How To Remove Bing AI Search From Windows 11 Search Bar

How to Remove Bing AI Search From Windows 11 Search Bar

In the latest updates to Windows 11, Microsoft has integrated Bing Chat AI into the taskbar search, a feature that not all users may find useful or desirable. For those looking to disable or remove this feature, here are the detailed steps and methods to achieve this.

Method 1: Disable Bing Chat AI via Settings

To remove the Bing Chat AI from the Windows 11 search bar, you can follow these straightforward steps:

Press the Windows key and I key simultaneously to open the Windows 11 Settings.
In the Settings app, navigate to the Privacy & security section on the left side of the screen.
Scroll down to the Windows permissions section and click on Search permissions.
Within the Search permissions screen, scroll down to the More settings section.
Find and toggle off the Show search highlights option. This setting is where content from Bing Chat AI is presented, and disabling it will remove the Bing Chat AI icon from the search bar.

If you prefer a more minimalist approach, you can change the search box appearance to remove the Bing icon:

Open the Settings app using the Windows key + I shortcut.
Navigate to the Personalization section on the left.
Click on the Taskbar button on the right.
Under Taskbar items, select "Search icon and label" from the drop-down menu. This will give you a plain search box without any extra icons or images. However, this method makes the search control non-interactive, meaning you cannot type directly into it.

Method 3: Using Registry Editor

For a more permanent solution, you can use the Registry Editor:

Press the Windows key + S to open the search bar, type “Registry Editor,” and open it.
Navigate to the path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search.
Right-click an empty space, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it BingSearchEnabled.
Double-click on BingSearchEnabled, set the value to 0, and click OK.
Restart your computer to apply the changes. This method permanently disables Bing search functionality within Windows.

Method 4: Using Group Policy Editor

If you are comfortable using the Group Policy Editor, you can follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog, type gpedit.msc, and click OK.
Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search.
Double-click on the policies Do not allow web search and Don’t search the web or display web results in Search, and set both to Enabled.
Click Apply and OK, then restart your computer.

Method 5: Using Command Prompt

You can also use the Command Prompt to disable Bing search:

Press the Windows key + S to open the search bar, type “CMD,” and click on “Run as administrator.”

Type the following command in the Command Prompt window:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /v BingSearchEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

This command directly removes the Bing search registry key. Restart your computer to apply the changes.

Additional Considerations

Disabling the Show search highlights option not only removes the Bing Chat AI icon but also disables web suggestions and the AI chatbot shortcut from the search home interface. However, you can still access the AI chatbot from other parts of the search UI if needed.

For users who prefer to keep the daily search highlight pictures instead of the Bing icon, disabling the Show search highlights option will achieve this, but it will also remove the daily images.

By following these methods, users can customize their Windows 11 search experience to better suit their preferences and needs.