Windows 11 Start Menu Web Searches Could Respect Your Default Browser and Search Engine

Microsoft appears to be taking a concrete step toward fixing one of Windows 11’s most enduring annoyances: the Start menu and taskbar web searches that insist on opening in Microsoft Edge and using Bing, regardless of the user’s chosen default browser or search engine. Experimental flags discovered in Microsoft Edge Canary — with names like msWSBLaunchNonBingDSE, msWSBLaunchNonEdgeDB and variants containing “Explicit” — strongly suggest Windows Search could soon hand off web queries to whatever browser and search provider a user has set as default. This behavior was observed by independent testers enabling the flags in Edge Canary, and the development traces line up with region-targeted changes Microsoft has already made under regulatory pressure.

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Background​

Windows 11’s Start menu search is a hybrid feature: local indexing (apps, files, settings) lives alongside web-powered suggestions and answers. Historically, web results shown in the Start/taskbar search were served by Bing and opened in Microsoft Edge — even when a user had Chrome, Firefox, or another browser set as the system default. That mismatch has frustrated power users, spawned community workarounds, and attracted regulatory attention in multiple jurisdictions.
Microsoft’s responses have been twofold. For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), regulatory obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) prompted concrete changes that make system-level choices more respectful of defaults and provide clearer separation between local search and web search. Outside of the EEA, behavior has been more mixed — until now, when Edge Canary’s experiments hinted at a broader engineering path. Official Microsoft policy documentation also shows that certain Windows and Edge search features are tightly coupled with Edge and the browser’s default search engine, reinforcing why the change matters technically and administratively.

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What the Edge Canary flags say — and why the names matter​

Decoding the flag names​

The flags spotted in Edge Canary are not user-facing features; they are internal toggles developers use to prototype and gate behavior. Names are often literal. Read top-level tokens this way:

• WSB — likely “Windows Search Bar” (the search UI that sits in the taskbar / Start menu).
• DSE — likely “Default Search Engine.”
• DB — likely “Default Browser.”
• NonBing / NonEdge — indicates behavior for cases where the system default is not Bing or Edge.
• Explicit — suggests a conditional or opt‑in mode rather than an unconditional override.

So, a flag named msWSBLaunchNonBingDSEAndNonEdgeDB literally describes Windows Search launching queries using a non‑Bing default search engine and a non‑Edge default browser — i.e., opening Google in Chrome if those are the defaults. Multiple independent reports that examined Canary metadata have interpreted these tokens the same way.

What testers actually observed​

Journalists and independent testers enabling the flags in Edge Canary reported that when the flags were toggled, Start/taskbar search clicks launched the configured default browser and used the browser’s chosen search engine instead of Edge/Bing. Those first-hand tests are important because flag names alone are suggestive but not definitive — the fact that reporters documented working behavior provides the crucial second link between code names and real-world functionality. One reputable Windows-focused report includes video demonstrations of the change in action.

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Why this would matter to everyday users​

• Respects user choice. If shipped, web queries initiated from Windows Search would behave consistently with the rest of the system — opening in the default browser and using the default search provider.
• Simplifies workflows. No more surprise context switches: a quick “misspelled app name → Enter” search won’t eject you into Edge/Bing if you prefer Chrome/Google.
• Reduces the need for third‑party hacks. Community projects (e.g., MSEdgeRedirect) and registry hacks that exist to work around the forced Edge/Bing behavior would become less necessary for many users. Those projects remain useful but would be less essential if Microsoft implements a native option.

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Caveats and what hasn’t been proven yet​

This is a promising development, but the change is not yet a finished product. Treat the Canary flags and early demos with caution for several reasons:

• Experimental flags can disappear or be renamed. Canary is an unstable development channel. Features and flags move frequently and are often reworked before reaching Beta/Dev or shipping channels.
• Region gating is possible. Microsoft’s DMA-driven changes show the company will gate behavior by geography when required by law. The Canary traces could represent a path for a broader rollout — but not a guarantee of a worldwide release immediately.
• Telemetry and proxying remain uncertain. The flag names don’t tell us whether Windows Search will still proxy queries through Microsoft services for enrichment (for suggestions, instant answers, or ranking) before handing them off to a browser. Early coverage flags telemetry and data‑flow as open questions; until Microsoft publishes documentation, privacy‑conscious users should treat those aspects as unverified.
• Enterprise edge cases. Redirecting shell‑level links into different browsers may interact badly with enterprise SSO, conditional access, or extension-dependent flows. IT teams will need to test policies and line‑of‑business apps before large‑scale deployment. Microsoft’s enterprise policy docs for Edge already show administrators can control certain searchbar behaviors, underscoring that IT-specific tooling will matter.

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How Microsoft’s regulatory history frames the change​

The EEA experience is the clearest precedent. Under DMA and related enforcement pressure, Microsoft introduced region‑specific behavior that separates local Windows Search results from web results and gives EEA users more control over which browser and search provider system components can invoke. That regulatory context both explains and accelerates engineering work; when a change has to be made for compliance in one region, engineering teams will often generalize the solution elsewhere. The Edge Canary traces look like exactly that: a generalized engineering approach that could be activated regionally or globally.

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Practical tests — how to reproduce the behavior (what reporters did)​

If you want to experiment on a test machine, the general steps used by independent testers were:

• Install Microsoft Edge Canary (experimental channel).
• Visit edge://flags and search for the newly added flags (names include tokens such as msWSBLaunchNonBingDSE, msWSBLaunchNonEdgeDB, msWSBLaunchNonBingDSEAndNonEdgeDB, and related “Explicit” variants).
• Enable the relevant flags and restart the browser (note: enabling Canary flags can destabilize the browser).
• Ensure your desired browser (Chrome/Firefox/Brave) is set as the Windows default and that the browser’s default search engine is set to your choice (Google, DuckDuckGo, etc.).
• Use the Start/taskbar search to run a web search and observe which browser opens and which search engine handles the query.

