Once the new update was presented in Windows 8.1, a large number of changes were present, something that may be beneficial for some people but disadvantageous for others, a situation that It depends primarily on each work need in the environment.
If you already have Windows 8.1 then you will surely have experienced its new tool. Home Screen Search, an activity that will offer you a large number of results and of which, some of them may not be of interest to you; Let's say that for example you are trying to find an application that is installed on the operating system, the same one that is shown in these results but accompanied by a few others that instead belong to web results. If we want our search to be limited only to our computer, below we will tell you what you should do.
Disabling features in Windows 8.1 to focus a search
Well, if we want to focus our searches only on the computer with Windows 8.1 then we must enter the same operating system configuration. There is a completely new function that Microsoft has placed so that the results of our searches, show elements found both on the computer and on the web, Our objective being to eliminate this last environment. To achieve this we suggest you follow the following steps:
- If you are on the Windows 8.1 Desktop, press the Windows key to go to the Starting screen.
- Once there, perform the following key combination: Win + I
- The sidebar will immediately appear on the right side.
- From it you have to choose the option that says Change PC Settings.
- From the new window we will now have to choose Search and Applications from the left sidebar.
- Now we choose Search.
- We go to the final part of the screen on the right side.
Well, here we will find a very special section on which we will focus our attention, which says «Metered Use Connections«; Within this area there are 2 additional options that we can manipulate using a small switch, having to move the one that is Enabled to the left side so that it is placed in a state of Disabled.
If you pay a little attention you can admire what the text says in that option; there it is mentioned that Windows 8.1 will help us by showing results that come from the Internet and specifically, that they have been provided by your search engine Bing. By deactivating this function, every time we try to find something in our system, those results that used to appear as suggestions by Bing will no longer be present. For the changes to take effect you must reboot to the operating system.
Alternative to disable this service in Windows 8.1
What we mentioned above is a very easy graphical procedure to follow, although if you are used to using keyboard shortcuts and certain system tools, you may feel more comfortable following this other method.
- We are located in the Desktop Windows 8.1
- We use the keyboard shortcut win+r.
- In the search box we write gpedit.msc and then we click OK.
- From the new window that appears we must go to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows components -> search
If we have followed exactly the route that we recommended above, we will find the option that says "do not search the web or show results on the web...", and we must double-click this option for its properties to appear.
All we need to do is select the box that will activate the deactivation of said service (as ironic as it may seem). Later we will only have to click OK and restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
If you want to reverse everything we have done, you simply have to follow the procedures but now to activate the function through the switch or using the commands of this last procedure that we have suggested.