How to Enable or Disable AutoSuggest in Address Bar of Microsoft Edge

This tutorial shows you how to turn on or off AutoSuggest in the Microsoft Edge address bar. You can do this on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

What Is Microsoft Edge?

Microsoft Edge is a web browser. It came out on January 15, 2020. It works on Windows and macOS. Edge is fast and secure. It also works well with websites and browser add-ons.

What Does AutoSuggest Do?

The address bar is where you type website addresses and search the web. AutoSuggest gives you suggestions as you type. These suggestions come from your favorites, browsing history, past searches, and your search engine.

Why does AutoSuggest matter? It speeds up browsing. When you type in the address bar, your search engine gets the letters you type. It sends back suggestions to help you search faster.

You can control two main settings:

• Show me search and site suggestions using my typed characters — If you turn this off, your typed letters stop going to your search engine. But your search questions still go there to get results.
• Show me suggestions from history, favorites and other data on this device using my typed characters — This uses your browser history, favorites, and past searches. Your typed letters match with suggestions on your device.

Reference: User data and privacy in Microsoft Edge

Learn more about privacy in Microsoft Edge, including how Microsoft uses your data.

Option One: Change AutoSuggest for Your Account

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Click the Settings and more button (three dots) in the top right. Then click Settings.
   

3. Click Privacy, search, and services on the left side. Then click Address bar and search under “Services” on the right side.
   
   If you don’t see the left side menu, click the three lines menu button at the top left. Or make the Edge window wider.
   
   

4. Click Search suggestions and filters.
   

5. Turn On (default) or Off — Show me search and site suggestions using my typed characters — Pick what you want.
6. Turn On (default) or Off — Show me suggestions from history, favorites and other data on this device using my typed characters — Pick what you want.
   

Option Two: Change AutoSuggest for All Users

⚠️ Admin Required: You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

This option uses the policy for search suggestions. It also uses the SearchSuggestEnabled policy for history and favorites suggestions in Microsoft Edge.

Open Windows Terminal as an administrator. Run the commands below. Or go to the Registry and change the values yourself in Registry Editor.

Turn On AutoSuggest for All Users

This will override and turn gray Option One.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v SearchSuggestEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v LocalProvidersEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Turn Off AutoSuggest for All Users

This will override and turn gray Option One.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v SearchSuggestEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v LocalProvidersEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Default (Let Users Choose)

This is the default setting. It lets users use Option One.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v SearchSuggestEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v LocalProvidersEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Summary

AutoSuggest in Microsoft Edge helps you search and browse faster. It suggests websites and search queries as you type in the address bar. You can turn this feature on or off in two ways. Option One lets you change it just for your account. Go to Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, then Address bar and search. Toggle the two options on or off. Option Two is for administrators who want to change AutoSuggest for all users on the computer. Use Windows Terminal or Registry Editor to make these changes. The default setting lets each user control their own AutoSuggest preferences with Option One.