If you switched from Google Chrome or another browser to Microsoft Edge, there’re probably a few changes you’ll want to make to get the browser functioning in an optimal minimalistic way. One such change you’ll want to make is removing the huge drop-down search/address suggestions bar that appears when you search for content or start typing a URL.
Related: How to draw on screenshots you take in Microsoft Edge.
Search suggestions used to be a highly sort after feature of Internet browsers, suggesting content from your bookmarks, history, and the web as you got closer to your final word. Nowadays though, they are more of an annoyance and more often than not get too cocky with their suggestions after a single character has been typed…
The fact that they openly show some of your search history is also something that puts a lot of people off the idea of having search suggestions enabled. Thankfully it is possible to disable the search suggestion drop-down box in Microsoft Edge. Although this process can be done from the browser or Microsoft Group Policy, we’ll only be covering the browser method as it is far simpler and does the same job without all the extra steps.
Quick steps to hide the search suggestion drop-down box in Edge:
- Open and Update Edge.
- Go to Settings > Privacy search and services > Address bar search.
- Next disable Show me suggestions from history, favourites and other data on this device using my typed characters and the drop-down suggestion box will be removed.
How do you hide the huge drop-down search suggestions box in Microsoft Edge? Disable search suggestions in Edge.
In order to disable the massive search suggestions drop-down box you see when you are searching content in Edge, you’ll need to do the following.
- First open Edge, then click the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the browser, then click Settings.
- Next change to the Privacy search and services tab on the left-hand side of the page. Now at the bottom of the new page that loads, click Address bar search.
- This will take you to a page where you will need to flip the toggle next to: Show me suggestions from history, favourites and other data on this device using my typed characters to Off (grey). Do the same for: Show me search and site suggestions using my typed characters as well. This will instantly hide the search suggestion box from the address bar.
Once you have disabled both of these features you will no longer see the drop-down search suggestions box whenever you start typing into the address bar in Edge. Alternatively, you can simply change your preferences if you would like to keep one of the options enabled, though this will cause the drop-down list to appear. If you only leave how me suggestions from history, favourites and other data on this device using my typed characters on, you’ll get a smaller less intrusive drop-down menu to work with though. This feature used to be a standard option within Google Chrome, however, it seems to have been removed so can’t be toggled on or off anymore.
