Presence sensing in Windows 11 is getting easily settable

Do you often use the presence sensing in Windows 11 feature? If so, you’re in for some good news.

As spotted by Windows insider @PhantomOfEarth, there will be a toggle that asks you to easily turn on presence sensing when choosing privacy settings for your device. It appears on the OOBE (Out-of-Box-Experience) page, which is a series of screens that appear when you first set up a new Windows device.

Looks like a toggle for presence sensing access/privacy settings is being added to the Choose privacy settings for your device OOBE page. (Canary 25915, hidden) pic.twitter.com/vnPK2Z9Xpu

— PhantomOcean3 ? (@PhantomOfEarth) July 27, 2023

“Windows can automatically turn off your screen when you leave or wake up your device when you approach. Let apps request access to your presence to enable novel experiences. You can turn this off in settings at any time,” the description reads.

However, the Windows insider also says that the feature mentioned is currently hidden in the latest Build 25915 for Canary channel insiders. It cannot be enabled directly and requires a third-party program like ViVeTool for activation. In the future, it is expected that the toggle will be visible only on devices equipped with a presence sensor. 

“At the moment it’s likely incomplete as it appeared on a VM (without one of course),” the tweet reads.

In case you’re still curious, here’s the code that can activate the feature: vivetool /enable /id:39484957 (feature HumanPresencePrivacySettingsOobe).

If you’re not familiar with presence sensing in Windows 11, the feature uses a variety of technologies to detect whether a user is present or not, like radar, microphone, and camera. 

Speaking of this build, Canary channel insiders have begun seeing a few improvements. The brand-new Outlook app, which now merges the mediocre Mail and Calendar apps into one, has also begun rolling out for them.

What are your thoughts on this neat little toggle that makes it easier for you to set up presence sensing in Windows 11? Let us know in the comments!