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Windows Intune NoFind Policy: Remove the Legacy Start Menu Search Link

NoFind removes the legacy Start menu Search link for users, but it does not hide the modern Start search box. Here are the exact MDM URI, scope, effects, and broader alternative.
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To remove the legacy Search link from Start, configure the user-scoped ADMX_StartMenu/NoFind policy. Its MDM URI is ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/NoFind. It does not hide the search box in the modern Start menu; for that broader change, Microsoft documents a separate device-scoped policy, Search/DisableSearch.

What NoFind changes—and what it leaves alone

Microsoft names this policy “Remove Search link from Start Menu.” When enabled, it removes the Search item from the Start menu and its right-click context menu. It also changes several search interactions: Windows-logo key+F does not respond, F3 is affected, and Ctrl+F does not respond in File Explorer. Search remains on File Explorer’s Standard buttons toolbar, but is removed from the context menu for a drive or folder. These details are in Microsoft’s ADMX_StartMenu Policy CSP documentation.

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The key limitation is that NoFind does not remove the search box from the new-style Start menu. It also does not affect Internet Explorer or prevent other methods of searching. If the requirement is specifically to conceal the modern Start search box, NoFind is not the matching policy.

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Configure the NoFind policy through MDM

NoFind is an ADMX-backed, user-scoped Policy CSP setting. Microsoft specifies that ADMX-backed configuration requires SyncML format. Use the exact URI below when configuring it through an MDM workflow that supports this policy:

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./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/NoFind

The Group Policy mapping identifies the setting as User Configuration > Start Menu and Taskbar > Remove Search link from Start Menu. Its registry mapping is SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer, value NoFind, from StartMenu.admx. These mappings are documented in Microsoft’s ADMX_StartMenu CSP reference and policy setting details.

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Intune is an MDM solution that commonly uses Policy CSP settings for Windows configuration, and Microsoft’s Intune Start device-restriction reference describes its Start settings as using the Start Policy CSP. However, those references do not establish a current Intune admin-center click path for this particular ADMX-backed NoFind setting. Do not assume a specific portal blade or wizard is available; confirm the supported configuration method for your Intune environment.

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Choose NoFind or the broader DisableSearch policy

Use NoFind when the goal is to remove the legacy Start Search item for users, while understanding that it leaves the modern Start search box in place. Microsoft’s separate Search/DisableSearch policy is broader: it disables Search UI entry points such as keyboard shortcuts, touchpad gestures, and type-to-search, and hides the Start search box and taskbar Search buttons. Its CSP URI is ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/DisableSearch.

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Policy Scope and URI Visible/search behavior
NoFind User-scoped; ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/NoFind Removes the legacy Start Search item and affects specified search interactions; does not hide the modern Start search box.
DisableSearch Device-scoped; ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/DisableSearch Hides the Start search box and taskbar Search buttons and disables Search UI entry points.

See Microsoft’s Search Policy CSP documentation for DisableSearch details. Select by the required user experience, not just by the shared word “Search” in the setting name.

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Check the documented Windows support matrix

Microsoft lists NoFind support for Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise / IoT Enterprise LTSC editions. The documented versions are Windows 10 version 2004, 20H2, and 21H1 with KB5005101 (builds 19041.1202, 19042.1202, and 19043.1202 respectively), plus Windows 11 version 21H2 (build 22000) and later. These are the versions and editions stated in Microsoft’s ADMX_StartMenu CSP support details; check that reference for the target Windows release because its support matrix may change.

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