How To Turn Off Windows P2P Settings

To turn off Windows P2P settings, you need to disable Delivery Optimization, the built-in feature that lets your PC share update files with other computers. In Windows 11 and Windows 10, the fastest way is to flip the "Allow downloads from other devices" toggle in Settings, which stops your PC from uploading updates to other machines while keeping your own downloads working normally.

What is Windows delivery optimization and why turn it off?

Delivery Optimization is a Windows feature designed to help download updates, Microsoft Store apps, and other Microsoft products more quickly and reliably. It works by letting your PC pull parts of those files from Microsoft servers, other PCs on your local network, or other PCs on the internet that already have them. In exchange, your PC may also upload parts of previously downloaded updates and apps to other devices, this is the P2P (peer-to-peer) behavior that consumes your bandwidth.

Turning it off is primarily about privacy and data conservation on metered connections. If you have a limited data cap, a slow connection, or simply don't want your bandwidth used to serve files to strangers, disabling Delivery Optimization ensures your PC downloads only from Microsoft servers and never uploads to other PCs. You can also choose a middle ground: limit sharing to local devices only, so you still get fast updates across your home or office network without sending anything over the internet.

How to turn off delivery optimization in Windows 11

In Windows 11, the setting lives under Windows Update. Here’s how to disable it:

1. Open Start and select Settings.
2. Go to Windows Update.
3. Click Advanced options.
4. Select Delivery Optimization.
5. Turn off the toggle for Allow downloads from other devices.

If you’d rather keep some P2P benefit without using internet bandwidth, choose Devices on my local network instead of turning the toggle off entirely. This lets your PC share updates with other PCs on the same Wi-Fi or Ethernet network, but it will not upload to external devices.

How to turn off delivery optimization in Windows 10

Windows 10 follows nearly the same path, with a slightly different Settings layout. To disable it:

1. Open Start and select Settings.
2. Go to Update & Security.
3. Click Windows Update.
4. Select Advanced options.
5. Click Delivery Optimization (or Choose how updates are delivered in older versions).
6. Turn off the toggle for Allow downloads from other PCs.

As with Windows 11, you can select PCs on my local network instead to restrict sharing to local devices only. When Delivery Optimization is off, your PC downloads updates directly from Microsoft servers and does not upload content to other PCs.

Check your upload activity with the activity monitor

Before or after changing the setting, you can verify exactly how much data your PC has shared. Inside the Delivery Optimization settings page, look for the Activity monitor section. It shows your download and upload activity, including sources and average speeds, so you can see precisely how many megabytes or gigabytes have been sent to other PCs. This is a useful way to confirm the impact of disabling the feature, after you turn it off, the upload counter should stop increasing.

What if the toggle is grayed out?

If the "Allow downloads from other devices" toggle appears grayed out and you can’t click it, your device is managed by an organization. That means an IT administrator has enforced Delivery Optimization settings through policy, and you don’t have permission to change them locally. In that case, contact your IT administrator to request a change or ask why the policy is required.

Advanced method: Disable via group policy editor

For Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions, you can enforce the setting across your system using the Local Group Policy Editor. This is the right approach if you want to manage multiple devices or lock the setting so users can’t change it.

1. Press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Delivery Optimization.
3. Double-click the policy named Allow downloads from other PCs (or similar, depending on your version).
4. Select Disabled.
5. Click Apply and then OK.

This policy fully disables P2P downloads and uploads for all users on the machine. Note that Group Policy Editor is not available in Windows Home editions, so use the Settings method or the registry alternative below if you’re on Home.

Advanced method: Disable via registry editor

If you’re comfortable editing the registry, you can set the same policy manually. This works on any Windows edition, including Home, but requires care, modifying the registry incorrectly can cause system instability.

1. Press Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeliveryOptimization. If the DeliveryOptimization key doesn’t exist, right-click Windows, select New > Key, and name it DeliveryOptimization.
3. Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it DODownloadMode.
4. Double-click DODownloadMode, set the value data to 0, and click OK.
5. Close Registry Editor and restart your PC.

Setting DODownloadMode to 0 forces HTTP-only downloads from Microsoft servers, disabling all P2P activity. A critical warning: do not use the deprecated value 100 (Bypass). That value is no longer supported in Windows 11 and can cause content downloads to fail with error code 0x80d03002. Stick with 0 for a clean disable.

After restarting, your PC will no longer upload updates to other devices, and all downloads will come directly from Microsoft. If you ever want to re-enable P2P, simply delete the DODownloadMode value or set it back to 1 (the default that allows both local and internet sharing).