How to Disable Web Links in Search in Windows 11

Here's how to disable web links in search in Windows 11 and make it look for local files only. By default, when you type a term in Windows Search (Win + S), it will look for matching online results and display them along with the files and folders stored on your local drive.

Windows 11 inherited this behavior from Windows 10, which is first introduced a mix from local and web search results in the dedicated search box on the taskbar.

In Windows 11, the search box in the taskbar is no longer available. But the search tool still includes local search results, Store apps and content from Bing. Microsoft provides a special Group Policy option to make the search offline online. For Windows 11 editions that doesn't include the gpedit.msc tool, users can apply a corresponding Registry tweak.

Disable Web Links in Search in Windows 11

1. Right-click the Start button and select Run from the menu.
2. Type regedit in the Run box to open the Registry editor.
3. Navigate to the  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer key. If the Explorer folder is missing, right-click the Windows folder and select New > Key from the menu.
4. On the right of the Explorer key, right-click the empty space and select New > 32-Bit DWORD value from the menu. Name it DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
5. Double-click the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions value and set its data to 1.
6. To apply the change, sign out and sign in to Windows 11.

You are done! Searching for anything will no longer bring web links to Windows Search.

Before:

After:

To undo the change later, simply remove the DisableSearchBoxSuggestions value and sign out from Windows 11.

Ready-to-use REG files

To save your time, you can download the following ready-to-use Registry files.

1. Click here to download the ZIP archive with two files.
2. Unpack the REG files to any folder of your choice.
3. Double-click the Disable Web Search.reg file to stop Windows 11 from showing online link along with your local files.
4. The undo tweak is included, the file is named Enable Web Search.reg.

The reviewed method works in all Windows 11 editions, including Windows 11 Home. However, if you are running Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or some Education edition, you can go with the Local Group Policy editor app, gpedit.msc.

Disable Online Search Results in Windows 11 with Group Policy

1. Press Win + R and type gpedit.msc in the Run box to open Local Group Policy Editor.
2. In the left pane, expand the folder to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer.
3. On the right, find the policy setting Turn off display of recent search entries in the File Explorer search box.
4. Double-click on it and set the policy to Enabled. Click on the Apply and OK buttons.
5. Now, sign out of Windows 11 and sign in back.

You are done.

Of course, you can undo the change at any moment later.  For that, set the Turn off display of recent search entries in the File Explorer search box policy to Not configured.

Finally, you can use Winaero Tweaker as a good alternative to both methods reviewed earlier in this post.

Disable Internet Results in Windows Search with Winaero Tweaker

1. Download Winaero Tweaker using this link.
2. Install and run the app.
3. Navigate to Desktop and taskbar \ Disable Web Search in the left pane.
4. Turn on (check) the Disable Web Search option on the right.

Done! You can always revert the change by removing the check mark from the above mentioned option.

That's it!

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