How to Remove Windows' Annoying Search Highlights Icons

Considering that Microsoft would like to charge you at least $129 for a Windows license, it's pretty nervy of the company to keep pushing all kinds of promotions into prominent places in the UI. One of the most recent and annoying additions is what the company calls "Search Highlights," frequently-changing cartoonish icons that live on the right side of your Windows 10 or 11 search box.

When you click the cutesy icon, you get Bing search results shown to you, regarding some timely topic. The day I wrote this, it was a cartoon car that gave me info about the British Grand Prix, but it could have been anything Microsoft's Bing team deems important. 

Fortunately, it's easy to make the Windows 10 or 11 Search Highlights disappear.

How to Remove Search Highlights from Windows 10's Search Box

1. Right click on the search box or anywhere on the taskbar.

2. Select Search from the context menu. 

3. Click on Search Highlights to toggle it to off. 

How to Remove Search Highlights from Windows 11's Search Box

In Windows 11, you don't see the Search Highlights on the taskbar because the Search box only appears when you either click the magnifying glass icon, hit Windows key + S or click the search box on the Start menu. However, once you have the Search menu open, you see the annoying icons on the right side of the search box.

The process for disabling Search Highlights is slightly different in Windows 11 than 10, but still pretty simple.

1. Launch the search menu. You can get there by clicking the magnifying glass.

2. Click the three-dot menu and select Search Settings.

3. Toggle "show search highlights" to off. You'll have to scroll down to the bottom to find it. 

The Search Highlights icon should now be gone. And, by the way, you do not have to pay $129 for a Windows license when you build a PC. See our story on how to get Windows 10 or 11 for free or cheap for details.