Guide · Search
How to turn off Bing in Windows search
When you type in the Start menu, Windows 11 mixes web results from Bing in with your apps and files. There is no switch for that in Settings. Win11Debloat's -DisableBing, part of Default mode, turns it off with Group Policy and uninstalls the Bing Search app. It is also the first thing to undo if Windows search ever misbehaves afterwards.
On this page 5 sections
Short answer
How do I stop Bing results in the Windows 11 Start menu?
- Win11Debloat:
-DisableBing, or Default mode, which includes it. - What it sets:
DisableSearchBoxSuggestions = 1for your account, andAllowCortana = 0andCortanaConsent = 0for the PC. - What it removes: the Bing Search app,
Microsoft.BingSearch. - Restart Explorer or sign out to see the change.
The command
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/"))) -DisableBing -SilentAdd -DisableStoreSearchSuggestions to also stop Microsoft Store app suggestions in search, as Default mode does.
What it changes
Disable Bing web search & Copilot integration in search
This will turn off Bing web search results and Copilot integration in the Windows search experience. This feature uses policies, which will lock down certain settings.
Tested alone on Windows 11 25H2 (build 26200.9711): changed 2 registry values · removed Microsoft.BingSearch.
The undo file reverted the change. One value came back differently from before, as the undo file writes Windows' standard value: DisableSearchBoxSuggestions not set → 0.
What changed
DisableSearchBoxSuggestionsHKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer | not set→1 |
CortanaConsentHKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search | not set→0 |
Registry changes 3 values · HKCU + HKLM
Regfiles/Disable_Bing_Cortana_In_Search.regsource| Key | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| HKCUSoftware\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ExplorerpolicyDisable Bing in search | DisableSearchBoxSuggestions | DWORD1 0x00000001 |
| HKLMSOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows SearchpolicyDisable Cortana in search | AllowCortana | DWORD0 0x00000000 |
CortanaConsent | DWORD0 0x00000000 |
Undo file: Regfiles/Undo/Enable_Bing_Cortana_In_Search.reg (“Enable Bing web search & Copilot integration in search”)
Regfiles/Undo/Enable_Bing_Cortana_In_Search.regsource| Key | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| HKCUSoftware\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ExplorerpolicyEnable Bing in search | DisableSearchBoxSuggestions | DWORD0 0x00000000 |
| HKLMSOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows SearchpolicyEnable Cortana in search | AllowCortana | —deleted |
CortanaConsent | —deleted |
DisableSearchBoxSuggestions is the policy that keeps Start search local: no web results and no search box suggestions. The two Cortana policies cover the older Cortana and Copilot hooks in search. All three are policies, so Settings → Privacy & security → Search permissions may show some options as managed by your organization. After the registry change, Win11Debloat also uninstalls the Bing Search app, which adds Bing results to Windows search.
What we measured
On our Windows 11 25H2 test PC, applying -DisableBing on its own set two of the three values, because AllowCortana was already 0 on that image, and removed Microsoft.BingSearch for all users. Importing the undo file reverted both, setting DisableSearchBoxSuggestions to 0 rather than deleting it. The undo file does not reinstall the Bing Search app.
If search stops working
Broken search after debloating is the most-discussed problem on the project's issue tracker. It has never been traced to a specific cause, and the project's team could not reproduce it. -DisableBing and -DisableStoreSearchSuggestions are the two prime suspects, because they are the tweaks that touch search. If you are affected:
- Undo Disable Bing web search & Copilot integration in search in the wizard, with Restart the Windows Explorer process ticked.
- Restart the search service in PowerShell as administrator:
Restart-Service WSearch. - Check that the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is installed. One reporter's search came back after installing it.
The full troubleshooting entry, with links to issues #361 and #830.
Questions
Can I turn off Bing search in Windows 11 Home?
Yes. Home has no Group Policy editor, but Win11Debloat writes the policy values straight to the registry, which works the same way.
Does this remove Bing from Microsoft Edge?
No. Edge's search engine is set in Edge, under Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Address bar and search. This tweak only affects Windows search.
Keep going
Something wrong or out of date? Email hello@win11debloat.dev and we will fix it.