Cant find disabled search Policy in my org

Question

Hey
i work as it manager in sciences school
and since i begain to work here and replaced the previous one in this position
i noticed we have a gpo that disableing windows search so the student who log in with their user ( Pupil)
cant run search , they cant even write there , its not typing .

if i log off to another user the search is working agin
the guy who worked here before me says this isnt some thing he made so hes not sure its gpo
for some times i run test, checked articales and other ticket on forum and looked at our gpo managment and i couldnt find this policy

i checked gpo like :
Path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy

or

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search > Allow Cortana
Set to disable

with no success , this issue doing alot of problem in our org
does any one know gpo that disable for user the windows search ?
thank you

Answer 1

Hello Computers1,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Based on the description, you mean different users sign in the same machine, one user can use windows search, but the other one cannot use, so maybe the user policy control the setting.

Are the machines and users in the domain? If so, you can try to export the gpresult for different users and compare the result.

Sign in the working user.
For checking User Configurations within gpresult, we can follow steps below.

Logon the machine using normal domain user account.

Create a folder named F1.

Open CMD (do not run as Administrator).

Type gpresult /h C:\F1\gpo.html and click Enter.

Open gpo.html and check gpo setting under "User Details".

Sign in the non-working user.
For checking User Configurations within gpresult, we can follow steps below.

Logon the machine using normal domain user account.

Create a folder named F2.

Open CMD (do not run as Administrator).

Type gpresult /h C:\F2\gpo.html and click Enter.

Open gpo.html and check gpo setting under "User Details".

You can also check the registry between working user and non-working user.

If the registry is below.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] "SearchboxTaskbarMode"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] "SearchboxTaskbarMode"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] "SearchboxTaskbarMode"=dword:00000002

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] "SearchboxTaskbarMode"=dword:00000003

Reference
Add or Remove Search Button on Taskbar in Windows 11 Tutorial | Windows 11 Forum (elevenforum.com)

I hope the information above is helpful.

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou

Answer 2

hey daisy
thank you for the replay

yes the users and computers all in our domain
only the user " pupil " cant use the search bar , but if i switch user it will work agin
so its some kind of user configuration , but i just cant find it , i search for a while

pupil cant get to registry beacuse its diasble for them in gpo
it a student user , so even i logging as pupil user cant regedit
so its problemitc

Answer 3

Hello Computers1,

Thank you for your reply.

If the gpresult of user " pupil " and other users are the same, it seems the user registry of the user " pupil " controls the search setting.

Or you can also check the setting below, check if the search is hiden.

Press and hold (or right-click) the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.

Select Taskbar items to expand the section, then toggle the Search switch to On.

Hide and unhide your search box in Windows - Microsoft Support

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou

Answer 4

hey daisy
pupil get gp result of " pupil2" thats the name of the gpo they get . ( other then default domain policy )
other users dont get this gpo
the only mutual gpo other users get is "default domain policy "

as part of the second thing you wrote
i couldnt find taskbar items option

Answer 5

Hello Computers1,

Thank you for your reply.

Open Setting\Personalization\Taskbar\Taskbar items\Search\Search box (below).

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou