How to Enable or Turn Off Search Highlights in Windows 11
The more we use our PCs, the more our data is collected. Our favorite applications to open, the websites we visit, or the files we use are all fragments of a larger picture—a picture that search highlights in Windows 11 is designed to help you discover.
What are search highlights, and how do you turn it on (or off) on your Windows 11 PC? This guide will explain.
What Are Search Highlights in Windows 11?
Search highlights are designed to show you interesting content, either yours personally or related to your curated interests or location. This information appears when you open up the search tool on Windows.
For instance, it might show you an ‘on this day’ post, showing you what happened on the current day in another year. It might show you a photo you were previously tagged in, from the same date. You might see other interesting news or current affairs posts, trending searches, or other personally relevant information.
How to Enable or Disable Search Highlights on Windows 11 Using the Settings App
If you don’t see this information already when you open up Windows search, then you’ll need to enable search highlights on your Windows 11 PC. To enable search highlights via the Settings app, follow these steps.
Once you’ve enabledShow search highlights, your highlights should appear when you next open a Windows search. If you don’t see it,restart your PCto make sure the changes have taken effect.
How to Enable or Disable Search Highlights on Windows 11 Using the Group Policy Editor
You can alsouse the Group Policy Editorto change your search highlight settings. To configure search highlights using the Group Policy Editor, follow these steps.
How to Enable or Disable Search Highlights on Windows 11 Using the Registry Editor
If you’re a power user, you may prefer to make changes to the Windows Registry to enable or disable search highlights on your Windows 11 PC. If you decide to do this, make sure toback up your Registry first—if something goes wrong, you can restore your Registry using the backup you created.
To enable or disable search highlights using the Registry Editor, follow these steps.
Smarter Windows With Search Highlights on Windows 11
Managing search highlights in Windows 11 is supposed to help you access the things that Windows thinks you need to see, whether it’s an old app that you’ve forgotten about or an important event that you’ve missed. Use these steps to switch it on or off, and if that isn’t enough, you might want tostop telemetry on your Windows PCto stop it from sharing information with other Microsoft services.
Worried about your privacy? You can always try a number oftop privacy apps for Windowsto help you stop your PC from leaking information about you to apps or services that don’t really require it.
Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio
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