Microsoft Denies New Tracking Service in Windows 11

Over the weekend, social media drama took a turn when the community accused Microsoft of running a new background tracking service on Windows 11. However, the company officially denies this. The whole event started on July 31st when a user on X noticed a new background service called "Windows Health and Optimized Experiences" that starts automatically every time the system is booted. This background service monitors the CPU's thermals and reportedly sends data every 15 minutes. However, this feature is not actually new and is used for diagnostics. According to Microsoft VP Scott Hanselman, when Windows 11 detects slow or sluggish behavior, it can record performance traces that can be sent to Microsoft via the Feedback Hub.

The service is not standalone telemetry but is initiated by Windows 11 itself, saving these files under "%SystemRoot%\Temp\DiagOutputDir\Whesvc." These files are stored locally, but there is an option to send them back to Microsoft for diagnostics and to improve future experiences using the Feedback Hub. Contrary to the fear-inducing post, this data-sending service is optional if the user chooses to submit a report. Additionally, Microsoft did not suddenly introduce this feature to Windows 11, as it has existed for over a year, having been included in the Windows 11 Canary build introduced in May 2025.