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How-to By Avram Piltch published May 20, 2023
Stop the OS from pulling up web results when you just want files and apps.
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One of the most annoying things about Windows 11 (and 10) is how it tries to push Bing
results on you through the operating system's search feature. You might just want to find the
shortcut to your favorite app or that Word doc you've been working on. But instead of getting
a list of results from your computer, you're shown search results in Bing.
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Even when you first click on the search box, you have to wait a few seconds while Windows
pulls down a list of featured MSN.com news stories and search results. That's extra time PLAY SOUND
you're wasting while waiting for the UI, just so Microsoft can promote its web content and
service.
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Fortunately, it's easy enough to turn off Windows web search with a few quick registry
tweaks. These steps will work in both Windows 11 and Windows 10.
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(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
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(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
3. Create a new key (aka folder) called Explorer and navigate to it. You can create a key
by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New->Key and renaming it to Explorer.
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And if you search for something that doesn't exist on your PC, you'll get a straightforward
answer that it's not found rather than a list of web search results that Windows has take a few
seconds to pull from the Internet. How To Ch
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(Image credit: Future)
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