How to Stop Windows 8.1 Apps Access Your Location

Windows 8.1 computers come with location sensors that let you choose the best of your choices around your proximity. To be clear, applications in Windows 8.1 computer use your location(with your consent only) to serve you better based on the location you are presently living in.

It helps you not to set the location or search for something most particular to the location every time you use your computer.

Your Windows 8.1 computer with allowed location access will help you get the local news updates, weather forecast and also the location-based relevant information from the concerned apps.

Benefits apart – Allowing your computer to access your location might get you some troubles like blockage of websites and some applications based on the location which you ever wanted to use.

Allowing access may also turn some social media network’s display language to the locally matched/preferred language automatically which would be troublesome while using it.

So there is a need to control the location access eventually.

Turning off the location access to apps in Windows 8.1

To stop the location access in Windows 8.1, we need to turn off the location and GPS sensors on the computer/laptop. To do so,

Press Win+S and type-in “location” and click on Location Privacy Settings from the results shown.

Click or tap on the Let Windows and apps use my location option to turn off the location access to all the apps shown below Let these apps use my location or you can choose to turn off location access to apps in particular.

Turning off the location sensor

We can also block the accessing of location by turning off the location sensor in your computer. To do so,

Press Win+S and type-in “location” in the search.

Click on Location Settings from the results shown.

Turn off by un-ticking the option Turn on the Windows Location platform.

The second option is optional. You may choose to turn it off or on and it is based on your Microsoft-and-you relationship.

Important step

Clear your system’s cache and temporary files and restart the computer.

Congratulations! you have now a location-based restriction-free Windows 8.1 computer/laptop with you. Enjoy freedom!