How to Fix Search Results in Windows 11 Start Menu
The fastest way to open anything in Windows is to open the Start menu and start typing the name of the application or file. Exactly what you’re looking for will appear, at which point you can press Enter. Or at least that’s how it worked.
For years, Microsoft has pushed to slow down Start menu search by offering “useful” information from the Internet. Some people might like this, but personally, I’d rather do web searches in the browser and use the Start menu to quickly find apps and files. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to disable Internet content in the Start menu, but it is possible with a registry tweak. We wrote about disabling this “feature” in Windows 10 back in 2020. The process hasn’t changed for Windows 11, but let’s do a quick refresher.
Just to explain, here’s what typing “why” in the Start menu looks like before this change:
And this is what it looks like after:
All the results are things that are actually on my computer. These results load instantly, which is not the case when Internet search features are disabled.
How to turn off Internet search suggestions in Windows 11
To begin, open Registry Editor, which can be found in the Start menu by searching (irony noted). The Registry Editor can be a little confusing, and you can really mess things up by messing around in there, but don’t worry—it won’t be difficult. In the left pane there is a series of folders that are mistakenly called “Keys”. You need to go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows .
There may be a folder inside called Explorer . Don’t worry if it doesn’t exist: create one by right-clicking the Windows key in the left pane and choosing New > Key ; call it “Explorer”. Open this folder and right-click in the right pane, then select New > DWORD Value (32-bit) .
Name the new value DisableSearchBoxSuggestions , leave the Base value in hexadecimal and change the Data value to 1. Like this:
Click OK and close Registry Editor. Restart your computer and try searching for something in the Start menu. Internet search results should completely disappear. If not, go back to Registry Editor and make sure you have everything configured correctly. I’ve tested turning this feature on and off several times and can confirm that it works with the most recent version of Windows 11.