HOWTO Disable Bing from Windows Search

Some days ago, my Windows 10 Search icon stopped working.

It began to work again when Bing servers were fixed.

This event rose some questions:

  • Do I really need Bing services on my Windows Search?
  • Did I ever use them?

The answer is: no.

I am using it as a sort of shortcut to start installed programs.
When I need to use any of the Bing/Google services, I usually do it from my browser.

The Solution

A friend of mine has found out how to disable Bing services.

Start Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

and add the following DWORD key:

BingSearchEnabled

and set it to 0 to disable it (or 1 to switch it on again)

You can also set it, into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE equivalent, to disable/enable it system-wide (ie for all users)