Some days ago, my Windows 10 Search icon stopped working.

It began to work again when Bing servers were fixed.

This event rose some questions:

• Do I really need Bing services on my Windows Search?
• Did I ever use them?

The answer is: no.

I am using it as a sort of shortcut to start installed programs.
When I need to use any of the Bing/Google services, I usually do it from my browser.

The Solution

A friend of mine has found out how to disable Bing services.

Start Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

and add the following DWORD key:

BingSearchEnabled

and set it to 0 to disable it (or 1 to switch it on again)

You can also set it, into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE equivalent, to disable/enable it system-wide (ie for all users)