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How to disable web search in the Windows 10 taskbar

Windows 10 comes with a new feature called "Cortana". It is a digital assistant which is integrated with Windows 10. Windows 10 has a search box in the taskbar, which can be used to launch Cortana and perform the search by keyboard or by voice. Once you type something in the search box on the Windows 10 taskbar, search results show but web search results are mixed with local search results, Store apps and content from Bing. If you would like to disable internet and Store apps being searched from the taskbar, here is how to turn it off.

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Update #4: Windows 10 version 2004, 20H2, and above use a different tweak.

  1. Open the Registry Editor app.
  2. Go to the following Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. See how to go to a Registry key with one click. If this path is missing, then create the missing parts manually.
  3. On the right, create a new 32-Bit DWORD value DisableSearchBoxSuggestions. Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.
  4. Set its value data to 1.Enable Web Search In Windows 10 Version 2004
  5. To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to sign out and sign in to your user account.

To save your time, you can download the following ready-to-use Registry files:

Download Registry Files

Update #3: In Windows 10 version 1803, the tweaks mentioned below may not work. If you are affected by this issue, apply the following Registry tweak:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
„BingSearchEnabled“=dword:00000000
„AllowSearchToUseLocation“=dword:00000000
„CortanaConsent“=dword:00000000

Update #2: In Windows 10 version 1607 the option to disable Web Search and Cortana was removed again!

You can disable it quickly with the following Registry tweak:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search]
"AllowCortana"=dword:00000000
"DisableWebSearch"=dword:00000001

That's it!

Update #1: In Windows 10 version 1511, there is an option in Cortana preferences, which will allow you to disable the Web search in taskbar.

To disable it, do the following:

  1. Click the Search box in the taskbar. The Cortana pane will appear on the screen:Cortana pane
  2. Click the gear icon to open its settings:Cortana settings
  3. Turn off the option "Search online and include web results" as shown above.

That's it. This will disable web search in the Windows 10 taskbar:

Windows 10 web search disabled

The alternative way using Group Policy is described below.

To disable Bing search and Store apps from showing up in the search results in the Windows 10 taskbar, you need to do the following:

  1. Press Win + R shortcut keys together on the keyboard to open the Run dialog. In the Run box, type the following:
    gpedit.msc

    windows 10 gpedit

  2. Go to the following path:
    Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->Search
  3. Enable the following Group Policies:
    • Do not allow web search
    • Don't search the web or display web results in Search

windows 10 disable web search in taskbarwindows 10 disable internet search in taskbar

Once you have done this, you need to reboot your PC. After the reboot, the search box in the taskbar will be limited to local results only:windows 10 local search in taskbar

The search will work without any lags and much faster than before. The search pane will also open instantly. A side effect of this change is that Cortana will not work anymore:

windows 10 cortana disabledPersonally, I never used Cortana, so for me it is not an issue.
That's it.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

12 thoughts on “How to disable web search in the Windows 10 taskbar”

  1. Hi, I’m getting an error every time I click the windows menu: COM Surrogate has stopped working after disabling the online search, how can I fix it?

  2. Seams it’s no longer possible to disable web search in Windows 10 build 17133? Even setting the options via group policy doesn’t work.
    Any idea?

  3. In build 1903 part of this tweak („BingSearchEnabled“=dword:00000000) causes search to stop working entirely – until a fix is found it should probably be noted somewhere or removed.

    It’s really annoying as this is one of the best tweaks in the app!

    1. It is something new/unexpected behavior.
      Prior to 1903, it had no side effects. I need to check and reproduce this.

  4. From Windows 2004 and 2009, it’s a different registry key

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer]
    “DisableSearchBoxSuggestions”=dword:00000001

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