How to Disable Address Bar Drop-down List Suggestions in Microsoft Edge?

Microsoft Edge shows a list of search suggestions in the address bar to make it easier for the users. This feature is enabled by default in every Windows operating system. It also shows the favorites, history, and other browsing data when a user types in the address bar. This is a pretty common and useful feature in most browsers nowadays. However, some privacy concerned users may not like this feature on their browser. This also applies to a PC that is used by multiple users. There are methods through which users can simply disable this feature for the time being or for the long term.

Disabling Drop-down List through the Microsoft Edge Settings

The drop-down list suggestions can be disabled in the setting of the Microsoft Edge. This is the common and the default method for disabling and enabling this feature. However, if want to gray out this option or this option is grayed out for you in the Edge’s settings, then you can check other methods for that.

1. Open the Microsoft Edge by double-clicking on the shortcut on the desktop or you can search it through the Windows search feature.

   

2. Click on the Settings and more button (three dots) at the top right corner and then select the Settings option from the list.

   

3. On the left pane, select the Privacy & Security option. Scroll down and turn OFF the toggle for the “Show search and site suggestions as I type” option. This will disable the drop-down suggestions list from Microsoft Edge.

   

4. You can also enable it back any time by following the same steps and turning ON the toggle for that option.

Disabling Drop-down List through the Local Group Policy Editor

This method will disable the feature and also gray out the option from Microsoft Edge’s setting. The setting for this can be found in both the User Configuration and Computer Configuration categories of the Group Policy. Both will have the same path but different categories. It’s up to you if you want to set for a specific user or for the system. Follow the below steps to try it out:

Note: The Group Policy isn’t available in the Windows Home editions, so if you are using that operating system, then skip this method.

1. Open a Run dialog box by pressing the Windows + R key combination on your keyboard, then type “gpedit.msc” in it and press the Enter key to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

   

2. In the User Configuration category, navigate to the following path:

   User Configuration\ Administrative Templates\ Windows Components\ Microsoft Edge\

   

   Note: You can also find the exact same setting in the Computer Configuration category. Choose the one that you want to set for your system.

3. Double-click on the “Allow Address bar drop-down list suggestions” policy setting and it will open up in another window. Change the toggle option from Not Configured to Disabled.

   

4. Lastly, click on the Apply/Ok button to save the changes. This will disable the drop-down suggestions list from Microsoft Edge.
5. If you want to enable this feature back again, you need to change the toggle option to Not Configured or Enabled in step 3 of this method.

Disabling Drop-down List through the Registry Editor

The alternative to the Group Policy method is by using the Registry Editor. Basically, the Group Policy setting will update our registry keys and value for that specific setting. We can also directly configure the setting in the Registry. Windows Home users can also use this method to gray out the drop-down list suggestion feature in the settings of the Microsoft Edge. It will have some of the technical steps for creating the missing key or value to make it work.

Note: We always recommend users to create a backup before making any new changes in the Registry.

1. Press the Windows + R key combination on your keyboard to open a Run dialog box, then type “regedit” and press the Enter key to open the Registry Editor. If prompted by UAC (User Account Control), click on the Yes button.

   

2. In the Current User hive, navigate to the ServiceUI key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\ServiceUI

   Note: You can also use the Current Machine hive for the exact same setting.

3. In the ServiceUI key, right-click on the right pane and choose the New > DWORD (32-bit) Value option. Name this newly created value as “ShowOneBox“.

   

4. Double-click on this value and it will open in another dialog box. Change the value data to 0 and click on the Ok button to save it.

   

   Note: Value data 1 is for enabling and value data 0 is for disabling. We need to disable the value to disable the drop-down suggestion list.

5. Once you are done with all settings, make sure you restart your system to see the changes.
6. If in the future you want to enable the drop-down suggestion list again, then simply change the value data to 1 or remove the value from the Registry Editor.