How to Disable Bing Search in the Windows Start Menu

Tech & Gaming
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By default, typing in the Windows Start menu searches both your local PC and the web via Bing, mixing web results into what many people just want to use as an app launcher. Here’s how to turn off the web search component.

Windows 11

The setting is in Settings > Privacy & Security > Search permissions > scroll to “Cloud content search” – turn off both “Microsoft account” and “Work or school account.” Also scroll up to find “Show search highlights” and disable that if you don’t want the rotating content in the search panel.

For a more complete web search removal, the Registry method is more reliable:

  1. Open Registry Editor (search “regedit” > run as administrator)
  2. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
  3. If the Explorer key doesn’t exist, right-click Windows > New > Key and name it Explorer
  4. Right-click in the right pane > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value
  5. Name it DisableSearchBoxSuggestions
  6. Double-click it and set the value to 1
  7. Restart or sign out and back in

This disables web suggestions in the Start menu search completely.

Windows 10

Settings > Search > Searching Windows > scroll to “Safe Search” and the web results section > turn off “Show search highlights” and adjust “SafeSearch” to Off if you want no filtering, or use the more direct approach:

Settings > Search > Permissions & History > uncheck “SafeSearch” and cloud content options.

For the Registry approach on Windows 10, the path is the same: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer with the same DisableSearchBoxSuggestions DWORD set to 1.

What this changes

With web search disabled, the Start menu search only shows:

  • Installed apps
  • Files on your PC
  • Settings
  • Control Panel items

It no longer shows Bing web results, news, or “search the web” suggestions. The search becomes a fast local launcher rather than a hybrid local/web search.

What it doesn’t change

This doesn’t change your default browser search engine or affect Edge. It only affects the Windows Start menu search behavior. Your browser search continues to work however you’ve configured it.