On Windows 11, it’s possible to disable web results when searching through the Start menu or Search box in the Taskbar, and in this guide, we’ll show you how.
Whenever you search for anything using the Windows Search box or Start menu, if the system can’t find a match for a document, picture, video, setting, or app, you will get a list of web results suggestions from Bing. If you click one of the links, the page will open in Microsoft Edge.
Although this is a helpful feature, it’s not for everyone, and the problem is that Windows does not provide an option to disable the feature. However, turning off the web suggestions using the Group Policy Editor or Registry is possible.
In this guide, you will learn the steps to disable web results in the Search box and Start menu on Windows 11.
- Disable search web results with Group Policy on Windows 11
- Disable search web results with Registry on Windows 11
Disable search web results with Group Policy on Windows 11
If the device is running Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education, the easiest way to turn off search suggestions is by using the Group Policy Editor to enable the policy that disables the feature.
To stop Windows 11 from showing web links in the Start menu and Search box, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for gpedit and click the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.
- Browse to the following path:
- User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
- Double-click the Turn off display of recent search entries in the File Explorer search box policy.
- Select the Enabled option.
- Click the Apply button.
- Click the OK button.
- Restart the computer.
Once you complete the steps, when using Windows Search from the Taskbar or Start menu, you will no longer see web results.
Open Start.
Search for gpedit and click the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.
Browse to the following path:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
Double-click the Turn off display of recent search entries in the File Explorer search box policy.
Select the Enabled option.
Click the Apply button.
Click the OK button.
Restart the computer.
If you want to revert the changes, you can use the same instructions outlined above, but on step No. 5, make sure to select the Not Configured option.
Disable search web results with Registry on Windows 11
If you use Windows 11 Home, the Group Policy Editor won’t be available, but you can still disable the feature using the Registry Editor.
To disable web results in Windows Search with the Registry, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry Editor.
- Browse to the following path:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
- Right-click the Windows key, select the New menu and choose the Key option.
- Name the key Explorer and press Enter.
- Right-click the newly created key, select the New menu, and choose the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.
- Name the DWORD DisableSearchBoxSuggestions and press Enter.
- Double-click the newly created key and change its value from 0 to 1.
- Click the OK button.
- Restart the computer.
After you complete the steps, when searching from the Taskbar or using the Start menu, you won’t see any results for queries that do not match any files, apps, or settings.
Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry Editor.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Right-click the Windows key, select the New menu and choose the Key option.
Name the key Explorer and press Enter.
Right-click the newly created key, select the New menu, and choose the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.
Name the DWORD DisableSearchBoxSuggestions and press Enter.
Double-click the newly created key and change its value from 0 to 1.
If you want to revert the changes, open the Registry, and in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer, right-click the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions DWORD and select the Delete option.
