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Find my switch
TurnOffLocation Devices Windows

Device hub

How to turn off location on Windows

Windows has one switch for the whole device and a second one for your user account, with the list of apps that may use your location underneath. Microsoft says desktop apps do not support per-app control, and that a limited set of Windows features still use your IP address for your area when location services is off.

Windows 11

The master switch

Turn Location services off for this device

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Location services
  6. Off

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's page (Applies To: Privacy, Windows 11, Windows 10), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Do they get told?A notification to anyone is not documented on Microsoft's location page. What is documented is the location icon: when one or more apps are using your device location, you see the icon in the notification area of your taskbar.
Who can still see you
Off
Every app and Windows feature
Windows and apps lose access to device location. Microsoft says automatic time zone and Find my device run on this service.
Still on
Desktop apps and emergency calls
Microsoft says desktop apps have no per-app control, and that an emergency call still shares your precise location whatever your settings.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Microsoft says a limited set of Windows features use your IP address for your area when location services is not turned on.

If you're not an admin on this device, you will not see this setting.

One app at a time

Turn off Let apps access your location

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Let apps access your location
  6. Off

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's page (Applies To: Privacy, Windows 11, Windows 10), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Who can still see you
Off
Apps on your user account
Microsoft says that when this is off, no apps are given location information.
Still on
The device-wide location service
Location services itself stays on, and each other user account on the device keeps its own setting.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Your IP address still places you roughly, and Microsoft says desktop apps sit outside this per-app control.

Take location away from one app

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Let apps access your location
  6. the app
  7. Off

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's pages (Applies To: Privacy, Windows 11, Windows 10), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows privacy settings that apps use, Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Who can still see you
Off
That one app
The app can no longer read your position from the Windows location service, so it has nothing to send.
Still on
Every other app and the device
Only one app's setting changed. Location services and every other app's access stay as they were.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Any site you or the app opens still gets a rough position from your IP address.

Desktop apps are a specific type of app that do not support per-app control over precise location access.

Find My Device

Stop Find My Device locating this PC

in Windows Settings

No app-specific path is sourced for this version yet. Take the app’s location permission away in your phone’s own settings instead — that works whichever menus the app ships — and the vendor’s own help page is linked below.

No app-specific path sourced · Microsoft's Find My Device page (Applies To: Microsoft account, Windows 10, Windows 11), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Find or lock a lost Windows device, Microsoft Support — Location activity on the privacy dashboard

Do they get told?Microsoft documents a notification on the device itself. Its Find My Device page says that any time you attempt to locate the device, users using the device will see a notification in the notification area.
Who can still see you
Off
The Find My Device map
Microsoft says the feature works when location is turned on, so the device-wide switch is what stops it placing you.
Still on
Apps you have allowed
This is one Windows feature. Every app you have allowed keeps its own access to your location.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Your carrier and any site you open still get a rough position from your IP address and nearby networks.

Microsoft prints no Windows 11 Settings path for this switch, so this card falls back to the device-wide method; the only path it prints is the Windows 10 one, Settings > Update & security > Find My Device.

History and the default location

Clear the location history on your account

in the browser
Path
  1. account.microsoft.com
  2. Clear location activity
  3. Clear

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's page; local location history removed in March of 2025, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy, Microsoft Support — Location activity on the privacy dashboard

Who can still see you
Off
The history on your account
The location activity Microsoft stored in the cloud for your Microsoft account is cleared.
Still on
Location services on the device
Clearing history moves no switch. Windows keeps placing you until you turn Location services off.
Still visible
Apps that already read it
Microsoft says apps that accessed the history before it was cleared may have stored it elsewhere.

Microsoft says local storage of location history and the associated settings were removed in March of 2025, so on Windows 11 this is cleared on your Microsoft account rather than in Settings.

Remove the default location for this device

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Default location
  6. Set default
  7. Save

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's page (Applies To: Privacy, Windows 11, Windows 10), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Who can still see you
Off
Windows, apps and services
Microsoft says apps and services will no longer be able to use your default location once you clear it.
Still on
The live location service
The default is only the fallback. GPS, Wi-Fi, cell towers and IP address keep working until Location services is off.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Microsoft names your IP address as one of the signals Windows uses to place your device.

To remove your default location, clear the address box of any text and select Save.

Turn it back on, or fix it

Turn Location services back on

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Location services
  6. On

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's page (Applies To: Privacy, Windows 11, Windows 10), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Who can still see you
Off
Apps you never allowed
The device switch does not re-allow anything. Each app's own setting stays exactly where you left it.
Still on
Windows features and allowed apps
Microsoft says automatic time zone and Find my device run on this service, and allowed apps can read your position again.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Your IP address placed you roughly for the whole time the switch was off.

Let apps use your location again

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Let apps access your location
  6. On

From the vendor’s own page · Windows 11 as named on Microsoft's page (Applies To: Privacy, Windows 11, Windows 10), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Who can still see you
Off
Apps you left switched off
This is the account-wide switch. An app you turned off individually stays off until you turn that app on too.
Still on
Apps on your user account
Apps can read your location again, and you choose which of them get precise location.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Your IP address places you roughly whichever way these two switches are set.

If "Location services is off" appears on the settings page, you won't be able to turn on the Let apps access your location setting for an individual user account.

Check whether your workplace manages this

in Windows Settings
Path
  1. Start
  2. Settings
  3. Privacy & security
  4. Location
  5. Some settings are managed by your organization

From the vendor’s own page · Microsoft's location page, sentence printed in that page's Windows 10 section, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Microsoft Support — Windows location service and privacy

Who can still see you
Off
The switches on this page
On a managed device the location settings can be locked, and the switches will not respond to you.
Still on
Your organization's policy
Microsoft says you might not be able to change the location settings on a device assigned to you by your workplace.
Still visible
The network and your IP address
Your IP address still places you roughly whichever way the policy leaves these switches.

Microsoft prints this sentence in the Windows 10 section of its location page and does not repeat it in the Windows 11 section.

If someone is tracking you against your will, turning a setting off may not be the safest first step. Read this first.

Related

Where to go next

Question Does airplane mode turn off location? No. Airplane mode is a switch for radios: Apple's page says it "turns off all radios except for Bluetooth", and Google's says Wi-Fi and Bluetooth go off with it. Neither company's airplane-mode page mentions Location Services, GPS or location of any kind. App guide Google Maps Google Maps has three separate location switches. Location sharing sends your live position to people you chose, Timeline keeps a record of where you have been, and the app's location permission in phone settings decides whether Maps can read your position at all. Turning one off leaves the other two on.