Microsoft has been improving Bing search for quite a while. I almost sometimes consider giving it a second try. Likewise, it’s been improving Internet Explorer to match the performance of other more popular browsers. Windows 10 will come with a nice new version of Internet Explorer and for those familiar with the new Search feature, Bing will be the one and only search provider that you can use to search the web from the Search bar. The Search bar in Windows 10 combines local search and web search. Where it’s annoying enough that you can’t use something other than Bing, it’s also annoying that you can’t easily opt out of web search and web results and have it run local search only. We say there is no easy way to opt out of it so that means there is a way to opt out. Here’s how.

Open Control panel, take a minute to admire the new look and then search for Group Policy, select the option to Edit Group Policy to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Alternatively, you can use the search feature to find the option. The feature is split into two sections; Computer Configuration, and User Configuration. You’re going to be concerned with the Computer Configuration section. Select Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Search.

Next you need to find these two policies; Do not allow web search, and Don’t search the web or display web results in Search. Enable both of them. To enable a policy, right click it and select Edit. In the policy editing window, select the Enable option, click Apply and close it.

When you now use the Search bar, the search will only be done locally, and only local results will be shown. There should definitely be an easier or more precisely a more obvious way to disabling web search. It isn’t something that Windows users are accustomed to so where Microsoft is attempting to warm us up to new features, it should consider adding an opt-out ‘Nope’ button in case we don’t like something. Disabling web search will make the search feature itself faster and that alone is a good reason to disable it.

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