How to Disable Web Search in Windows 11 Start Menu (5 Methods)

The simplest approach uses Windows 11's built-in Settings app. This method works on all Windows 11 editions and affects only the current user account.

Press Win + I to open Windows Settings. Navigate to Privacy & security in the left sidebar, then click Search permissions.

In the Search permissions page, you'll see options for different account types. Toggle off both Microsoft account and Work or school account under the "Cloud content search" section.

The Registry Editor method provides more granular control and works when Settings options are restricted by group policy.

Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Navigate to the following registry path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it BingSearchEnabled and set the value to 0.

For additional control over search suggestions, navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

Create a new DWORD called DisableSearchBoxSuggestions and set it to 1.

Group Policy provides enterprise-level control and applies to all users on the machine. This method requires Windows 11 Pro, Education, or Enterprise editions.

Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search.

Find and double-click "Don't search the web or display web results in Search". Set it to Enabled, then click OK.

Also enable "Do not allow web search" in the same location for comprehensive coverage.

For additional Start Menu control, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar and enable "Remove Search link from Start Menu" if desired.

Intune allows centralized management across multiple devices in enterprise environments. You'll need access to the Microsoft Intune admin center.

Sign in to the Intune admin center and navigate to Devices > Configuration > Create > New policy.

Select Windows 10 and later as the platform and Settings catalog as the profile type. Name your policy "Disable web search in Start Menu".

In the settings configuration, search for "do not use web results" and select Search > Do not use web results. Set this to Not allowed.

Add additional search-related policies as needed:

• Connected Search Use Web: Set to Disabled
• Connected Search Use Web Over Metered Connections: Set to Disabled

Assign the policy to your target device groups and create the configuration.

The Command Prompt method provides a quick way to apply registry changes without navigating the GUI, perfect for scripting or remote administration.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator. For per-user configuration, run:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /v BingSearchEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

For machine-wide configuration affecting all users, open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" -Name "ConnectedSearchUseWeb" -Value 0
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" -Name "ConnectedSearchUseWebOverMeteredConnections" -Value 0

To disable search highlights and Cortana suggestions, add:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /v CortanaConsent /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

After applying any method, you might encounter issues where changes don't take effect immediately or web search results persist.

First, clear the Windows search cache. Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows and click Clear under "Clear device search history".

If changes aren't applying, restart Windows Explorer or reboot your system:

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

For persistent web results, check if Microsoft account sync is interfering. In Settings > Accounts > Sync your settings, turn off sync for relevant categories.

If you need to revert changes, delete the registry values you created or set Group Policy settings back to "Not configured". For Registry cleanup:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /v BingSearchEnabled /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v DisableSearchBoxSuggestions /f

Final Verification: Open Start Menu and search for terms like "weather", "news", or "restaurants". You should only see local applications, files, and settings—no Bing web results or suggestions.