Clear Your Activity History and Diagnostic Data in Windows

Clear the activity history and diagnostic data Windows keeps about how you use your PC, and turn down future collection.

Why: Activity history is a local record of the apps and services you use, files you open, and sites you browse. Diagnostic data is technical info Windows sends to Microsoft to find and fix problems. Both are managed under Settings → Privacy & security. You can wipe what’s stored now, then change the settings so less is collected going forward.

Step 1: Clear and stop activity history

1. Select Start → Settings → Privacy & security → Activity history.
2. Next to Clear activity history for this account, select Clear history.
3. To stop new collection, turn off Store my activity history on this device.

Turning off storage also disables features that depend on it (like Timeline). Browsing history in Microsoft Edge is separate and stays available.

Step 2: Choose how much diagnostic data you send

1. Select Start → Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback.
2. Under Diagnostic data, choose Required diagnostic data to send the minimum (instead of optional/full data).
3. Turn off Improve inking and typing if you don’t want samples of what you type and write sent to Microsoft.
4. Under Tailored experiences, turn it off so Windows doesn’t use diagnostic data to show you personalized tips and ads.

Step 3: Delete the diagnostic data already collected

1. On the same Diagnostics & feedback page, under Delete diagnostic data, select Delete.
2. This removes the diagnostic data stored from your device.

Important: deleting here does not delete diagnostic data already associated with your Microsoft account, and it doesn’t stop new data from being sent. To manage account-level data, use the Microsoft privacy dashboard (next step).

Step 4: Clear account data on the privacy dashboard

Data tied to your Microsoft account lives online, not just on the PC:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft privacy dashboard at account.microsoft.com/privacy.
2. From there you can view and clear activity, browsing, search, and other data Microsoft associates with your account.

FAQ

Does clearing activity history on the PC also clear it from my Microsoft account? No. The Windows setting clears the local record. Account-tied data is cleared separately on the Microsoft privacy dashboard.

Can I turn diagnostic data off completely? You can reduce it to the Required level, but Windows always sends a baseline of required data to keep the device secure and updated; it can’t be set to zero through Settings.

Will turning off activity history break anything? It disables Timeline and similar features that rely on the history. Day-to-day use is unaffected, and Edge browsing history is unchanged.

Sources: Microsoft Support — Windows activity history and your privacy, Microsoft Support — Diagnostics, feedback, and privacy in Windows