How to Enable or Disable Search Highlights in Windows 11?

Microsoft recently introduced a new “Search Highlights” feature in Windows to display important events and trending searches. While this feature is useful for reminding us of important events that we could potentially miss, some users feel that it is an unnecessary addition to the already sluggish Windows search. In this article, we have explained how you can enable or disable Search Highlights in Windows 11.

Disable Search Highlights in Windows 11 (2022)

You can control the visibility of Search Highlights using the Settings app, Registry Editor, and Group Policy Editor. We’ve included instructions for these three methods, so feel free to use the table below to navigate to the method you’re comfortable with.

Enable or Disable Search Highlights in Windows 11 Settings

1. Open the Settings app using the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut ‘Win + I’ and Switch to the “Privacy & Security” tab from the left sidebar.

2. Scroll down until you find “Search Permissions” and click on it.

3. Disable “Show Search Highlights” Toggle, And all. You have successfully disabled Search Highlights on your system.

Turn Search Highlights On or Off from Registry Editor

1. Search “registry editor” in the search box and select “run as administrator” To run Registry Editor as administrator.

2. Navigate to the following path and Double-click the “IsDynamicSearchBoxEnabled” dword value,

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSearchSettings

3. Change the value of “IsDynamicSearchBoxEnabled” to 0 and click “OK” To turn off search highlight. In the meantime, you can use the value “1” to re-enable Search Highlights.

Use Group Policy Editor to Enable or Disable Search Highlights

1. Open Run window using ‘Win+R’ keyboard shortcut and type “gpedit.msc” To open Group Policy Editor. If you are using Windows 11 Home, you can visit our linked guide to enable Group Policy Editor in Windows 10/11 Home.

2. Navigate to the following path and Double-click “Allow Search Highlights”,

 Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Search

3. Select the “Disabled” radio button from the pop-up and click “Apply”., Now you have disabled Search Highlights on your PC.

Enable or Disable Windows 11 Search Highlights

So, those are the three ways to get rid of Search Highlights in Windows 11. While you’re at it, visit our linked guide to customizing the Windows 11 Start Menu to personalize the Start menu experience. Plus, we have guides that explain how you can customize touchpad gestures (to access search faster) and the best Windows 11 settings you should change.