Should You Enable Full Diagnostic Data or Keep It on Basic in Windows 11

What “Basic” and “Full” Actually Mean Now

If you’re searching for “Basic” vs “Full,” you’re using terminology from older Windows 10 builds. Microsoft renamed these levels a few years ago, and Windows 11 still uses the new names: Required diagnostic data (what used to be called Basic) and Optional diagnostic data (what used to be called Full or Enhanced). The setting works the same way it always did. It’s just labeled differently, and that’s probably why you can’t find a “Full” option anywhere in Settings.

Required diagnostic data is the minimum Windows collects to keep your device secure, updated, and working properly. It includes your Windows version, device type, basic error and crash reports, and whether updates installed correctly. You can’t turn this off entirely on a consumer edition, because it’s tied to how Windows Update 🔃 and security patching work.

Optional diagnostic data builds on top of that. It adds more detail about how you use apps and features, additional device health information, and more context around crashes so Microsoft’s engineers can reproduce and fix problems. This is the toggle that maps to what most people mean by “Full.”

Why the Option Might Look Different or Be Missing on Your PC

A few things affect whether you see a choice here at all, and they’re easy to miss:

• Managed devices show it greyed out. If your PC is joined to a work or school account, or managed through Intune or Group Policy, an administrator may have locked the diagnostic data level. You’ll see the toggle but won’t be able to change it, and Settings usually shows a note that “some settings are managed by your organization.”
• Windows 11 Home vs Pro doesn’t change what you see in Settings. Both editions offer the same Required/Optional toggle in the Settings ⚙️ app. Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions also support Group Policy and registry-based management. Home doesn’t include the Group Policy Editor, so registry edits are the only local override available there.
• Windows Insider builds behave differently. If you’re enrolled in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft expects Optional diagnostic data to stay on, because Insider feedback and crash triage rely on that extra detail. Turning it off on an Insider build can make your feedback reports less useful, even though the toggle itself still works.

The Group Policy Editor is available only in Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education. On Home, the registry is the only local route, and it needs an administrator account too. You don’t need either method for the steps below, which use the Settings ⚙️ app.

How to Check or Change Your Diagnostic Data Level

1. Open Settings by pressing Win+I. The Settings ⚙️ home page appears.
2. Click Privacy & security in the left-hand navigation. A list of privacy-related categories opens.
3. Click Diagnostics & feedback under the “Windows permissions” section. You’ll see a page explaining what diagnostic data Windows collects, along with a toggle for Send optional diagnostic data.
4. Turn the Send optional diagnostic data toggle on or off. Turning it on switches your PC to the Full/Optional level. Turning it off drops you back to Required diagnostic data only. The change applies immediately, with no restart needed.
5. If the toggle is greyed out, look for text underneath it saying the setting is managed by your organization. If you see that, contact your IT administrator. You can’t override it from your own account, even with a local administrator login.

The same page has two more tools that show you what has actually been collected. Both are optional:

1. Scroll down to the Diagnostic data viewer toggle and turn it on. This lets Windows keep a local copy of recent diagnostic data that you can read. Windows then shows a button to open the viewer, which is a separate app from the Microsoft Store, so you may be prompted to install it 💿. Once it’s open, you can see exactly what your PC is sending. Turn the toggle off again when you’re done, since it stores data on your drive while it’s on.
2. Scroll to the Delete diagnostic data section and click Delete. This clears the diagnostic data Microsoft has already collected from this device. It doesn’t stop future collection. For that, you still need the Send optional diagnostic data toggle, and Required data will keep being sent.

While you’re on this page, it’s worth glancing at the related settings just below it. Improve inking and typing and Tailored experiences both feed off the diagnostic data you’re sending, and turning off Optional diagnostic data can limit how well those features work.

How to Undo the Change

There’s nothing to “undo” in the sense of a system change. You’re just flipping the same toggle back. If you turn on Optional diagnostic data and later decide you don’t want it, go to Settings › Privacy & security › Diagnostics & feedback and turn Send optional diagnostic data back off. It takes effect right away, and no reboot or sign-out is required either way. If you want the data already sent cleared as well, use the Delete button under Delete diagnostic data on the same page.

What Each Level Actually Sends

Required diagnostic data covers the basics: device and connection properties, OS build and version, app compatibility flags, and crash and error reports. It’s lightweight and mostly technical, and it lets Microsoft catch widespread bugs before they spread to more machines. It isn’t tied to your browsing habits or file content.

Optional diagnostic data adds more usage detail on top: how you interact with apps and features, more detailed device health information, and richer crash context. Microsoft uses this to fix problems that don’t show up clearly in the smaller Required dataset alone. It’s still not the same as browsing history or file contents, but it does paint a more detailed picture of how you use your PC. If you want to check for yourself, the Diagnostic data viewer described above shows the actual data.

Should You Actually Turn On Full/Optional Diagnostic Data?

For most home users, no. There’s little direct benefit, and Required diagnostic data already covers what keeps Windows Update 🔃 and security patching working. Turn on Optional diagnostic data only if:

• You’re working with Microsoft support on a specific issue and they’ve asked for more detailed diagnostic data to reproduce it.
• You’re enrolled in the Windows Insider Program and want your feedback reports to include full context.
• You manage a fleet of devices and want richer telemetry to catch problems before users report them.

For most people, Required diagnostic data is the right call. It keeps your privacy footprint smaller without affecting how Windows updates or protects itself.

What to Do Next

If you’re tightening up privacy settings on this PC, go through Tailored experiences and the app permission pages right after this one. They sit in the same Privacy & security section and often get left on by default. If you manage several PCs and need consistent diagnostic data policy across all of them, that’s a better job for Group Policy or Intune than toggling each machine by hand. Remember that Group Policy and registry changes need administrator rights, and the Group Policy Editor exists only in Pro, Enterprise, and Education.

Caution about disabling services. Some guides tell you to go further and disable the Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service (also known as DiagTrack) or other related services. The Settings toggle is the supported way to limit what's sent, and you rarely need more than that. If you still decide to disable a service, do these things first:

1. Create a restore point so you can roll back if something misbehaves. Search for "Create a restore point" in the Start menu, open it, and use the Create button on the System Protection tab. System Protection must be turned on for the drive for this to work.
2. Note the service's current Startup type in the Services app before you change it, so you know what to put back.
3. To re-enable it later, open the Services app, double-click the service, set Startup type back to its original value (for this service, normally Automatic), and click Start, then OK.

Disabling services can have side effects, and a major Windows update may switch some of them back on. Change one service at a time so you can tell what caused any problem.