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Windows tip of the week

See what diagnostic data your PC is sending to Microsoft


By Ed Bott


Windows 10 regularly gathers diagnostic information and sends it back to Microsoft's servers in anonymized form, for engineers to use in identifying and fixing problems with Windows and with third-party software and drivers.


How do you know exactly what's in those data packages? Use the Diagnostic Data Viewer app to inspect their contents for yourself.


The first step in using this tool is to go to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback. Turn the View diagnostic data switch to On., and then install the Diagnostic Data Viewer app from the Store. (If the app is already installed, you'll see a button to open the app.)


The navigation pane on the left side of the app allows you to switch between data categories, while the contents pane on the right shows what is in each entry. A new category as of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update shows the contents of problem reports, which can include portions of data files that were in memory during a system or app crash.


To remove all previously uploaded diagnostic data for the current device, return to the Diagnostics & feedback section in Settings and click the Delete button under the Delete Diagnostic Data heading.

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