Privacy and Security Enable or Disable Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search on Windows 11


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This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off showing Bing "Web Searches" suggested search results in Windows Search for your account in Windows 11

Windows Search lets you search from your taskbar to find what you’re looking for, whether it’s on your device, in the cloud, or on the web.

The Search button on the taskbar allows you to quickly use Windows Search (Win+S) to find your apps, files, settings, help, and more on Windows—plus unlock the power of the web with quick access to online information like time zone conversions, fact lookup, trending searches, and search results for navigating to websites faster. You can also use Search to find files and people in your work or school organization through  Microsoft Search.

When you start typing into the Search Box, you will see a toolbar to select All, Apps, Documents, Web, Settings, Folders, or Photos to find search results in.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26300.8697 (Experimental 26H2) for Insiders, Microsoft added a hidden experimental feature to turn on or off showing suggested search results from Web Searches and Microsoft Store in Windows Search.

If you do not have the hidden Show suggested search results toggle available yet in the Insider build above and would like to test it now using Option One or Option Two below, then you can enable this setting using the ViVeTool command below.

vivetool.exe /enable /id:48433719,61267302,61344081,61482515,61532758,61760679

www.elevenforum.com

Enable or Disable Hidden Feature Flags in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable hidden experimental feature flags in Windows 11. ViVeTool is an open source tool that can be used to enable hidden features that are part of controlled feature roll-outs or A/B testing in Insider builds of Windows 11. Starting with Windows...
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Reference:

Find what you need with Microsoft Search - Microsoft Support

support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com



Contents

  • Option One: Turn On or Off Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search in Settings
  • Option Two: Turn On or Off Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search using REG file
  • Option Three: Add or Remove Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search with "BingSearchEnabled"
  • Option Four: Add or Remove Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search with "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" Policy


EXAMPLE: Bing "Web Searches" suggested search results in Windows Search

Web_searches_results-1.webp
Web_searches_results-2.webp





Option One

Turn On or Off Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search in Settings


1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Privacy & security on the left side, and click/tap on Search on the right side. (see screenshot below)


Suggested_search_results-1.webp

3 Under Show suggested search results, turn On (default) or Off Web Searches for what you want. (see screenshot below)

Suggested_search_results-2.webp

4 You can now close Settings if you like.




Option Two

Turn On or Off Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search using REG file


This is for the same setting in Option One.


1 Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you would like to do.

2 Turn On Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search

This is the default setting.


A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

Turn_ON_Web_Searches_suggested_search_results.reg​


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SearchSettings]
"IsWebSuggestionsEnabled"=dword:00000001

3 Turn Off Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

Turn_OFF_Web_Searches_suggested_search_results.reg​


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SearchSettings]
"IsWebSuggestionsEnabled"=dword:00000000

4 Save the REG file to your desktop.

5 If you have Smart App Control turned on, you will need to unblock the downloaded REG file.

6 Double click/tap on the downloaded REG file to merge it.

7 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

8 You can now delete the downloaded REG file if you like.




Option Three

Add or Remove Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search with "BingSearchEnabled"


1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you want.


 2. Add Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search

This is the default setting.


A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4.​

Add_Web_Searches_results_to_Windows_Search_with_BingSearchEnabled..zip​


(contents of .bat file)
Code: 
@echo off

REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /V BingSearchEnabled /T REG_DWORD /D 1 /F

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe


 3. Remove Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4.​

Remove_Web_Searches_results_from_Windows_Search_with_BingSearchEnabled..zip​


(contents of .bat file)
Code: 
@echo off

REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /V BingSearchEnabled /T REG_DWORD /D 0 /F

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe

4 Save the ZIP file to your desktop.

5 Unblock the ZIP file.

6 Extract the BAT file from the ZIP file.

7 Run the BAT file.

8 You will now see a command prompt quickly open and close, and your screen flicker as the explorer process is restarted to apply the registry changes.

9 You can now delete the BAT file if you like.




Option Four

Add or Remove Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search with "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" Policy


You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

If you disable search the web with Bing in Windows Search using this option, it will also disable search box suggestions (aka: recent searches) in File Explorer.


1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you want.


 2. Add Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search

This is the default setting.


