How to Turn Off, Disable Cortana Running Underground on Windows 10

This guide explains how to turn Off, Disable Cortana Running Underground on Windows 10, with clear steps, practical tips, and important checks before you begin.

1. With Windows 10 Home

* Note: If you use Windows 10 Home, you will have to modify the Windows Registry to do this job. Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can make your system unstable or even unable to function. Therefore, it is recommended that you back up the Registry before proceeding with the steps below.

Step 1: Press Windows + R key combination, type 'regedit' into the search box, and press Enter .

Step 2: Paste the following into the address bar on the Registry Editor window that appears, then press Enter .

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Search

If the Windows Search folder cannot be found in the Windows folder, right-click the Windows folder and select New > Key . Name the newly created folder (key) as 'Windows Search'.

Step 3: Right-click on the newly created Windows Search folder, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value . Name this value 'AllowCortana'.

Step 4: Double click AllowCortana, set Value data with 0 .

Step 5: Close the Registry Editor. Reboot the machine for the change to take effect.

If someday you want to restore Cortana, just come back here, delete AllowCortana or change its Value data to 1 .

2. With Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise

A safer way to edit the Registry for people using these two versions of Windows is to use the Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 1: Press Windows + R key combination, type 'gpedit. msc' and press Enter .

Step 2: Local Group Policy Editor window appears. Access in order: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search .

Step 3: In the right pane, find 'Allow Cortana' and double click it.

Step 4: In the Allow Cortana option, select Disabled and then click OK .

Step 5: Close Local Group Policy Editor. Reboot the machine for the change to take effect.

To turn Cortana back on if you miss this assistant, just come back here and select Enabled .

* The process 'Cortana' is still running in the background after Cortana is turned off

In many cases, even with Cortana turned off in the above way, you still see a process called Cortana running in the background when you open Task Manager. Don't worry, this process is really just 'SearchUI. exe', or the Windows Search feature. If you turn it off, you won't be able to use the search feature in Windows, even if you try clicking the Search box under the Taskbar or pressing the Windows + S key. On the other hand, this process doesn't consume any resources, so just let it run like that.

But if you're still determined to turn it off, then continue with the steps below:

- Access to C: WindowsSystemApps , find and rename the folder named Microsoft. Windows. Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy (should be changed by adding only 1 character at the end, so that it can be easily modified in the beginning).

- The 'Folder In Use' dialog box appears if Cortana is running. Do not turn off this dialog, open Task Manager (press Ctrl + Alt + Del ), select the Cortana process and then click End Task .

- Return to the 'Folder In Use' dialog box, select Try Again .

Above is the whole guide to disable Cortana running in Windows 10 thoroughly (for Home, Pro and Enterprise versions). Good luck!