Windows search uses light mode instead of dark after debloat/disable telemetry

[akriosx]

The start menu uses dark mode, however when I start typing, for example "File Explorer" the UI is in light mode, not dark.

[tort-oise]

Does.. Windows even have a dark mode for that?

[tort-oise]

My theme has been set to dark even before running the script, and I believe that has always been light.

[zymsbgt]

I am having this same issue too. Ran the script and now search appears in light mode. Previously it was in dark mode.

[Advik-B]

yea me too

[Luke7352]

Same, I tried everything to fix it, has anyone remedied it yet?

[Gamesmes90]

Found the soution. Basically the DisableTelemetry Function disables Bing web search in the search box.

For some reason the search box doesn't use the dark theme when bing is disabled. So the only way to solve this is to enable that registry key again.

This is the path

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

Set this key to 1

BingSearchEnabled

Then restart the explorer and it should work fine.

Another way to block bing would be to use the hosts file to redirect traffic to the loopback address (This should be done before setting the registry key to 1 or you'd need to restart explorer again)

127.0.0.1 www.bing.com
127.0.0.1 bing.com

Unfortunately the hosts file won't work for long because after a while the same thing will happen again.

You can disable the search history in bing by going to this link leading to the history page (https://www.bing.com/profile/history), then disable "show new searches here" and delete your search history (It should be fine but I don't know if this last thing is enoguh to avoid tracking).

[akriosx]

@Gamesmes90 thank you for finding a solution. I didn't get around addressing the issue or tried the fix you posted. Today however I noticed that the search is using dark mode. Curious to see if any others noticed the change. I'm wondering if I received a Windows update the past day or two that could have been the cause.

Windows 10 info: 10 Pro, 21H2, 19044.1645 OS build.

[zymsbgt]

I just got this update as well, and the update patched this issue.

[Gamesmes90]

@akriosx I just updated to the same build and the BingSearchEnabled value doesn't seem to do anything.

I disabled Bing by adding a new key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows called Explorer and by adding a new DWORD value called DisableSearchBoxSuggestions under the same key with a value of 1 as suggested by this guide

Now the dark theme works and Bing search is disabled.