Last month, Microsoft introduced the new Bing powered by ChatGPT. Since that time, Microsoft is adding AI to everything from Microsoft Teams to Word. Microsoft Edge 111 shipped to the Stable Channel and brought new sidebar features powered by Edge Copilot, including the Bing Chat button in Microsoft Edge. As many people are not too fond of Bing Chat button being added to Edge and elsewhere on Windows 11, there isn’t currently an easy way to turn the feature off.
The folks at Neowin found a rather risky way to remove the Bing button with a swift Registry edit on Windows 11, but personally, I wish there was another way. Messing with the Registry to remove a feature can cause more issues than it solves, so until Microsoft releases an official way to disable this feature, it’s better to wait. But if you know the risks and are comfortable performing an edit in the Windows Registry and you still want to know how to remove the Bing button from Edge, this guide will show you what you need to do.
Remove Bing Chat button from Microsoft Edge on Windows
With the disclaimer out of the way, now you need to make the Registry edit, follow these steps.
- Open the Windows Registry by using the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open Run, type
regeditand press OK.
- Navigate to the following location in the Registry: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft. Doing this will change the settings for everyone that uses this PC. If you want to change the settings for your current user settings only go to: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge.
- Right-click the Microsoft key and choose New > Key and rename the new key to Edge.
- In the Edge key, Select New, then create a new DWORD (32-bit value) and rename the new DWORD to HubsSidebarEnabled. The default value data will be set to 0, but double-click the HubsSidebarEnabled value to check its value.
- Now, launch Microsoft Edge and go to edge://policy.
- Click Reload Policies and the Bing Chat button will disappear from Microsoft Edge.
That’s it! This method works for whatever channel of Microsoft Edge you are using, but you will need to click Reload Policies within each version if you have multiple Edge channels installed on your PC. If you want to see the Bing Chat again, just change the value of HubsSidebarEnabled to 1 and Reload Policies in each version of Edge on your PC.
Remove Bing Chat from Mac and Linux
Removing the Bing Chat button in Microsoft Edge is a whole lot easier for Mac and Linux users as neither operating system requires you to make any risky Registry edits, instead you can remove Bing Chat with just a simple command in your terminal.
Here are the commands to remove the Bing Chat button in Microsoft Edge for Mac and Linux users:
Mac: open -n -a "Microsoft Edge" --args --disable-features=msEdgeSidebarV2.
Linux: microsoft-edge-stable --disable-features=msEdgeSidebarV2.
Keep in mind, if you are using a different Microsoft Edge channel, you will have to enter the appropriate command that addresses the Edge channel version.
Beware of Registry edits
Microsoft has been heavily promoting its Edge browser and Bing search engine, as well as the newly introduced Bing Chat feature. However, there are various other web browsers available to users who do not wish to partake in Microsoft’s offerings. While it is understandable that Microsoft would want to promote its own services, having Bing as the default search engine in Edge can be a pain for those that prefer alternative search engines.
Although Google’s Chrome browser also promotes its services, it is important to note that there are people who are perfectly content with using Edge but do not want to have Bing integrated into their browsing experience. These people should not have to be forced to make risky edits to their computer’s registry to remove Bing from their browser.
As Bing Chat becomes more sophisticated and more easily accessible, hopefully users will have the option to disable or turn off the Bing Chat button in Microsoft Edge using a simple setting or flag. At this point, this seems like Microsoft’s best approach to offer a variety of features and services while also giving users the ability to remove the features that they don’t want or need.
