Blocking These Domains Stops Windows 10 from Phoning Home

Blocking These Domains Stops Windows 10 from Phoning Home
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Blocking These Domains Stops Windows 10 from Phoning Home
An easy way to block data from reaching Microsoft, as the full list of domains where the information is being sent has reached the web. These domains can be easily added to the HOSTS files to prevent information from being sent to Microsoft, so if you don’t like third-party apps, this is the best way to go to enhance privacy on Windows 10.

The full list of domains, which you can find in the list below, is reportedly being used by Microsoft to receive data collected by Cortana, such as contacts, calendar events, speech and handwriting patters, and typing history, but also from the other services running on a Windows 10 PC.

How to block them in the HOSTS file

While there are many ways to edit the HOSTS file and add any website to the blocking list, I will  detail the easiest one, which doesn’t involve any other third-party app.

The first thing you need to do is launch Notepad with administrator rights, so open the Start menu, type “Notepad,” right-click the result and click “Run as administrator.”

Click on open and navigate to the following path:

 c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Open the HOSTS file and paste the whole list found in the list below.

As usual, don’t forget to create a backup of the HOSTS file so that you can restore it in a second in case something goes wrong.

Here’s the list of domains getting your data on Windows 10
127.0.0.1 vortex.data.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
127.0.0.1 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
127.0.0.1 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
127.0.0.1 watson.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
127.0.0.1 redir.metaservices.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 choice.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
127.0.0.1 df.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 telemetry.appex.bing.net
127.0.0.1 telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 telemetry.appex.bing.net:443
127.0.0.1 settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 survey.watson.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 watson.live.com
127.0.0.1 watson.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 statsfe2.ws.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 corpext.msitadfs.glbdns2.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 compatexchange.cloudapp.net
127.0.0.1 cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
127.0.0.1 a-0001.a-msedge.net
127.0.0.1 statsfe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
127.0.0.1 sls.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
127.0.0.1 fe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
127.0.0.1 diagnostics.support.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 corp.sts.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 pre.footprintpredict.com
127.0.0.1 i1.services.social.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
127.0.0.1 feedback.windows.com
127.0.0.1 feedback.microsoft-hohm.com
127.0.0.1 feedback.search.microsoft.com
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 preview.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ads.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ads1.msads.net
127.0.0.1 ads1.msn.com
127.0.0.1 a.ads1.msn.com
127.0.0.1 a.ads2.msn.com
127.0.0.1 adnexus.net
127.0.0.1 adnxs.com
127.0.0.1 az361816.vo.msecnd.net
127.0.0.1 az512334.vo.msecnd.net