Microsoft had recently updated Windows 10 and now lets users speed up their search results by disabling this annoying search engine.
There is nothing more annoying than a slow Internet connection. But typing on the search bar only for you to wait a couple of minutes due to slow response is just as annoying. While you may not be able to do much on the former but to upgrade your plan, there is something you can do with the latter. And this is all thanks to the new update Microsoft did on the Windows 10.
Bing: The bane of local search queries on the Windows 10
The thing with Microsoft is that they don’t really care if you want to use their services or not. In fact, people don’t really have much of a say. Microsoft just integrates their services onto Windows 10 as seen with the Edge browser, the Windows Defender, and the Bing search engine.
Mostly everyone can decide whether or not they want to use the first two. But with Bing, it’s a bit complicated. This is because Bing is attached to the Windows search bar and entering a query would provide both local and online results.
While this may prove useful to many since it shows results from the Internet, there are also downsides. The most obvious of these downsides is that search results appear slower than usual. For people wanting only to search their local drive, this is definitely a source of annoyance.
Thankfully, Microsoft has provided a way for people to disable the Bing search engine in the latest Windows 10 update.
Not the first time
This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has provided this option to Windows 10 users. In fact, Windows 10 version 1909 released back in May 2019 had offered a feature that allows users to disable the Bing search engine. By simply editing the “BingSearchEnabled” value on the registry, users could disable the search engine.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Microsoft to take back this feature. The succeeding updates no longer show this feature.
Microsoft introduces a new way to disable Bing
The new update introduces the “DisableSearchBoxSuggestions” value on the registry. This basically allows a similar way to disable Bing. However, users can now also eliminate ads from the search results.
To do this, simply type “regedit” on the Windows search bar which would lead you to the Registry Editor. Once you’ve opened the Registry Editor, you would have to navigate to the “Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer” excluding the quotation (“) marks.
Banish Bing and speed up Windows 10 search with this simple hack https://t.co/xx5rbIzonG pic.twitter.com/RLAC1g7zKL
— PC Gamer (@pcgamer) October 5, 2020
In the event that there is no Explorer folder, you would have to create one. You can do this by simply right-clicking on the folder and create a key named “Explorer.” Again, this excludes the quotation marks.
Afterward, right-click on the Explorer folder and create a new “DWORD (32-bit) Value.” Name this value as “DisableSearchBoxSuggestions” without the quotation marks and set the value to one (1). Lastly, close the registry and restart Windows 10.
Word of caution
It is necessary to exercise caution when navigating through and editing the registry. This section is mostly reserved for experts. Making a single mistake could ruin your whole system. However, with the right knowledge, accomplishing the steps above is highly possible.
It is recommended that you first backup your registry so that you would have someplace to fall back to in case things go awry. Microsoft had released a step-by-step guide to help people back up their registry.
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