Is the search window on your Windows 11 taskbar slow to open? This repo fixes it with a single-click .bat script.
When you click the search box on Windows 11 and wait 2-5 seconds before the panel appears, the usual culprits are:
- Web search integration — waiting on Bing requests before rendering results
- Search Highlights — pulling dynamic content from Microsoft servers on every open
- Corrupted SearchHost cache — the local cache folder bloats / breaks over time
- Cloud search (MSA/AAD) — querying OneDrive, Outlook and other cloud sources
- Menu animation delay — Windows' default 400 ms menu fade-in
This script disables all of the above in one go.
- Download fix-search.bat from this repo
- Right-click → "Run as administrator"
- Press Enter and wait for it to finish (~10 seconds)
- Click the search box and enjoy the speed
Run undo-search.bat as administrator — every change is reverted to Windows defaults.
| Step | Action | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DisableSearchBoxSuggestions=1 |
Disables web search suggestions |
| 2 | BingSearchEnabled=0, CortanaConsent=0 |
Disables Bing and Cortana |
| 2 | ConnectedSearchUseWeb=0, AllowCortana=0 |
Kills system-level web search |
| 2 | IsMSACloudSearchEnabled=0, IsAADCloudSearchEnabled=0 |
Disables cloud account search |
| 3 | IsDynamicSearchBoxEnabled=0 |
Disables Search Highlights |
| 3 | ShowDynamicContent=0, AllowNewsAndInterests=0 |
Stops dynamic content fetching |
| 4 | MenuShowDelay=0 |
Removes menu animation delay (400 ms → 0 ms) |
| 5 | Renames Microsoft.BingSearch_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder |
Forces Windows to rebuild a clean cache |
| 6 | Restarts WSearch, SearchHost.exe, explorer.exe |
Applies changes instantly |
HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SearchSettings
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds\DSB
HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.BingSearch_8wekyb3d8bbwe
→ Microsoft.BingSearch_8wekyb3d8bbwe.bak (can be restored)
Q: Will this damage my personal files? No. Only the Windows search box cache folder is renamed (not even deleted). Personal files, photos and documents are untouched.
Q: Will Windows updates reset these settings? Some major feature updates may reset registry values. Just run the script again after the update.
Q: It's still slow — what now?
- Low RAM can cause this (≤4 GB)
- If you have an HDD, SearchHost is slow on cold start — an SSD upgrade helps a lot
- Try Settings → Privacy → Searching Windows → Rebuild index
Q: Will I lose Cortana completely? No. The script doesn't uninstall Cortana — it just unbinds it from the search box. Cortana's standalone app keeps working (though it's invisible to most Windows 11 users anyway).
Q: Does it work on Windows Home?
Yes. It uses the registry directly instead of gpedit.msc, so it works on Home, Pro and Enterprise.
Q: Does it work on Windows 10?
It should work, but this was tested on Windows 11 only. The Microsoft.BingSearch_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder step may fail silently on Windows 10 (that's fine — the registry changes still apply).
- The script is open source — read fix-search.bat and verify every command yourself
- Only documented Windows registry keys are changed
- No files are deleted (cache folder is renamed, fully reversible)
- No network activity — fully offline, no telemetry, nothing phones home
Found a bug or have a suggestion? Open an Issue or submit a Pull Request.