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10 Tech How-To

How to Disable Nvidia Telemetry on Windows 10

Guide 10-7912 · Updated · Step by step

Nvidia’s drivers include background telemetry services that collect usage data and send it to Nvidia. If you value privacy or simply want to reduce background processes, disabling these services is straightforward. This guide walks you through turning off Nvidia Telemetry on Windows 10, both via Services and Task Scheduler, with no extra tools needed.

What You’ll Need

  • Windows 10 with Nvidia graphics drivers installed
  • Administrator access to your PC

Step-by-Step

  1. Open Services. Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. If prompted by User Account Control, click Yes.
  2. Locate Nvidia Telemetry services. Scroll down the list to find entries starting with NvTelemetry or NVIDIA Telemetry. Common names include:
    • NVIDIA Telemetry Container
    • NVIDIA Telemetry Service
  3. Stop each service. Right-click the first service and select Stop. Wait for it to stop, then repeat for any other Nvidia Telemetry services.
  4. Disable each service. Right-click the same service, choose Properties, and in the Startup type drop-down select Disabled. Click OK. Repeat for every telemetry service.
  5. Open Task Scheduler. Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter.
  6. Navigate to Nvidia folders. In the left pane, expand Task Scheduler Library > Nvidia > NvTmMon (or similar). You may see folders like NvTmRep or NvTmOnLog.
  7. Disable scheduled tasks. In each folder, right-click the tasks (e.g., NvTmMon, NvTmRep, NvTmOnLog) and select Disable. Do this for all tasks under the Nvidia telemetry folders.
  8. Restart your PC. Reboot to ensure the changes take effect. After restart, you can verify the services remain disabled.

Common Mistakes

  • Only disabling services, not scheduled tasks. Telemetry can restart via scheduled tasks, so you must disable both.
  • Missing the Nvidia Container services. Some telemetry runs under NVIDIA Display Container LS or NVIDIA LocalSystem Container. Disabling these can break driver features like G-Sync or the control panel. Only disable services with explicit “Telemetryâ€� in the name.
  • Not running as administrator. Without admin rights, you cannot change service startup types or disable tasks.
  • Assuming a driver update re-enables everything. After updating drivers, the installer may re-enable services and tasks. You may need to repeat these steps.

Tips

  • If you want to keep the Nvidia Control Panel fully functional, avoid disabling the core container services. Only target the telemetry-specific ones.
  • You can also disable telemetry via the Nvidia Control Panel: go to Preferences > Help > Enable Telemetry and uncheck it. This is a less thorough but simpler option.
  • For a more comprehensive approach, consider using a third-party tool like Nvidia Telemetry Killer, but manual disabling is safer and requires no extra downloads.
  • If you later want to re-enable telemetry, simply set the services back to Automatic and enable the scheduled tasks.

Troubleshooting

Services won’t stop or show “Access Deniedâ€�. Make sure you are logged in as an administrator. If you are, try opening Services as admin by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Computer Management, then navigate to Services and Applications > Services.

After disabling, Nvidia Control Panel fails to open. This usually means you disabled a service that is not purely telemetry. Re-enable any service that has “Container� in its name (unless it explicitly says Telemetry). Right-click the service, select Properties, set Startup type to Automatic, and start it.

Scheduled tasks reappear after driver update. When you update your graphics driver, the installer may recreate the telemetry tasks. After updating, re-open Task Scheduler and disable them again. You can also set the task’s Condition tab to “Start only if the computer is on AC power� and uncheck “Wake the computer to run this task� to reduce impact, but disabling is the only way to stop it.

Telemetry still appears in Task Manager. Some processes like NvTelemetryContainer.exe may run from a different service. Check the Details tab in Task Manager, right-click the process, and select Open file location. Then use Services to find the corresponding service and disable it. If it’s not a service, it may be a scheduled task—check Task Scheduler again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to disable Nvidia Telemetry?

Yes. Telemetry only collects usage data and sends it to Nvidia. Disabling it does not affect driver performance or stability. It only stops data collection.

Will disabling telemetry break my graphics driver?

No, if you only disable the services and tasks with “Telemetry� in their names. The core driver components remain untouched.

Do I need to disable both services and scheduled tasks?

Yes. If you only disable services, scheduled tasks can restart them. Disabling both ensures telemetry stays off.

Will driver updates re-enable telemetry?

Sometimes. Nvidia’s installer may re-enable services and tasks during a driver update. You may need to repeat the steps after each update.

Can I disable telemetry without admin rights?

No. Changing service startup types and disabling scheduled tasks requires administrator privileges.

Is there a way to completely remove telemetry files?

You can delete the telemetry files from C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NvTelemetry after disabling services, but this is not recommended as it may cause issues with driver updates. Disabling is sufficient.

Related

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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