O&O ShutUp10++ is a free tool for Microsoft’s Windows operating system to improve privacy. Designed initially for Windows 10, the program is now also available for Windows 11.
While its main focus is on blocking the operating system’s data hunger, it is also a helpful tool for managing other Windows settings.
First, the basics. You can download the free tool from the official project website. Just run the program after download, an installation is not required. Note that elevated privileges are required to modify settings on the system.
The main interface looks like this on start.
O&O ShutUp10++ groups settings for better recognition. You may disable that under View > Group by Categories if you prefer a long list. There is also a search to find settings that match search terms quickly.
Using O&O ShutUp10++ to improve Windows Privacy
All tweaks use a color coding to indicate whether a feature is enabled or disabled. Each setting has a toggle to turn a feature on or off. A short description and a recommendation is also displayed.
Note that you may hover over any description and click with the left mouse button to display additional information. Excellent if you need to know more about a setting.
Many options are self-explanatory, but some may require additional research. “Disable People icon in the taskbar” is quite clear, but “disable input personalization” or “disable automatic receipt of updates” may not.
You can modify individual options with a click on the switch next to a setting. The program prompts you to create a system restore point, which you should accept. It allows you to restore the system to the previous state. The settings do not have the capacity to break the system, but it is still better to have a restore option.
The Actions menu at the top lists bulk options for the most part. You may use them to apply all recommended settings among other things. These are safe changes that should not impact usability on the device.
Options to apply “somewhat recommended” or all settings are also available, but this is not recommended. It is better to go through the remaining settings manually to make changes.
The two other options let you reset everything to factory defaults and to create a system restore point manually.
Administrators may also switch between the user and machine tabs. User settings apply only to the logged-in user, machine to all users on the system.
Verdict
O&O ShutUp10++ is a useful tool for Windows users. It is easy to use, free for personal use and includes major privacy settings. The settings don’t have the capacity to break a system, but some of the advanced options may impact certain settings or features on the device. It is easy enough to restore these, should you ever run into any issues in this regard.
All in all, O&O ShutUp10++ is an excellent program that every Windows user should run after installation and major upgrades. O&O Software updates the program frequently to include new options, which is another major plus.
I use O&O Shutup10 and also highly recommend it. It is an excellent time saver, as any changes to disable privacy related settings or add new ads that Microsoft makes during their updates can be immediately seen and fixed with one click by opening O&O. There are of course alternatives, but this software is simple to use, effective, and updated regularly. Winero Tweaker is a good alternative or addition. It is somewhat more complicated to work through and does have more potential to cause problems for less savvy users, but it also does provide more Windows tweaks, including many that are not privacy related.
I have to disagree with “The settings do not have the capacity to break the system”. I have twice had O+O ShutUp fubar a Windows 10 machine to the point that an OS reinstall was required, something I haven’t had happen with similar apps. Take their advice to set a restore point very seriously.
Do you remember what these Settings were?
Martin, I don’t know which specific settings did the damage, as the fubar (in both cases) happened as soon as I installed O+O. So it could have been any of my initial settings. In general, I didn’t have them set any higher than I had previously with, say, Windows Privacy Dashboard (which never fubared a machine on me, even in experiments with everything dialed to 11, but unfortunately is abandonware).
I would very much like it if O+O worked for me, as I still need a WPD replacement, but twice was enough.
This is a great program, but if you are using Zoom, Skype or some other networking tools and messengers, do not block app access Camera and Microphone. I would recommend “Webcam On/Off” program because it does not require backups and restart.
Also, after I blocked Windows Updates, I tried to unblock it but to no avail. Please be careful with that settings. It was the only group of settings I could not reverse. Again, there are other small apps just to prevent Windows Updates with simple reliable switch. Meanwhile, Microsoft Office is still updating and I blocked updates in Settings.