Disable cortana and use normal windows search using registry editing

Home > Windows > Windows Server 2019 > Disable cortana and use normal windows search using registry editing

To optimize on resources when Cortana is not desired (eg RDSH server with Horizon where OS Optimization TOol is not used), we can disable it via registry using:

1. Open regedit
2. Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search"
3. If you don’t see a "Windows Search" key (folder) under the Windows folder, right-click the Windows folder and go to New > Key. Name the new key "Windows Search".

   Here space between "Windows" and "Search" in "Windows Search" is required.

4. Right-click the "Windows Search" key in the left pane and go to New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
5. Name the value AllowCortana.
6. Double-click the value to change it on the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value dialog box. The value should be 0 (zero) by default. If not, change the Value data to 0 and click OK.
7. You must sign out and sign back in for the change to take effect. Or you can restart your computer.
8. Now you’ll see the standard Windows Search on the Taskbar instead of Cortana.

Refer:

• https://www.groovypost.com/howto/disable-cortana-replace-windows-search/

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