A critical reminder: these steps are for controlled testing only. Enabling experimental flags on production machines is not recommended. Canary channel experiments can break and carry unknown privacy or compatibility implications.

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Risks and enterprise implications​

Compatibility and SSO​

Enterprise authentication flows (e.g., Azure AD conditional access, Windows Hello/SSO tokens, Smart Card integrations) sometimes rely on specific browser behaviors or signed‑in Edge sessions. If Windows starts opening search queries in a third‑party browser, those flows could fail or require reconfiguration.

Group Policy and management​

Microsoft already exposes Edge-related policies for searchbar behavior and launch controls. Organizations should expect administrative templates and CSPs to follow if Microsoft ships a change; admins should monitor Intune and Group Policy templates for new keys and testing guidance. Until then, the behavior could be inconsistent across managed environments.

Privacy and telemetry​

Even if Windows opens queries directly in a user’s default browser, it’s important to know whether Windows Search still enriches queries server-side before redirection. Enterprise security and privacy teams must verify what data leaves endpoints and how it’s processed. Early reporting flagged telemetry as an outstanding question; Microsoft has not yet released definitive engineering documentation for these flags.

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Workarounds and alternatives today​

While waiting for an official, supported change, users have relied on community tools and registry tweaks. They work but carry tradeoffs:

• MSEdgeRedirect (open source) intercepts Edge‑bound launches and redirects them to the default browser. It’s actively maintained and a practical workaround for many users, but it can trigger antivirus heuristics, and developers warn about edge cases.
• Earlier tools (EdgeDeflector) were broken by Microsoft changes, and some Modern Windows updates can undermine community tools; expect maintenance overhead.
• Registry edits can suppress web suggestions or disable Bing integration, but these are blunt instruments that may remove useful features and are not always forward‑compatible.

All of these approaches remain valid stopgaps for power users and admins in controlled environments, but they are not substitutes for a polished, supported Microsoft solution.

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What to watch next — realistic timeline and signals​

• Canary → Dev/Beta → Stable: Features typically graduate from Canary when they’re stable and have a clear ship plan. Watch Dev/Beta channel release notes for the flags reappearing there and for Microsoft to document behavior.
• Official documentation & policies: Microsoft’s support and enterprise documentation (Intune, ADMX/CSP) will reveal how admins can control the behavior. The presence of new Group Policy keys or Edge ADMX settings is a precondition for enterprise adoption.
• Telemetry and legal text: If Microsoft plans to change how queries are routed, it will likely publish support notes clarifying telemetry and data flow. Those notes are key for privacy-conscious users and administrators.
• Region rollouts: Expect EEA behavior to remain the leading indicator. A global rollout would follow if technical, commercial, and legal constraints are satisfied.

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Recommendations​

For everyday users​

• If you rely on the Start search web results and prefer Chrome/Google (or another pairing), consider testing Edge Canary on a spare machine to validate the new flags, but do not enable Canary flags on your primary device.
• Keep community tools like MSEdgeRedirect in mind as a temporary solution, but be mindful of security warnings and update cycles.

For IT administrators​

• Create a test lab that mirrors your production authentication flows and web‑app dependencies.
• Track Edge and Windows Insider channel notes for the exact flags and any new ADMX/CSP settings.
• Prepare a rollback plan for any group‑policy changes, and document potential SSO or extension dependencies if third‑party browsers begin to handle search results.
• Monitor privacy/telemetry documentation from Microsoft; require explicit answers before broad deployment.

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Final analysis — a meaningful fix, but not an automatic panacea​

The Edge Canary flags are the most concrete technical evidence yet that Microsoft might finally let the Windows Start/taskbar search honor both the system default browser and the default search engine. That’s a straightforward, user‑facing quality‑of‑life fix that addresses a long‑standing complaint.
Strengths of the development:

• It directly resolves a confusing, inconsistent UX where Windows would open web queries in Edge/Bing regardless of user choice.
• It reduces the need for fragile third‑party hacks and registry workarounds.
• It aligns Windows behavior with modern expectations about system defaults and user choice.

Risks and open questions:

• The behavior is experimental and may be regionally limited or temporarily shelved.
• Telemetry and intermediate server processing are unverified; privacy‑conscious users need clarity.
• Enterprise compatibility and SSO implications must be validated before mass adoption.

Taken together, the evidence is cautiously optimistic: Edge Canary’s flags, corroborated by independent testing and by Microsoft’s EEA compliance work, form a plausible path to restoring predictable, respectful default‑app behavior in Windows Search. The path from flag to full release will reveal how Microsoft balances user choice, privacy, enterprise complexity, and its own commercial incentives. Until then, the change is one to watch closely — and to test in controlled environments when it appears in Insider channels.

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Conclusion
A problem that annoyed power users for years may finally be on Microsoft’s roadmap to correction: the Start menu sending web queries to Edge/Bing regardless of system settings. The Edge Canary flags represent concrete engineering work that could end that friction. The key next steps are broader Insider channel appearances, authoritative Microsoft documentation clarifying telemetry and policy controls, and enterprise testing. If Microsoft ships this as a configurable, well-documented option, it will close one of Windows 11’s more persistent user‑experience complaints — while reminding users and IT teams to remain vigilant about privacy and compatibility during the transition.

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Source: XDA Microsoft might finally fix the worst part about Windows 11's Start menu web search