Disable Cortana on Windows 10

2018-01-01

I spent about 1h trying to disable Cortana on windows 10.

Seems the best method is the following:

  1. Open PowerShell ISE as administrator. To do that, search "powershell_ise" in the search box of the start menu (should still be Cortana), and right click on the shown result, selecting "run as administrator".

  2. Enter this command in the shell to enable script execution: "Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted".

  3. Enter this script on the script tab, and save it as "disablecortana.ps1" somewhere.

    $path = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search"
    IF(!(Test-Path -Path "$path")){
    New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows" -Name "Windows Search"
    }
    Set-ItemProperty -Path "$path" -Name "AllowCortana" -Value 0
    #Restart Explorer to change it immediately     
    Stop-Process -name explorer
    explorer.exe


  4. Run the script clicking on the run icon above the script area.



That's it. If you feel lonely and you want Cortana back, just change "-Value 1" in the Set-ItemProperty line.