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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.
Tools and settings that filter and block explicit or inappropriate content from search results.
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.
Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all fail the same way for me. Can't change from Strict safesearch.
None of these fixes will work. The reason is MIcrosoft has retagged some 16,000 IP addresses as being tied to educational institutions. Oklahoma Electrical Cooperative (OEC) Fiber purchased a block of these IP addresses this year that were once associated with educational institutions. They were deregistered as educational and then in May of 2022 Microsoft somehow reregistered, or overrode the new registration, so they once again are only recognized as educational end users. This prevents you from changing SafeSearch settings for Bing and Edge for sure to deny access to anything that should not be seen by children. Even using Google in Chrome you have to dismiss the warning before you can access restricted content.
Microsoft is not listening to the OEC Fiber engineers, and OEC Fiber Executives are clueless as to who to reach out to at Microsoft to address this. It would be easier to get in touch with the President of the United States than someone at Microsoft who would be willing to work this issue.
Soooo, I had the same problem. Then, by chance, after I had downloaded a VPN app to test it out, I found I suddenly had complete control over Bing SafeSearch. That's when I decided to check my DNS settings. Sure enough, I had manually changed them to block malware and adult content using CloudFlare. So, it was overriding any Bing setting changes. As far as I'm concerned, this issue is resolved . . . at least for me. Other contributors to this question might want to check and see if they've manually set their DNS settings, or if someone else in the household did.
If you have an education version that’s the issue that me and a lot of people noticed. The education version has a bunch of stuff locked on.
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