How to Enable or Disable Bing Chat and Web Search in Windows 11

Windows 11 includes a search feature that connects directly to the web. It often shows Bing Chat and web search results when you type in the search box. Some users find this helpful, while others prefer to keep their search local to their own computer.

Why: You might want to hide these web features to make your search menu look cleaner or to stop the computer from sending your search terms to the internet.

What happens when done: The Bing Chat icon and web search suggestions will disappear from your Start menu and search bar, leaving only your local files and apps.

The Windows Search box is automatically added to the Taskbar to help you find what you need. You can use the search box to find your apps, files, and settings or search the cloud. You can also find files through Microsoft Search. When you type in the Search Box, suggestions appear to help you find items faster. You can show or hide these icons in the Windows Search gleam or Start menu.

Adjusting Search Settings

Disabling these icons will also disable Search Highlights. Follow these steps to change your settings using the Registry Editor. Note: This process requires admin privileges.

1. Open the Windows Registry.
2. Navigate to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
3. If you do not see the Search folder, right-click on the CurrentVersion key and create a new subkey named Search.

4. Right-click in the empty space on the right side of the window.
5. Select New, then choose DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name this new item BingSearchEnabled.
7. Double-click BingSearchEnabled and set the Base to Decimal.
8. Change the Value data:
   • Type 1 to enable the feature.
   • Type 0 to disable the feature.

Alternative Method

You can also disable search box suggestions by following these steps in the Windows Registry Editor:

1. Navigate to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
2. If the Explorer folder is missing, right-click the Windows key and create a new subkey named Explorer.

• Type 1 to enable this feature.
• Type 0 to disable this feature.

Once you are finished, restart your computer or restart Windows Explorer to see the changes.

Reference: Microsoft.com

Summary

This guide showed you how to customize the Windows 11 search bar by hiding Bing Chat and web search results. By modifying the Registry Editor, you can control whether these online features appear in your Start menu. These changes help you create a more streamlined search experience tailored to your needs.