Windows Search used to be very simple and efficient. You search for something, Windows searches your local storage, and it returns a result. But for some reason, Microsoft decided Windows Search needed to search the internet alongside your local storage whenever you searched for something.
Some people may find this feature helpful (I doubt anyone did), but I didn’t like it at all. The whole thing made Search feel slower because, obviously, searching the internet every time you type something takes additional resources. I stopped using Windows Search for a long time because of this and switched to an alternative search app. But it turns out you can disable Search’s ability to access the internet with a few Registry tweaks. Once I did that, Windows Search became much closer to what I wanted it to be in the first place.
Windows Search feels sluggish when it looks online
Searching for a local file shouldn’t feel like using a web search engine
When I type something into the Start menu, Windows Search isn’t just looking through my local files. By default, it’s also querying Microsoft’s servers, sending my search terms to Bing, pulling in web results, and fetching suggestions from the cloud.
That means the speed of my search depends not only on my PC’s hardware, but also on my network latency and Microsoft’s server response times. Even with a fast connection, those extra requests can add hundreds of milliseconds of delay.
Besides, Windows Search starts to feel less like a quick launcher for my files and apps and more like another place where Microsoft can surface online content. It also makes the interface feel cluttered. If I search for something, I shouldn’t have to go through web suggestions or unrelated online results before getting to the result I actually wanted.
A simple registry tweak gets rid of web search
I can make Windows Search focus on what’s actually on my PC
Before making any changes to the Windows Registry, I recommend creating a restore point. The Registry controls important parts of Windows, and making the wrong change can cause problems, so it’s worth having a way to roll back if something goes wrong.
To disable web suggestions in Windows Search
- Open Registry Editor by searching for “regedit” in the Start menu. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows and look for an Explorer key. If it doesn’t exist, create a new key under Windows and name it Explorer.
- Inside that key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value called DisableSearchBoxSuggestions and set its value to 1. After restarting Windows, web suggestions should no longer appear in Search.
- Depending on your Windows version, you may also need to disable Bing Search separately. You can do that by navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search, creating a DWORD (32-bit) Value called BingSearchEnabled, and setting its value to 0.
It’s ridiculous that I have to edit the Registry for something this basic. But at least it works for me, and searching for things becomes faster.
Microsoft is giving us more control over Search
Windows Search is getting a major overhaul I wish Microsoft had made years ago
The good news is that Microsoft appears to be working on a much better solution. In July 2026, Microsoft announced several Windows Search improvements for Windows Insiders, including a stronger focus on local results. The company says local files and apps will be prioritized rather than web or Microsoft Store results.
More importantly, Microsoft is adding separate controls in Settings > Privacy & Security > Search that let users decide whether web results and Microsoft Store suggestions should appear alongside local results. So, instead of digging through the Registry just to tell Windows that I don’t want web results, there will be a proper setting for it.
Microsoft is also cleaning up the Search interface and removing promotional content from web results, while making it clearer whether a result comes from an app, file, setting, web search, or the Microsoft Store. All these improvements are currently only available through the Windows Insider program on the Experimental channel of Windows 11 26H2. But some of them have already started moving to the Release Preview channel and optional non-security updates.
However, the full update is expected to become available to all Windows 11 users later this year when Windows 11 26H2 becomes public.
I just want Windows Search to search Windows
Windows Search doesn’t need to be complicated. When I type something into the Search box, most of the time I’m looking for something that’s already on my PC. So, I don’t need Windows to turn every search into an internet search.
Disabling web search through the Registry gave me a much cleaner experience, but the fact that I had to use the Registry in the first place is what bothered me most. Microsoft’s upcoming Search improvements give me hope that this will eventually become a proper Windows setting instead of something I have to work around.
