How to Disable Bing in Windows Start Menu with Regedit

Windows includes Bing web search results natively within the Start menu, which can clutter your search results and slow down local file queries. This guide provides the direct steps to turn off Bing search integration in Windows 10 and Windows 11 using the Windows Registry Editor (Regedit), restricting your Start menu searches exclusively to local files, applications, and settings.

Step 1: Open the Registry Editor

Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type regedit and press Enter (or click OK). When the User Account Control prompt appears, click Yes to grant administrator privileges.

Step 2: Navigate to the Windows Policies Key

In the Registry Editor’s address bar at the top, paste the following path and press Enter:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Alternatively, use the left sidebar to manually navigate to that directory.

Step 3: Create the Explorer Key

Look for a subkey named Explorer under the Windows folder: * If the Explorer key is already there, select it. * If it is not present, right-click the Windows key in the left pane, hover over New, select Key, and name it Explorer.

Step 4: Create the DWORD Value

With the Explorer key selected: 1. Right-click on any empty area inside the right pane. 2. Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. 3. Name this new entry DisableSearchBoxSuggestions and press Enter.

Step 5: Change the Value Data

  1. Double-click the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions entry you just created.
  2. In the Value data field, change the number from 0 to 1.
  3. Leave the Base setting on Hexadecimal and click OK.

Step 6: Restart Windows Explorer

To apply the changes immediately: 1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager. 2. Scroll down the Processes list and locate Windows Explorer. 3. Right-click Windows Explorer and select Restart.

The Start menu will now only display local search results and will no longer query Bing. To revert this setting at any time, return to the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions registry entry and change the value back to 0, or delete the entry.