Stop Windows Search from Returning Web Results

A result with a globe or a URL comes from the web. A result with a file path is local. The distinction decides which setting to change.

Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object BingSearchEnabled,CortanaConsent,SearchboxTaskbarMode
Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object DisableSearchBoxSuggestions
Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

**BingSearchEnabled = 0** removes web suggestions for the current user. The UI equivalent moved between builds, so the registry value is the stable one.

New-Item 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search' -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search' -Name BingSearchEnabled -Value 0 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search' -Name CortanaConsent -Value 0 -Type DWord
Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search' | Select-Object BingSearchEnabled,CortanaConsent

**DisableSearchBoxSuggestions** stops the search box from contacting the network at all. It is a policy key, so it needs a restart of Explorer.

New-Item 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name DisableSearchBoxSuggestions -Value 1 -Type DWord
Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force
Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' | Select-Object DisableSearchBoxSuggestions

Turning off web results must not break local search. The indexer service and the indexed locations are separate settings and should stay enabled.

Get-Service WSearch | Select-Object Status,StartType
Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search' | Select-Object SetupCompletedSuccessfully,EnableFindMyFiles
Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\CrawlScopeManager\Windows' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object -First 5 Name

Highlights are the daily images and suggestions in the search panel. They are a content feature, not a search feature, and they have their own toggle.

Start-Process ms-settings:search-permissions
Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SearchSettings' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object IsDynamicSearchBoxEnabled
Set-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SearchSettings' -Name IsDynamicSearchBoxEnabled -Value 0 -Type DWord -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Typing an installed app name should return only the local entry. A web section that remains means the policy was applied to the wrong hive.

# press Win and type 'notepad'
Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search' | Select-Object BingSearchEnabled
Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' | Select-Object DisableSearchBoxSuggestions
tasklist /fi "imagename eq SearchHost.exe"