How to Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Desktop Search Bar in Windows 11

How to Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Desktop Search Bar

Let's get started with the steps for the action you'd like to take: enabling or disabling the search bar.

Enable Microsoft Edge Desktop Search Bar

You can easily enable the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar in Windows 11. This feature lets you quickly search the web right from your desktop. If it's not showing, you might need to make a small change in your computer's settings.

To manually change the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar setting, you must edit the Windows Registry. This registry editing process requires administrator privileges to make changes to the system settings.

Follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
3. Navigate to the following key in the Registry Editor:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
   If the EdgeUpdate key doesn't exist, you'll need to create it. Right-click on the Microsoft key, select New, then Key, and name it Edge.
4. Right-click on the Edge key in the left pane.
5. Select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name the new value SearchbarAllowed.
7. Double-click on SearchbarAllowed.
8. To enable the search bar, set the Value data to 1.
9. Click OK.
10. Close the Registry Editor.
11. Restart Microsoft Edge for the changes to take effect.

Disable Microsoft Edge Desktop Search Bar

You can turn off the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar in Windows 11 for a cleaner desktop. Disabling the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar stops the search bar from appearing and being used. This guide shows you how to hide the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar if you do not need it.

To manually change the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar setting, you must edit the Windows Registry. This process requires administrator privileges to make changes within the registry.

Follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
3. Navigate to the following key in the Registry Editor:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
   If the Edge key doesn't exist, you'll need to create it. Right-click on the Microsoft key, select New, then Key, and name it Edge.
4. Right-click on the Edge key in the left pane.
5. Select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name the new value SearchbarAllowed.
7. Double-click on SearchbarAllowed.
8. To disable the search bar, set the Value data to 0.
9. Click OK.
10. Close the Registry Editor.
11. Restart Microsoft Edge for the changes to take effect.

Close Microsoft Edge for the desktop search bar changes to apply. Reopening Microsoft Edge ensures the new settings are active, which is important for the visual appearance of your desktop.

References:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployEdge/microsoft-edge-policies#searchbarallowed

Summary

You can control the Microsoft Edge desktop search bar in Windows 11 by editing the Windows Registry. To turn the search bar on, create or change the SearchbarAllowed setting to 1. To turn the search bar off, change the SearchbarAllowed setting to 0. You need administrator rights to make these changes, and you must restart Microsoft Edge for the changes to take effect.