How to manage Windows 10 Search Box with Group Policy

Many users find the Windows 10 Search Box useless and pretty invasive. We will see how to hide or convert into search icon with group policy (GPO) in a Active Directory environment.

Create Group Policy Object

• Open Active Directory Users and Computers :

• Move Users to a OU (Organizational Unit) :

• Open Group Policy Manager :

• Create GPO and link it to the OU :

• Give a name to the new GPO :

• Edit the GPO :

• Go to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry > Right click > New > Registry Item

Set Group Policy Object

• Set the New Registry Properties parameters :

• Action : Replace
• Hive : HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• Key Path : SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
• Default : SearchboxTaskbarMode
• Value data : 0 : hide, 1 : search icon, 2 : show

Result

• Restart your domain computer and open a session with user login