Cortana is Microsoft’s voice assistant offering. Although it was initially suggested as a good alternative to Alexa and Google Assistant, the truth is that it never really won over users. If this is the case for you, you are probably wondering how to disable this program on your device. In the following sections we will show you a few options.
Disable Cortana via Windows 11 settings
The first method is to access the Windows 11 settings via the start menu or with the key combination Windows + I.
Open Windows 11 settings
Then you click Apps and then up Apps & features.
Windows Applications and Features
Wait for the application to load the full list of programs installed on your computer. Then look for Cortana in the list. This is very easy because the apps are sorted alphabetically. With your eyes on Cortana, click the three vertical dots on the right side of the window. Finally click Advanced optionsto continue.
Advanced options for Cortana
Disable the options Microphone and Cortana, as shown in the screenshot below. Also set the option Let this app run in background on Never.
Remove Cortana from the Start menu
Making these changes will disable Cortana on your computer. But if you do a quick search, you’ll find that it hasn’t entirely disappeared.
Cortana on Windows
Is there a way to completely remove Cortana? Yes, thanks to a command from PowerShell.
Completely remove Cortana with PowerShell
To access the PowerShell, just search for it and click Run as administrator.
Starte PowerShell als Administrator
Then you enter the following command:
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage
Permanently uninstall Cortana
When you press Enter, the command will take effect and Cortana will be completely removed from your computer. Don’t forget that you can always restore this tool in the app store.