How to disable telemetry in n8n?

You disable telemetry in n8n by setting an environment variable called N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false before n8n starts. Once this variable is set, n8n stops sending anonymous usage data. This works the same whether you run n8n in Docker, n8n Cloud, or a local server installation.

 

What “disabling telemetry” means

 

n8n ships with a small diagnostics/telemetry system that sends anonymous usage information to the n8n team. This includes things like which nodes are used, versions, and anonymized error types — but never workflow data or credentials.

Some companies or teams prefer to turn this off for compliance or privacy reasons. n8n exposes a single environment variable to control it.

 

How to disable telemetry (the exact setting)

 

Set this environment variable:

export N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false

Or in Docker:

environment:
  - N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false

Or in a plain Docker run:

docker run -e N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false n8nio/n8n

That’s all. Once this variable is false, telemetry is disabled completely.

 

Why environment variables matter in n8n

 

n8n loads its configuration from environment variables at startup. That means:

• You must restart the n8n service after adding or changing this variable.
• Changes only apply to new executions — existing running workflows won’t be affected.
• If you deploy n8n with Docker Compose, Kubernetes, or server-managed services, the variable must be set in that environment.

This is the same mechanism used for configuring webhook URLs, execution timeouts, encryption keys, database settings, and anything else in n8n.

 

Where to set it depending on your setup

 

• Docker Compose: Add N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false under environment: and restart with docker compose up -d.
• Local install (npm): Export the variable in your shell or system service, then restart n8n.
• n8n Cloud: Telemetry cannot be disabled because the environment is managed, but data is already tightly controlled and not tied to workflow content.

 

Practical production note

 

Disabling telemetry has zero effect on workflow performance, node behavior, or server load. It’s purely a privacy/compliance switch. You can turn it off safely in any production environment.