How to Turn On or Off Remember Preferences for MSA Across Windows 11 Devices

Signing in with a Microsoft account (MSA) in Windows 11 enables synchronization of settings such as wallpaper, passwords, language preferences, and more across devices. You can control this behavior for user privacy, data governance, or provisioning shared or kiosk devices. This article will show the different methods to turn Microsoft account preferences on or off.

Methods to enable or disable MSA preference sync

You can turn MSA preferences on or off by navigating to the settings, using the Registry Editor, Command Prompt, or PowerShell, configuring the Group Policy Management Console, or using the Windows Backup app.

💡 Note: These methods affect only the current user. You must repeat the configuration for each user account individually.

📌 Prerequisites:

• Windows 11 (build supporting MSA sync)
• Administrator permissions (for registry and policy changes)
• Familiarity with Windows Settings, Registry Editor, scripting (CMD/PowerShell), and Group Policy Management

📌 Recommended deployment strategies:

Method 1: Navigating the settings

You can use the Settings app to turn MSA preference synchronization on or off.

📌 Use Case: Advanced user looking to quickly turn on or off MSA preferences on the current user account.

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
2. Click on Accounts, then Windows backup.
3. Under Remember my preferences, toggle On to enable or Off to disable preferences sync.

⚠️ Warning: You don’t need to remember every preference. Only choose the ones you need. (For more information, refer to: Things to look out for)

Method 2: With the Registry Editor

You can modify the Windows Registry to turn MSA preferences sync on or off.

📌 Use Case: Advanced user or IT admin who prefers a direct, configurable approach to turn on or off MSA sync at the system level.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, then press Enter.
2. Navigate to:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings
3. In the right pane, right-click and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value:
   • Name:
     • Enabled
   • Value:
     • 1 to enable sync
     • 0 to disable sync
4. Close the editor and restart the device so the changes take effect.

💡 Tip: You can copy and paste the path into the address bar to go directly to the Personalization folder.

⚠️ Warning: Modifying the registry can have unintended consequences. Proceed with caution and back up the registry beforehand. (For more info, check out: Things to look out for)

Method 3: Via the Command Prompt

Command Prompt can turn sync for personalization settings on or off via the registry.

📌 Use Cases: IT admins who want to automate the process or apply the setting via scripts.

📌 Prerequisite: Administrator privileges

1. Press Win, type CMD, then click Run as administrator.
2. Copy and paste the script below (depending on need) into the prompt, then press Enter:
   • To disable sync:
     • reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings” /v value /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
   • To enable sync:
     • reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings” /v value /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
3. Restart the device so the changes take effect.

Method 4: Using PowerShell

By modifying the registry, you can use PowerShell to programmatically turn on or off sync for MSA personalization settings.

📌 Use Case: IT administrators prefer using scripts for automation or deployment across systems with limited UI access.

📌 Prerequisite: Administrator privileges

1. Press Win, type PowerShell, then click Run as administrator.
2. Copy and paste the script below (depending on need) into the prompt, then press Enter:
   • To disable sync:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings" -Force | Out-Null

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings" -Name "value" -Value 0 -Type DWord

• • To enable sync:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings" -Force | Out-Null

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings" -Name "value" -Value 1 -Type DWord

3. Restart the device so the changes take effect.

⚠️ Warning: Test the script on a separate device before deploying it to multiple endpoints. Scripting errors could lead to system-wide issues. (For more info, refer to: Things to look out for)

Method 5: Configuring the Group Policy Management Console

You can use Group Policy to centrally manage the MSA preferences by deploying a registry item to user accounts.

📌 Use Case: IT administrators who want to enforce or preconfigure this setting for multiple users on a domain-joined system. While the setting applies per user, Group Policy can ensure it is applied consistently across many user accounts when each user logs into their profile.

📌 Prerequisite: Administrator privileges

1. Press Win, type Group Policy Management Console, then press Enter.
2. Navigate to:
   • User Configuration → Preferences → Windows Settings → Registry
3. In the right-hand pane, right-click and select New > Registry Item.
4. Configure the new registry item with the following properties:
   • Action: Update
   • Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   • Key Path: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Experience\AllowSyncMySettings
   • Value Name: Enabled
   • Value Type: REG_DWORD
   • Value Data:
     • 0 to disable sync
     • 1 to enable sync
5. Apply the changes and link the Group Policy Object (GPO) to the relevant Organizational Unit (OU) or user group.

Method 6: With the Windows Backup app

You can configure sync preferences for your Microsoft account directly through the Windows Backup app.

📌 Use Case: Individual users who prefer a visual, guided approach to managing sync settings.

1. Press Win, type Windows Backup, and press Enter.
2. In the Windows Backup window, click Back up this PC.
3. Click Next to proceed to sync settings.
4. Under the Apps section:
   • Toggle On or Off the following sync options:
     • Accessibility
     • Language preferences
     • Other Windows settings
     • Personalization
5. Click on the Credentials tab:
   • Toggle On or Off the following:
     • Remember Wi-Fi networks
     • Other passwords
6. Once your preferences are selected, click Back up to apply the changes.

💡 Tip: If sync is not working, ensure the device is signed into a Microsoft account and that sync is enabled under Settings → Accounts → Windows backup.

⚠️ Things to look out for

Considerations: Managing MSA Preferences

Before deploying or modifying MSA sync settings, it’s essential to understand how the configuration behaves, its scope, and its impact on user experience and data persistence.

Use Group Policy Preferences to manage via registry

Microsoft doesn’t have a dedicated Group Policy ADMX template setting for managing MSA sync preferences. You’ll need to use Group Policy Preferences → Registry Items to set the required registry key and value:

• Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• Key Path: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SettingSync\Groups\Personalization
• Value Name: Enabled
• Value Type: REG_DWORD
• Value Data: 0 (to disable) or 1 (to enable)

💡 Note: Action should be set to Update to ensure the setting is applied, whether it already exists or not.

Disabling sync will not remove existing data

Turning off MSA preferences sync prevents future syncing but doesn’t delete existing data stored in the user’s Microsoft account in the cloud. If a user signs into another device where sync is enabled, these settings may still be applied unless manually cleared.

Changes take effect after a user session refresh

While registry or policy changes may sometimes apply immediately, the sync behavior change requires a session refresh to apply the changes fully. You’ll need to sign out or restart the device.

Appropriate for kiosks, shared devices, or environments with strict data controls

Disabling MSA sync is helpful in environments where data privacy, consistency, or control is a priority. These include kiosk setups, shared lab computers, or secure environments.

Improve user experience by managing MSA preference settings

Managing MSA’s preference settings lets organizations govern user experience and data roaming effectively. There are numerous ways to manage the settings, including navigating them and using apps like the Registry Editor, Command Prompt, PowerShell, Group Policy Management Console, and Windows Backup.

Related topics:

• Mastering User Account Management in Windows with PowerShell
• How to Change the Display Name of an Account in Windows 11 
• How to Allow or Block Microsoft Accounts in Windows 10