How to Turn Off Cortana in Windows 10

To turn off Cortana in Windows 10, right-click the taskbar and clear Show Cortana button. To remove it completely, go to Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features, select Cortana, and select Uninstall. Microsoft retired Cortana as a standalone Windows app in 2023, so you won’t lose anything that still works.

Applies to: Windows 10.

Hide the Cortana button

1. Right-click an empty part of the taskbar.
2. Select Show Cortana button to clear the check mark.

The search box stays on the taskbar. If it stops responding, fixing Windows Search in Windows 10 is a separate job from Cortana.

Stop Cortana from starting

Go to Settings > Apps > Startup and turn off Cortana, if it’s listed. The same page lets you disable other startup programs in Windows 10.

Uninstall Cortana

1. Select Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features.
2. Type Cortana in the search box.
3. Select Cortana, then Uninstall, and confirm.

If Cortana isn’t in the list, it’s already gone from your PC. Some older versions of Windows 10 don’t allow uninstalling it; in that case, hiding the button and turning it off at startup is enough. If the Uninstall button is unavailable, use PowerShell or winget as shown below.

Remove Cortana with PowerShell

PowerShell is the command-line tool built into Windows. Cortana’s package is not called “Cortana” inside Windows. Its package family name is Microsoft.549981C3F5F10_8wekyb3d8bbwe, so the package name you type is Microsoft.549981C3F5F10. Copy and paste it rather than typing it by hand.

1. Open the Start menu and type Windows PowerShell.
2. Select Windows PowerShell, and then select Run as administrator. Approve the prompt that asks whether the app may make changes.
3. To check that Cortana is installed, paste this command and press Enter:
   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.549981C3F5F10
   If details about the package appear, Cortana is installed for your account. If the command returns nothing, it is not installed for your account.
4. To remove it from your own account, paste this command and press Enter:
   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage
5. To remove it from every user account on the PC instead, use:
   Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers
6. Run the command from step 3 again. No output means the package is gone.

The first part of each command, Get-AppxPackage, finds the app package. The second part, Remove-AppxPackage, removes whatever the first part found. The -AllUsers switch needs administrator permissions on both commands, which is why you open PowerShell with Run as administrator. The full list of options is in Microsoft’s Remove-AppxPackage reference.

Remove Cortana with winget

WinGet is Microsoft’s command-line package manager. It works on Windows 10 version 1809 and later and arrives as part of App Installer, which the Microsoft Store delivers and updates. Its commands use the name shown in your app list, so you do not need the package name.

1. Open Windows PowerShell as described above.
2. Type winget list –name Cortana and press Enter. WinGet lists the installed apps whose name matches. If Cortana is not in the result, there is nothing for WinGet to remove.
3. Type winget uninstall –name Cortana and press Enter. WinGet shows its progress while it removes the app.
4. Run the command from step 2 again to confirm that Cortana is no longer listed.

If Windows does not recognize the winget command, App Installer is probably missing or out of date. Use the PowerShell method instead.

On Windows 10 Pro

You or your IT team can also block Cortana with Group Policy. In the Local Group Policy Editor, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search, open Allow Cortana, and set it to Disabled. Typing gpedit.msc in Run is one way to open the Group Policy Editor in Windows 10.

On Windows 10 Home

Home doesn’t include the Group Policy Editor, but the same setting can be made in the registry. Back up the registry first.

1. Press Windows key + R, type regedit and press Enter.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows.
3. Right-click Windows, select New > Key, and name it Windows Search. Skip this if it already exists.
4. Right-click Windows Search, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it AllowCortana.
5. Leave its value at 0 and restart the PC.

To undo it, delete the AllowCortana value and restart.

Sign out of Cortana and clear its data

If you used Cortana with your Microsoft account, sign out before you remove it so it stops using your information.

1. Open Cortana from the Start menu, if it still opens.
2. Select the three dots (…) > Settings > Privacy.
3. Select Revoke permission and sign out.

To delete what Cortana stored online, such as voice recordings, sign in to the Microsoft privacy dashboard at account.microsoft.com/privacy and clear the data listed there. This doesn’t affect your email, files or other Microsoft services.

Troubleshooting

• The search box disappeared too. Right-click the taskbar, select Search, and choose Show search box or Show search icon. It’s a separate setting from the Cortana button.
• The Cortana button came back after an update. Some updates reset taskbar options. Right-click the taskbar and clear Show Cortana button again.
• Uninstall is greyed out. Your Windows 10 version may be older than 2004. Install the latest updates first, or use the Group Policy or registry method above.
• Search still uses Bing results. That’s part of Windows Search, not Cortana. Removing Cortana doesn’t change it.

Frequently asked questions

What replaced Cortana?

Microsoft points people to Copilot instead. Don’t want that either? You can turn off Copilot in Windows 10 too.

Will uninstalling Cortana break Windows Search?

No. Windows Search is separate and keeps working.

Can I get Cortana back?

No. Microsoft retired the standalone Cortana app, so it is no longer supported.

Does Cortana slow down my PC?

Not much. The Cortana app uses little memory when it’s not open. Removing it mainly tidies up the taskbar and app list.

Is it safe to remove Cortana?

Yes. Microsoft no longer supports the Cortana app in Windows 10, and Windows Search, Start and other features keep working without it.

Want a cleaner taskbar still? You can also hide the search bar on the Windows 10 taskbar. Details of the retirement are on Microsoft’s End of support for Cortana page.