Telemetry in Windows refers to the process of collecting and transmitting diagnostic data from a user’s device to Microsoft’s servers for various purposes. This data helps Microsoft improve its products and services, troubleshoot issues, and make informed decisions about future updates and features.
In Windows 10, version 1903 and earlier, the level of Diagnostic data could be set to either Basic, Enhanced and Full which has been simplified by Microsoft by changing the Taxonomy in Windows 10 version 1903 and later to Diagnostic data off, Required and Optional.
If your device is currently Windows 10 version 1903 and earlier and its Diagnostic setting is set to Enhanced and If you upgrade your device to Windows 10 version 1903 and later, It will be automatically set to Required diagnostic data.
Please find below screenshot of a Windows 11 device which shows its Diagnostic data settings.
Please note for Windows driver update management using Intune, one of the prerequisites is to have the Telemetry turned on, with minimum setting of Required. We will see different ways to Enable / Disable Telemetry on Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices using Intune.
Let’s look at overview of each Diagnostic setting before configuring it using Intune.
- Required – Required diagnostic data, previously labelled as Basic, gathers a limited set of data that’s critical for understanding the device and its configuration. For Example: Device attributes like display type camera information, Battery Information, Processor and Memory architecture etc. For more information, you can refer to the link Required diagnostic data.
- Optional – This will include additional details about the device and its settings. For example: Website you are browsing, device usage and enhanced error reporting. For more information about Optional Diagnostic data, you can click the link Optional diagnostic data.
- Diagnostic data off – This will turn off telemetry data sharing from your device to Microsoft servers.
1. Configure Telemetry level using Intune Device restrictions
You can set telemetry data setting to Required using Intune by following below steps:
- Login on Microsoft Intune admin center
- Go to Devices > Configuration profiles
- Click on + Create Profile
- Select Platform as Windows 10 and later
- Profile type: Templates
- Template Name: Device restrictions
Basics Tab
Provide a Name and Description of the Policy to Identify it on Microsoft Intune admin center.
- Name: Configuration of Reporting and Telemetry data
- Description: This device configuration profile will set Telemetry to Required on targeted windows devices
Configuration settings
Find Reporting and Telemetry section in the list of categories and set Share usage data option to “Required“
Assignments tab
Create an Azure AD Security group which contains devices where this Device configuration profile needs to be deployed. If you want to make sure this setting applies to all the devices in your organization, then you can Simply click on + Add all devices option in Assignments tab and click on Next to proceed.
Review + Create
On Review + Create tab, review the device configuration profile details and click on Create. As soon as you click on create button, The device configuration profile deployment process will start and the process to configure the Telemetry to Required level will begin.
Intune Policy Refresh Cycle
The Device will Sync / Check in to start Device configuration deployment. It may take some time for the process to start. Therefore, if you are testing it on a test device, you can force initiate Intune refresh cycle on the device which will speed up the download and configuration process. You can also use Powershell to force initiate Intune refresh cycle.
Also, you can restart the device first which also starts the device check-in process. Manual sync is not mandatory on user’s devices as the device check-in process happens automatically. But if you are testing this setting on a test device then this can speed up your testing and can save some time.
End user Experience
Now, let’s check what’s happening on end user device. After the Device configuration profile has been deployed successfully. You can go to the Windows 11 > Settings > Privacy & Security > Diagnostic & feedback and confirm if its now set to Required.
2. Configure Telemetry level using OMA-URI
In the previous sections we have seen how to configure Telemetry level using Device restriction template of Device configuration profile in Intune. If you want to configure it in a different way and want to use OMA-URI setting then you can create a custom device configuration profile and use below OMA-URI setting:
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/System/AllowTelemetry
- Set it to Integer number 0 – Turn off Diagnostic data.
- Set it to Integer number 1 – Only send Required Diagnostic data.
- Set it to Integer number 3 – Set both Required and Optional diagnostic Data. (FULL)
3. Configure Telemetry level using Settings Catalog
Third option is to configure Telemetry data to Required is by using Setting Catalog when creating a Device configuration profile.
- Search for “Allow Telemetry” from Settings picker which would be under System > Allow Telemetry. Select it to add it on Configuration settings.
- You can configure the level of Telemetry by using a drop-down. You will find three options here Basic, Security and Full. Select the level you require and proceed to assign this configuration to end user devices.
FAQs
How to disable Telemetry in Windows 10 and Windows 11
You can easily disable telemetry data to be sent to Microsoft using Intune by Simply configuring a device configuration profile using device restriction template and setting the Share usage data setting to Diagnostic data off.
Where to find Diagnostic Data Setting in Windows 10 and Windows 11
You can locate the setting on Windows 11 by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Diagnostic & feedback.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have seen how to configure Telemetry level in Windows. Please note Telemetry level of Required is a prerequisite of managing device drivers on Windows devices using Intune. Sending Telemetry data to Microsoft provides the company to improve its softwares and products and release bug fixes which are essential to running the operating system.