Bing safesearch stuck at "strict" on Edge

Anonymous
2022-02-16T09:34:31+00:00

Recently, I discovered that when I browse Bing using Edge on my desktop, SafeSearch appears to be fixed on "strict" when it was "off" previously.

When I attempt to change this setting, I see the following message with no options to change SafeSearch permissions:

"Your country or region requires a strict Bing SafeSearch setting, which filters out results that might return adult content."

I live in the US, so this is definitely incorrect. Using a VPN to switch countries does not allow me to change the setting.

I am able to change SafeSearch settings when using a different browser and/or using a different device and Edge, so the issue appears to be specific to my desktop and Edge. I am using a Windows 10 Education key that I bought almost 5 years ago.

How do I turn off SafeSearch when using Edge on my desktop?

Edit: Only solution was to move to a different Windows 10 version. Seems to be an issue with Windows 10 Education and usergroup policy. I'm not IT savvy enough to find out how to change that, so the nuclear option of downgrading to a different version of Windows 10 was my only option. Hope this helps others that have this issue.

Bing | Safety and privacy | Adult content and SafeSearch

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

107 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-30T05:09:06+00:00

    There are many ways to lock in Safe Search. If you search for how to force safe search, you will find them.

    One I didn't see is changing the DNS response so the various www.bing.com sites use the 204.79.197.220 IP address (always safe), rather than 204.79.197.200. I worked around it by adding all the www, www2, www3 subdomains to my hosts file, which is read before the DNS lookup on your router. Depending on how locked down you are, YMMV.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more