Windows 11 introduces switches to eliminate Bing results and Store recommendations from Search.

      Windows 11 is introducing options to disable Bing web results and Microsoft Store suggestions in Search through an optional August update that is being rolled out gradually. In order to comply with the Digital Markets Act deadline of March 6, 2024, Microsoft removed Bing from the Windows Search pane for users in the European Economic Area.

      The August update includes a toggle that allows users to turn off Bing in Search, as reported by Digital Trends. Under the privacy settings, there are two toggles: one for web results and another for Microsoft Store suggestions. Disabling both means Search will only consider the local machine.

      Turning off these options speeds up Search, as it no longer has to wait for an online Bing request before displaying results already available on the computer, according to Windows Latest. Additionally, the home screen becomes less cluttered with the removal of trending searches and promotional content, and results now indicate their source, whether from a file, app, setting, or the web.

      The update will be rolled out in stages rather than all at once. Simply installing the update doesn't activate the feature because Microsoft is enabling it gradually for machines that already have the necessary code.

      This change is not new to Europe, where it was implemented two and a half years ago—not as an option, but as a compliance measure. In November 2023, Microsoft announced the removal of Bing from the Windows Search pane for users in the European Economic Area, along with the option to uninstall Edge, both actions taken to meet a deadline rather than in response to user requests. Full compliance with the Digital Markets Act was required by March 6, 2024.

      The rest of the world has awaited this feature, which is now available to everyone else in an optional update this month, approximately thirty months later. Under the act, Windows is designated as a core platform service, alongside other gatekeeping services identified by the Commission.

      This pattern has become familiar by now: choice screens, uninstallable apps, and respected default settings debut in Europe before being rolled out elsewhere, typically without an announcement. The Commission has ceased merely requesting compliance; for instance, Google was fined €890 million in its initial penalty under the same regulations.

      What’s noteworthy is that a feature users have criticized for years was implemented first where a regulator mandated it, and then made available everywhere else once it was already established.