How to prevent apps from communicating with Unpaired Devices

This article will help prevent pre-installed apps from communicating with unpaired wireless devices. Using Windows Settings, Registry Editor, and Local Group Policy Editor, you can block apps from sharing information with unpaired devices. Windows pre-installed apps can share and synchronize information with a wireless device, even if not paired with your computer.

Prevent apps from communicating with unpaired devices in Windows 11/10

To prevent apps from communicating with unpaired devices using Windows Settings, follow these steps-

1. Press Win+I to open the Windows Settings.
2. Go to Privacy > Other devices.
3. Toggle the Communicate with unpaired devices button.

Open Windows Settings on your computer. To do so, press the Win+I buttons together or click the settings gear icon in the Start Menu.

After opening it, go to Privacy > Other devices. Here, you will find a heading called Communicate with unpaired devices. By default, it is turned ON. Toggle the button to turn it OFF.

There is another option called Choose apps that can communicate with unpaired devices. If you click on this option, you must choose specific apps that meet your requirements.

1] Block apps from communicating with unpaired devices using Group Policy Editor

To block apps from communicating with unpaired devices using GPO, follow these steps-

1. Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
2. Type gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter button.
3. Navigate to App Privacy in Computer Configuration.
4. Double-click on Let Windows apps communicate with unpaired devices.
5. Select the Enabled option.
6. Choose Force Deny from the drop-down list.
7. Mention the Package Family Name.
8. Click Apply and OK.

Open the Local Group Policy Editor. For that, press Win+R, type gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter button. After that, navigate to the following path-

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > App Privacy

On your right-hand side, you will see a setting called Let Windows apps communicate with unpaired devices.

Double-click on it and select the Enabled option. Now, you will have to choose Force Deny from the Default for all apps drop-down list.

After that, you can specify the app. You will get the same option even if you choose the Force Allow option.

For your information, it is required to enter the Package Family Name.

Finally, click the Apply and OK buttons.

2] Prevent apps from communicating with unpaired devices using Registry Editor

To prevent apps from communicating with unpaired devices using Registry Editor, follow these steps-

1. Press Win+R.
2. Type regedit and hit the Enter button.
3. Navigate to AppPrivacy in HKLM.
4. Right-click on AppPrivacy > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
5. Name it as LetAppsSyncWithDevices.
6. Double-click on it and set the Value data as 2.
7. Click OK.

It is recommended to create a System Restore point before making any change in the Registry Editor.

Open the Registry Editor. For that, press Win+R, type regedit, and hit the Enter button. After that, navigate to the following path-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppPrivacy

If you do not find the AppPrivacy, create it manually. For that, right-click on Windows > New > Key, and name it AppPrivacy.

After that, right-click AppPrivacy > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it as LetAppsSyncWithDevices.

Double-click on it and set the Value data as 2. 2 represents Force Deny. If you want to use the Force Allow option, set the Value data as 1.

Like other methods, it is possible to specify an app to prevent it from communicating with unpaired wireless devices. To do so, follow these steps. Otherwise, the Registry mentioned above change will do the job.

After that, right-click on AppPrivacy > New > Multi-String Value and name it as:

LetAppsSyncWithDevices_ForceDenyTheseApps

Then, double-click on it, and write down the Package Family Name one after one.

Click OK to save the change. However, if you Want to use the Force Allow option, it is required to create a Multi-String Value named LetAppsSyncWithDevices_ForceAllowTheseApps. On the other hand, LetAppsSyncWithDevices_UserInControlOfTheseApps, it will let other users choose apps manually.

To find the Package Family Name of a pre-installed app, follow the same method mentioned above.

Read: Fix Bluetooth connection problems in Windows

What does communicate with unpaired devices mean?

This setting allows apps to automatically send and receive information from wireless devices that aren’t paired with your device. It could be used only to fetch information for monitoring or to discover a list of devices with open WiFi and Bluetooth.

How do I remove an unknown device from Bluetooth?

To refresh Bluetooth connections and potentially remove an unknown device, disable Bluetooth, wait a few seconds, and then re-enable it. Then, go back to Bluetooth settings and remove any device you don’t know or haven’t recently connected from the list.