SafeSearch is a feature introduced in the Window system by Microsoft to hide inappropriate content from the Windows user. This is really beneficial because parents always do not want their kids who are below 18 to watch any content which they are not supposed to. This setting is actually been turned on in the system by default by Windows but many Windows users experienced an issue where they are unable to turn off the SafeSearch setting on their Windows PC.
This could have been an issue because of corrupted files present on the system, the geographical location issue, or the interruption of the third-party anti-virus software installed on your system. On analyzing these points, we have gathered a bunch of fixes in this article that the user might find helpful in fixing the issue.
Workaround –
- Before jumping to the solutions, we recommend our users try updating their Windows system and see if this helps in resolving the issue.
Fix 1 – Turn Off the SafeSearch using the Settings app
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your system by pressing together the Windows + R keys.
Step 2: Then select the Privacy & security option on the left side of the Settings window.
Step 3: Scroll down the Privacy & security page and click Search permissions.
Step 4: On the Search permissions page, select the Moderate radio button under the SafeSearch section on top if you want to enable it as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 5: If you want to turn off the SafeSearch feature, just select the Off radio button as shown below.
Step 6: Once done, you can close the Settings app.
Fix 2 – Edit the registry file using the registry editor
NOTE – Before proceeding, we recommend our users export the registry file onto your system because if something goes wrong while changing the registry file, you can revert it back anytime later.
Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together on the keyboard.
Step 2: Type regedit in the textbox and press Enter key.
Step 3: Accept the UAC prompt on the screen by clicking Yes to continue.
Step 4: Once the registry editor opens, clear its address bar and copy-paste the below line in it, and press the Enter key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SearchSettings
Step 5: After you reach the SearchSettings registry key, find the SafeSearchMode DWORD value on the right side of the registry editor window.
Step 6: Open the SafeSearchMode DWORD value’s edit properties window by double-clicking on it.
Step 7: In the edit properties window, enter 1 in the value data textbox and click OK if you want to set the SafeSearch settings to moderate.
Step 8: You need to enter 0 in the value data textbox and click OK if you want to turn Off the SafeSearch settings.
Step 9: Similarly, if you want to change the SafeSearch settings to Strict, set the value to 2.
Step 10: Once done, you can close the registry editor and then restart the system.
Fix 3 – Uninstall or Disable the Anti-virus software
The main motive of any anti-virus software installed on the Windows system is to protect the system from viruses and inappropriate contents and files. So due to this, it puts extra safety, and therefore the user will not be able to turn off the SafeSearch feature on the system.
You should disable the antivirus software on the system. It is also advised to uninstall all the anti-virus software from the system and check if this helps as explained using the steps below.
Step 1: Open the Run console by pressing together the Windows + R keys.
Step 2: Then type appwiz.cpl and hit Enter key.
Step 3: This opens the Programs and Features wizard on the system.
Step 4: Now search for the Antivirus software from the list of programs in the wizard.
Step 5: Select it and click Uninstall.
Step 6: This starts uninstalling the software and once done, close the wizard.
Step 7: Restart your system once and after the system starts, check if you are able to turn off the SafeSearch settings on your system.
Fix 4 – Run the SFC Scan on your system
This issue can also be possible due to all the corrupted files present in the system. So please repair all the corrupted files by running the System File Checker scan on the system using the steps given below.
Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together to open the run command box.
Step 2: Type cmd in the run box and press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together to open the command prompt as admin.
Step 3: You may have to accept the UAC prompt on the screen to click Yes to proceed.
Step 4: This opens the elevated command prompt on the system.
Step 5: Now type the below line in the command prompt and press the Enter key.
sfc /scannow
Step 6: This will start scanning for any corrupted system/data files in the system and tries to repair them.
Step 7: Once done, close the command prompt and restart the system.