How do you turn location off for certain Windows 11 apps but not all

How do you turn location off for certain Windows 11 apps but not all.

If you go to Settings --> Privacy & security --> Location you can disable Location for all desktop apps but not individual desktop apps.

Is there a way to do this as I have 1 desktop app that constantly is accessing location ?

Thank you for all help given.

Hi

Things to note:

Desktop apps are a specific type of app that won’t ask for separate permission to discover your device location information and won’t appear in the list that allows you to choose apps that can use your location.
What are desktop apps? They’re usually downloaded from the internet or installed with some type of media (such as a CD, DVD, or USB storage device). They’re launched using an .EXE or .DLL file, and they typically run on your device, unlike web-based apps (which run in the cloud).

Even when you’ve turned off Location services in Windows, some apps and services could use other technologies (such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular modem, etc.) to determine your device’s location with varying degrees of accuracy. Microsoft requires third-party software developers that develop apps for our Microsoft Store or develop apps using Microsoft tools to respect the Windows location settings unless you’ve provided any legally required consent to have the third-party developer determine your location. However, to further reduce the risk that an app or service can determine your location when the Windows device location setting is off, you should only install apps and services from trusted sources. For more comprehensive protection of your location, you could consider disabling radio-based components of your device such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular modem, and GPS components, which might be used by an app to determine your precise location. However, doing so will also impair other experiences such as calling (including emergency calling), messaging, internet connectivity, and connecting to peripheral devices like your headphones. Please read the privacy policies of the apps and services you’ve installed to learn more about how they use your device’s location.

I am not sure how much weight this holds but if you were to turn on Location Services, Windows is allegedly supposed to ask you to grant a specific app permissions for an app to access your location.


However, I have never noticed (to my recollection) if it has ever notified me nor do I know if denying an app permission is held as a denial for future attempts made by that app.

But note: Microsoft Apps and Desktop Apps are defined differently by Microsoft, apparently.

What is a "Desktop app" vs. a normal App? Default Windows Apps like Camera, News, and Weather are written on the UWP platform.

It's like how apps on your smartphone are required to request access to the camera, location and other private data -- UWP apps do the same. Each individual app which requires access is listed.

Non-UWP apps are basically everything not installed from the Store. These Win32 apps use a different API to get your location, and cannot be identified individually. For them, the privacy setting is "All desktop apps or none".

Same problem. Malwarebytes is incessantly accessing location services (many times a minute), causing the location services arrow to appear in the system tray and the centered taskbar icons to briefly shift to the left.

Win 11 24H2. Malwarebytes v5.1.11.133.