Cortana is the new digital personal assistant that comes as a feature with Windows 10. It's a really helpful way to find information by typing in a search query or just by speaking naturally if you have a microphone enabled.
October 2017 Update:
Microsoft have made it increasingly difficult to disable Cortana within Windows 10 and there is no way to disable it without getting your hands dirty. This process from @Regedit32 is currently the easiest way to disable Cortana:
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Press Enter key
Type exit and press Enter key to close the console
Now press the following three keys together: Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
Scroll to bottom of Task Manager window and right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart
You screen and taskbar with darken and flash for a moment, then return to normal. At this point close the Task Manager window.
Cortana ought now be stopped and a normal search in its place.
October 2017 Update:
Microsoft have made it increasingly difficult to disable Cortana within Windows 10 and there is no way to disable it without getting your hands dirty. This process from @Regedit32 is currently the easiest way to disable Cortana:
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- Press Windows Key + S together
- In the Search field type command
- In the search results, right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Click Yes when the User Account Control prompts you
- In the Administrator: Command Prompt console type or copy & paste the following command:
Code:
REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" /v AllowCortana /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /fPress Enter key
Type exit and press Enter key to close the console
Now press the following three keys together: Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
Scroll to bottom of Task Manager window and right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart
You screen and taskbar with darken and flash for a moment, then return to normal. At this point close the Task Manager window.
Cortana ought now be stopped and a normal search in its place.
