How to remove icons and search bar in the start menu in Windows 11 via local GPO

Question

remove icons and search bar in the start menu in Windows 11 via local GPO I work in a factory where certain operator positions have very restricted rights. In Windows 7, we used a tool called "first agent"  that worked well. When we switched to Windows 10, I was able to recreate the same behavior via local GPOs applied to non-administrator accounts. However, this no longer works for new Windows 11 PCs. I want to remove the search in the start menu as well as the icons so that the operators can only log in and out and leave only the shortcuts to which they have access on the desktop. Does anyone know how I can do this via local GPO? 

Answer 1

Hi Christophe Peters,

To disable the search bar, please enable the group policy "Computer Configuration" - "Administrative Templates" - "Windows Components " - "Search" - "Fully disable Search UI". Or you can create a registry value of type REG_DWORD under "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" and set the value data to 1.

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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Answer 2

This is not correct for me. Windows 11 Pro. This local, user specific GPO does not have this "Fully disable Search UI". I need this ability for a single user of the PC, not everyone????????? Thanks!