How to Disable Windows Web Search on Start Menu

by Rian

For unknown reason, Microsoft can’t stop shipping its OS without more bloatware. Both Mac and Linux can be guilty of the same crime, but I am more surprised that Windows doesn’t have a dedicated ‘lite’ version available for .iso on the website. To reiterate, Windows is shipped with Bing search embedded on the start menu. And there is no on-off switch button.

Instructions

1. Run “Registry Editor” as administrator privilege.
2. Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search .
3. In the folder, create a DWORD (32-bit) key, named DisableSearchBoxSuggestions, set the value to 0.
4. In the same folder, create a DWORD (32-bit) key, named CortanaConsent, set the value to 0. If the DWORD already exists, only modify the value.
5. Reboot the computer.
   

Afterthoughts

I usually avoid installing Windows natively on my computers. I ended up doing it for the sake of Frostpunk 2, but I genuinely hope there will be more customizability to streamline what features can be turned on or off, instead of it being pushed onto the users like some billboards. People paid for their licenses; they should be treated as paid consumers, not an “account” on social media.