Is Windows Using Your Internet to Share Updates With Other PCs?

Yes, Windows can be configured to receive and send parts of certain Microsoft updates and app downloads using other PCs.

The feature is called Delivery Optimization.

But an important distinction gets lost in alarming descriptions of this feature: Delivery Optimization does not give strangers access to your personal files.

Microsoft says it does not access your personal files or folders. It deals with parts of Windows updates, Microsoft Store apps, and related Microsoft content.

Why does Windows do this?

Instead of obtaining every part of a large update from one Microsoft source, Windows can obtain pieces from other PCs that already have them.

Depending on your settings, your computer may also provide update pieces to other PCs.

For a home with several Windows computers, local sharing can reduce the need for every computer to retrieve identical data separately from the internet.

Check your setting

In Windows 11:

1. Open Settings. 2. Select Windows Update. 3. Select Advanced options. 4. Select Delivery Optimization.

Look for Allow downloads from other devices.

If enabled, Windows can provide choices controlling where that sharing is allowed.

If you want sharing only among computers on your own network, choose the local-network option.

If you do not want to exchange update parts with other PCs at all, turn Allow downloads from other devices off.

Windows Update still works. Your computer simply obtains its update content without using other PCs in that peer-sharing arrangement.

Does turning it off improve privacy?

It changes how update data is delivered, but do not confuse Delivery Optimization with personal-file sharing.

Turning it off does not close a secret door into your Documents or Pictures folders, because Delivery Optimization was not sharing those personal files in the first place.

The decision is more reasonably about bandwidth, network preferences, and whether you want peer-to-peer update delivery.

Keep Windows updated

Do not disable Windows Update merely because you dislike peer-to-peer delivery. Updates can include important security and reliability fixes.

See Why Software Updates Matter—and When You Should Install Them.

The bottom line

Delivery Optimization can exchange pieces of Microsoft update and app downloads with other PCs according to your settings. It does not share your personal documents, photos, or folders.

Sources and Further Reading

Microsoft Support — Windows Update Delivery Optimization and privacy Microsoft Support — Delivery Optimization in Windows