrate the following registry keys directly into our Windows image, using NTLite. The tweaks have been uploaded as an attachment, and the modifications these tweaks make have been added below for easy reference, but you can also edit the file and view the comments for more information, as well as adjust the values if necessary, to match your personal preferences.

- Removes Cortana tips and tricks from the lock screen
- Prevents Cortana from running in the background at startup
- Removes the Cortana button from the taskbar
- Prevents Cortana from searching the internet
- Disables the Windows keyboard shortcut for Cortana

Note: You may need to update the last registry key value inside the tweak file from "549981C3F5F10_8wekyb3d8bbwe" to the version of Cortana that is contained inside the specific Windows build that you are editing in NTLite, or this particular tweak will not work.

STEP 2: WINDOWS SETUP
These instructions are to be carried out during Windows Setup, while installing the operating system.

2A) Click the microphone on the bottom left to disable Cortana's listening.

2B) At the privacy settings turn all option sliders to the "No" position and then click "Accept" to proceed.

2C) At the Cortana screen click "Not now" to finish optimizing Cortana.

2D) Finish the steps of Windows Setup and upon reaching the desktop, Cortana should be tame.

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Attachments

  • Tweaks.reg
    2.2 KB
Last edited:
What brakes Cortana removal in late Windows versions?

I'm asking because Cortana was integrated in Windows and anybody could use it, now Cortana is an App and most users and countries are locked to some kind of licenses. a couple years ago I have said "Windows components are going to be apps", one of the latest components is Explorer as an app, not sure yet if is a launcher app and a file explorer or both.

In early builds Cortana is tied to Search and could brake programs that relied on it, lets say security software.

Cortana being an App should be easy to remove with no issues, I'm an user that works without security software and always kept basic search.
 
I put the guide together after this reply (link) because over the months the most common thing I saw on this forum was "X is broken, I don't know why" with the solution often being "Restore Cortana/Xbox/Store". Those 3 components are the ones that continually solve the most questions I've noticed, so I was trying to provide an alternative for taming Cortana, without uninstalling it.
 
Those 3 components are the ones that continually solve the most questions I've noticed, so I was trying to provide an alternative for taming Cortana, without uninstalling it.
Questions will keep coming, not much users are used to search.

Nice guide.
 
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