How to disable web search results in Windows 11 to view only files and folders?

One argument that all Windows 11 users will agree on is search has gotten worse. Back in the glorious Windows XP days, all that was needed was the file's name, and the Microsoft-made OS would quickly dig it up from your storage. However, with internet connections becoming more popular, the Redmond-based company decided it would be a great idea to answer all your queries — starting from Tom Cruise's birthday to your favorite "Homework" folder from the search bar. Users didn't like it.

Windows, however, allows users to disable results from the internet in the search bar. It isn't as simple as tweaking a setting. Rather, it includes flipping a few registry keys, which might get daunting for some.

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Disabling internet results in Windows 11 search is pretty easy

Follow these steps to disable MSN news and Bing search results in Windows 11:

Step 1. Open the Registry Editor. You can do this by searching for regedit either from Windows search or running (Win+R).

Step 2. Inside the Registry Editor, navigate to the following folder: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Step 3. Right-click on the empty space in the right pane, head over to new and click a key. This will create a new folder in the left pane under the Windows folder. Name it Explorer. Now double-click and open the Explorer key you just created.

Step 4. Head over to the right pane again, right-click, and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value this time. Rename this DWORD value to DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.

Step 5. Open this new DWORD value you just created by double-clicking it. Then head over to the Value data field and change it from 0 to 1. Click on OK.

Step 6. Now, open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right-clicking on an empty taskbar area and clicking the Task Manager option. Scroll down to File Explorer (it generally can be found towards the bottom of the programs list). Click on it and hit Restart Task from the top right corner.

Search suggestions from the internet should no longer appear in Windows 11 and 10 searches. if it still continues to show up, try rebooting your device.

Turning off Bing and Microsoft News search suggestions in Windows 11 is easy. One can get done with the process in a couple of minutes. We recommend that users turn off these suggestions to speed up their searches and find their local files.