What is privatezilla?

builtbybel/privatezilla — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-03

★ 3,719C#Audience · generalComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((privatezilla))
    What it does
      60 privacy settings
      Toggle on or off
      Status display
    Settings types
      Telemetry
      Data collection
      Background services
    Community add-on
      Remove bloatware
      Uninstall OneDrive
      Block tracking traffic
    Platform
      Windows 10 only
      Versions 1809 to 2009

mindmap root((privatezilla)) What it does 60 privacy settings Toggle on or off Status display Settings types Telemetry Data collection Background services Community add-on Remove bloatware Uninstall OneDrive Block tracking traffic Platform Windows 10 only Versions 1809 to 2009

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Quickly review which Windows 10 privacy settings are at their defaults and toggle the ones you want to disable in one session.

USE CASE 2

Turn off Microsoft telemetry and data collection features on a freshly installed Windows 10 machine.

USE CASE 3

Use the community add-on to remove pre-installed Windows apps and uninstall OneDrive with PowerShell scripts.

USE CASE 4

Block tracking traffic at the firewall and hosts file level using the advanced community package rules.

What is it built with?

C#WindowsPowerShell

How does it compare?

	builtbybel/privatezilla	extendrealityltd/vrtk	siccity/xnode
Stars	3,719	3,719	3,720
Language	C#	C#	C#
Setup difficulty	easy	moderate	easy
Complexity	1/5	3/5	3/5
Audience	general	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Only supports Windows 10 versions 1809 through 2009, no Windows 11 support mentioned.

No license information was mentioned in the explanation.

So what is it?

Privatezilla is a Windows 10 tool that checks and adjusts privacy and security settings on your computer. Windows 10 ships with a number of settings related to data collection, telemetry, and background services, and many users are not aware of what those settings are or how to change them. Privatezilla collects 60 of the most relevant ones into a single place, shows you which are active and which are not, and lets you toggle them on or off. The interface shows each setting with a status of either "Configured" or "Not configured." Configured means the setting is in a privacy-protective state. Not configured means it is left at its default, which may send data to Microsoft or enable features you might prefer to turn off. The tool is designed to be fast to use: open it, review the list, and make your choices. For users who want to go further, there is a separate community package that adds PowerShell scripting support. This optional add-on can do things like remove pre-installed apps that came with Windows, uninstall OneDrive, remove Start menu tiles, and disable telemetry in third-party programs like Firefox, Dropbox, and CCleaner. It also includes rules for blocking tracking traffic at the firewall level and through the system hosts file, using lists maintained by an outside project. This community package is labeled as being for advanced users only. The tool only supports Windows 10, specifically versions 1809 through 2009. It does not mention support for Windows 11. Installation is a simple download from the GitHub releases page with no additional setup steps described beyond that. Privatezilla is a free, open-source project maintained by a single developer. Donations are accepted via PayPal.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I just installed Windows 10 and want to reduce how much data Microsoft collects. Show me how to use Privatezilla to find and disable the most important telemetry settings.

Prompt 2

What does each of the 60 settings in Privatezilla control? Give me a breakdown of the categories like telemetry, background services, and app permissions.

Prompt 3

I want to use the Privatezilla community package to remove bloatware and disable OneDrive on Windows 10. Walk me through installing the add-on and running the PowerShell scripts safely.

Prompt 4

How does Privatezilla block tracking traffic using the hosts file and firewall rules? What list does it use and how do I apply those rules?

Frequently asked questions