Enable or Disable Classic Search Box in Microsoft Edge Toolbar

This article will help you in adding or removing additional search box to Microsoft Edge toolbar.

In newer versions of Microsoft Edge web browser (123.0 and later), Microsoft has added a dedicated search box to the toolbar. Now the web browser displays an extra search box along with the address bar as shown in following screenshot:

The decision to add a dedicated search box was taken due to users demand. Many people wanted to have a dedicated search box or search bar on the toolbar and were requesting Microsoft to bring back the classic search box on Microsoft Edge toolbar. Now Microsoft has fulfilled their wishes.

Microsoft is rolling out the search box on toolbar feature in phases. Some Edge users have received the feature and some are waiting for it.

Now there might be two types of Edge users:

• One who don’t have the separate search box on Edge toolbar and want to add it.
• Second who received the separate search box on Edge toolbar and want to disable or remove it.

In this article, we’ll discuss few methods to add or remove the new search box on Microsoft Edge toolbar. You’ll be able to enable or disable the additional search box on Edge toolbar using these methods.

METHOD 1: Show or Hide Search Box on Toolbar Using Microsoft Edge Settings

Microsoft has provided a built-in option to quickly show or hide the search box on Microsoft Edge toolbar. Users can modify the option to turn on/off the search box.

STEP 1: Click on the 3-dots menu button present at the right-side of the toolbar and select Settings option from the main menu. Alternatively, you can directly open Edge Settings page using edge://settings/ URL in address bar.

STEP 2: Now go to Appearance tab and in right-side pane, scroll down and under Customize toolbar section, you’ll see a new option to show or hide the additional search box.

PS: You can direct access the option to show/hide the search box using edge://settings/appearance#SearchBoxInToolbar URL in address bar.

If you want to enable search box on Edge toolbar, select “Show additional search box in the toolbar” option.

If you want to disable search box on Edge toolbar, select “Don’t show additional search box in the toolbar” option.

The additional search box will be immediately added or removed in Edge toolbar based on the option selected by you.

METHOD 2: Forcefully Add or Remove Search Box on Microsoft Edge Toolbar

If you can’t find the option to add/remove additional search box on Microsoft Edge settings page, it means Microsoft hasn’t enabled the search box feature in your device. If you want to activate and enable search box feature right now, following steps will help you:

STEP 1: Right-click on Microsoft Edge shortcut on Desktop and select Properties option. If Microsoft Edge shortcut is pinned to Taskbar, right-click on it and again right-click on Microsoft Edge option present on the jumplist and select Properties option.

If you launch Microsoft Edge from Start Menu, copy and paste following string in RUN dialog box and press Enter key:

It’ll open Programs folder in File Explorer which contains Microsoft Edge shortcut. Right-click on it and select Properties option.

STEP 2: Once you open Microsoft Edge properties box, append following string at the end of the text string present in Target field:

To add or enable search box in Microsoft Edge toolbar:

--enable-features=msSearchBoxInToolbar,msSearchBoxInToolbarSearchInteractionTrigger,msSearchBoxInToolbarShownTrigger

To remove or disable search box in Microsoft Edge toolbar:

--disable-features=msSearchBoxInToolbar,msSearchBoxInToolbarSearchInteractionTrigger,msSearchBoxInToolbarShownTrigger

Remember there must be a blank space between existing text string and the appended string.

STEP 3: Apply the changes and launch Microsoft Edge using the shortcut.

You’ll see the new dedicated search box added on Microsoft Edge toolbar.

NOTE: If you are already using another “-disable-features” or “-enable-features” parameter in Microsoft Edge shortcut, following article will help you in using more than one “-disable-features” or “-enable-features” parameter in Edge’s properties:

[Tip] How to Use Multiple “-Disable-Features” Parameters in Chrome and Edge Shortcut

METHOD 3: Completely Disable Additional Search Box in Microsoft Edge Toolbar

Microsoft has also provided an official policy to enable or disable toolbar search box feature in Edge web browser. Users can apply this policy by modifying Windows Registry.

Following steps will help you in implementing the required policy in your device:

STEP 1: Press “WIN+R” key combination to launch RUN dialog box then type regedit and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

STEP 2: Now go to any of following keys:

If you want to add or remove the feature for all Windows users:

If you want to add or remove the feature for current user only:

STEP 3: Under Microsoft key, create a new key and set its name to Edge

STEP 4: Now select Edge key and in right-side pane, right-click and select “New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value” option. Set the new DWORD name as AdditionalSearchBoxEnabled

To enable search box on Edge toolbar in your device, change the DWORD value to 1

To disable search box on Edge toolbar in your device, leave the DWORD value to 0

Now restart Edge browser and the new search box feature will be enabled or disabled in your device based on the policy value.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore default settings in Edge, delete the above mentioned DWORD from Registry.

NOTE: Your Browser is Managed by Your Organization Message in Edge

After applying the above mentioned policy or registry tweak, you may notice “Your browser is managed by your organization” message showing on Edge Settings page and main 3-dots Menu in your Edge browser. Don’t worry! It happens when you implement a policy in the web browser. You can safely ignore the message.

Following article provides more details about this message:

[Fix] Your Browser is Managed by Your Organization Message in Microsoft Edge

Also Check:

Disable or Remove Copilot Button or Icon from Microsoft Edge Toolbar

How to Remove Sidebar Toggle Button from Microsoft Edge Toolbar

[Tip] Restore User Profile Icon on Toolbar in Microsoft Edge

[Tip] Disable Visual Search Icon and Image Hover Menu in Microsoft Edge