When you search in the Start menu or Windows Search, it shows Microsoft Store results. Here’s how to enable or disable those results.
Quick steps: Press “Windows key + I“, go to the “Privacy & security” > “Search” page, and turn OFF the “Microsoft Store” toggle under “Show suggested search results”.
Searching for a file or app in Windows is fairly easy. Open the Start menu or Windows Search (click the Search icon on the taskbar), type the file or app name, and Windows displays the results almost instantly, provided the files are indexed. Along with the normal search results, Microsoft often shows Microsoft Store results also. For example, as you can see from the image below, when I search for “rush”, the Start menu’s search results also show results from the Microsoft Store, whether I want them or not.
Thankfully, in recent versions of Windows 11 (build 26300.8697 and build 26200.9267), you can disable Microsoft Store results in Windows Search using the Settings app. In this quick how-to guide, I will show you how. Let’s get started.
Before You Start
- The option to show or hide Microsoft results in the Windows Search results is only available in builds 26300.8697 (v26H2) and 26200.9267 (v25H2) or higher.
Enable or Disable Microsoft Store Results in Windows Search
First, launch the Settings app by pressing the “Windows key + I” shortcut. You can also search for “Settings” in the Start menu. Once the Settings app opens, select “Privacy & security” in the left sidebar, and then click the “Search” option on the right page under “Permission“.
On this page, click and expand the “Show suggested search results” section. Next, turn OFF the “Microsoft Store” toggle.
Important note: If you don’t see the “Show suggested search results” section or “Microsoft Store” toggle, you are using an older version of Windows 11. Please update your OS.
That’s it. After turning off the “Microsoft Store” toggle, you will no longer see Microsoft Store results in Windows Search. Write down any questions or comments you have below. I’ll respond as quickly as possible.
Thank you, Vamsi.
