Windows Location Privacy Registry Key Location

This article details the exact Windows Registry (Regedit) keys that serve as the master switches for the Windows location privacy platform. It provides the registry paths, value names, and required settings to enable or disable location tracking at both the system and user levels in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Modern Master Switch: Capability Access Manager

In modern versions of Windows, the primary system-wide master switch for location services is managed under the CapabilityAccessManager hierarchy.

• Registry Path:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\location
• Value Name: Value
• Value Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
• Settings:
  • Allow – Enables location services for the device.
  • Deny – Disables location services globally across the device.

Per-User Location Switch

Individual user accounts have a corresponding subkey that controls location access for their specific profile, provided the system-wide master switch is set to Allow.

• Registry Path:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\location
• Value Name: Value
• Value Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
• Settings:
  • Allow – Enables location access for the current user.
  • Deny – Disables location access for the current user.

Sensor Hardware Master Switch

Windows also utilizes a sensor override key that directly manages the hardware sensor platform permissions for location tracking.

• Registry Path:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Sensor\Overrides\{BFA794E4-F964-4FDB-90F6-51056BFE4B44}
• Value Name: SensorPermissionState
• Value Type: REG_DWORD (32-bit Value)
• Settings:
  • 1 – Master location sensor is turned On.
  • 0 – Master location sensor is turned Off.

Group Policy Enforcement Key

When location services are disabled across an enterprise or via Group Policy, the policy switch is located in the Policies tree.

• Registry Path:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LocationAndSensors
• Value Name: DisableLocation
• Value Type: REG_DWORD (32-bit Value)
• Settings:
  • 1 – Forces location services off and disables user toggles in Windows Settings.
  • 0 (or deleted key) – Allows normal operation based on user or device switches.