A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4.​

Add_Web_Searches_results_to_Windows_Search_with_DisableSearchBoxSuggestions..zip​


(contents of .bat file)
Code: 
@echo off

powershell -windowstyle hidden -command "Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/s,/c,REG Delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /V DisableSearchBoxSuggestions /F' -Verb runAs"

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe


 3. Remove Bing Web Suggested Search Results in Windows Search

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4.​

Remove_Web_Searches_results_from_Windows_Search_with_DisableSearchBoxSuggestions..zip​


(contents of .bat file)
Code: 
@echo off

powershell -windowstyle hidden -command "Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/s,/c,REG Add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /V DisableSearchBoxSuggestions /T REG_DWORD /D 1 /F' -Verb runAs"

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe

4 Save the ZIP file to your desktop.

5 Unblock the ZIP file.

6 Extract the BAT file from the ZIP file.

7 Run the BAT file.

8 If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes to approve.

9 You will now see a command prompt quickly open and close, and your screen flicker as the explorer process is restarted to apply the registry changes.

10 You can now delete the .bat file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 

Attachments

Last edited:
Click to expand...
Brink said:
Hello, and welcome to the forum. :alien:

Basically, they do the same thing of disabling Copilot and "Web" search results in Windows Search, but DisableSearchBoxSuggestions also affects search suggestions in File Explorer Search. Search suggestions in the search box of File Explorer hasn't worked in a while though.

The "BingSearchEnabled" and "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" settings are both related to controlling web search results in Windows, but they serve slightly different purposes:

BingSearchEnabled: This setting was used in earlier versions of Windows 10 (up to build 2004) to enable or disable web search results from Bing in the search box. Setting it to 0 would disable Bing (web) search results.

DisableSearchBoxSuggestions: This setting is used in Windows 10 (build 2004 and newer) and Windows 11 to disable web search suggestions in the search box. Setting it to 1 will prevent web search results from appearing in the Start menu and File Explorer search box.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the prompt response, I am using the solution with BingSearchEnabled = 0, mostly because that's what the WinToys app uses, and I thought it has to be a best practice, maybe it is the wrong assumption.

My results are, from the Start Menu search works fine locally, no web or cloud results. When I search in File Explorer is ONLY searching locally, depending where I start the search, Home, Gallery, This PC, etc., also, it never gives me the option to search the web or neither provides results from the web.

Are these the expected results? Thank you
 

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Memory
32GB
br_web said:
Thank you for the prompt response, I am using the solution with BingSearchEnabled = 0, mostly because that's what the WinToys app uses, and I thought it has to be a best practice, maybe it is the wrong assumption.

My results are, from the Start Menu search works fine locally, no web or cloud results. When I search in File Explorer is ONLY searching locally, depending where I start the search, Home, Gallery, This PC, etc., also, it never gives me the option to search the web or neither provides results from the web.

Are these the expected results? Thank you
Click to expand...

Both options will only allow local searches, but you just wouldn't have any search suggestions in File Explorer using DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
 

My Computers My Computers

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    Windows 11 Pro for WorkstationsIntel i7-8700K 5 GHz64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600...ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GD...
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
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    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
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    Corsair Hydro H115i
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    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Thank you very much,i sreach a lot posting to resolve it but them don't take effect.And you help me to settle it.Just as you said，I frist try the second method，but it doesn't work.So I try the first method,fortunately，it works.I am so happy that I opened this account to tell you the good news.
love from china:loveit::loveit::loveit:
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 11
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R16
meteor shower said:
Thank you very much,i sreach a lot posting to resolve it but them don't take effect.And you help me to settle it.Just as you said，I frist try the second method，but it doesn't work.So I try the first method,fortunately，it works.I am so happy that I opened this account to tell you the good news.
love from china:loveit::loveit::loveit:
Click to expand...

I'm happy to hear it helped, and welcome to the forum. :shawn:
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro for WorkstationsIntel i7-8700K 5 GHz64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600...ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GD...
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Thanks a lot Brink, I ran Option 2 and the result is great. Like always, your tutorials are the best. :cool:

sssss.webp


Bo
 

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Manufacturer/Model
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Firefox

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro for WorkstationsIntel i7-8700K 5 GHz64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600...ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GD...
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Tutorial updated to add new Settings options 1 and 2 for "Web Searches" suggested search results. :alien:
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro for WorkstationsIntel i7-8700K 5 GHz64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600...ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GD...
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
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