How to Set Strict SafeSearch Results in Windows 11's Web Search

According to Internet Live, 102,920 searches are performed on Google every second.When we need to find something, our first stop is usually our search engine of choice.

But there's also a lot of adult content on the web that you and your family find inappropriate -- especially age-appropriate content that your kids shouldn't be watching.However, you can customize web searches for your family and restrict adult content from showing up on your kids' computers.Let's explore the method.

What is SafeSearch for Windows 11 and how to enable it on Windows Search?

If you've browsed Windows 11, chances are you've noticed that the search bar can search the web.If you type adult language into the search bar, Windows 11 will respond with age-inappropriate content.

That's what enabling SafeSearch is all about.Once enabled, it will keep adult content out of your webpage previews, so your family won't find content they shouldn't see when searching with Windows 11.

Windows Search uses Bing to determine whether search results contain sensitive content before displaying them in a web preview.If Bing determines that a result is deemed to contain adult content, the preview pane will display a "View web result" button so you can open the result in a web browser.

Windows SafeSearchSettings allow you to change your search filtering level to suit your needs.Here's how:

1. Press Win+I keys simultaneously to open Settings.

2. In the left pane, select Privacy & Security, and in the menu that opens, select Search Permissions.

3. The Search Permissions settings will open and you will see three SafeSearch settings.

Strict - Filters adult text, images and videos from search results.

Moderate—Filters adult images and videos from search results, but does not filter text.This is the default setting and will be on.

Off - Does not filter adult content.

Now you can choose between these three settings to filter your search according to your needs.If you choose "strict", your settings will be shared with Bing in your browser.And this strict setting on your computer will override your Bing SafeSearch setting on the Bing.com settings page.

If you choose Moderate or Off, Bing Search will default to your Bing SafeSearch setting on the Bing.com settings page.

You can set a strict filter to limit abusive and adult content or extremely violent images from the PC used by your children or family members.

How to Lock Down Windows SafeSearch to Guarantee Your Child's Computer with Strict Security Results

Although you can choose to set a strict filter for your child's PC, it can easily be changed in Windows settings.There is, however, a way to lock down a PC's strict search -- of course, you'll want to do that for your vulnerable-aged child.

To keep your child's computer's search results strictly secure, you can map www.bing.com to strict.bing.com.Only users who are PC administrators can undo this change.

Here's how to lock SafeSearch for your child's computer:

1. Search for Notepad on your Windows PC.

2. Right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator to open Notepad.

3. Click Yes when Windows asks if you want this program to make changes.

4. In Notepad, click File, and then click Open to open your hosts file.A hosts file is a text file that stores information used to map server or host names to IP addresses.By editing the hosts file, you can trick your computer into looking directly at the IP address you specify.On most Windows installations, the hosts file is located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. (If Windows is in a different location, you can find the hosts file by typing the following at a command prompt: cd /d %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc).

5. If you don't see the hosts file or see a blank window, change the Text Document (*.txt) option to All files.

6. Then type cmd in Windows Search and press Enter.

7. In the Command Prompt window, type:

ping strict.bing.com

Type exactly the same as shown above, with a space after the word ping.Note the resulting IP that appears.This looks like this: 204.79.197.220.

8. Now create an entry at the end of the hosts file as follows:

204. 79. 197. 220 www.bing.com

9. Finally, save the file.Now, Windows will use strict.bing.com to guarantee strict SafeSearch results on your kid's computer.

If you want to undo this change, you can delete your entry in the hosts file and save the file.

How to set it up on your kid's Windows 11 PCGoogle SafeSearch?

Google is the most popular search engine, and you and your family use it to search for many things every day.Your kids might use it to do their school work, learn new things, and explore fun content and games.

Google also has SafeSearch built in to keep your kids safe online.However, SafeSearch can be turned off without much effort, especially when your kids browse without logging into their account.Therefore, you may want to lock SafeSearch on your child's computer to filter adult content.

You can do this by mapping the google domain to forcesafesearch.google.com.This method leverages the SafeSearch virtual IP to force all users on your network to use SafeSearch on Google Search, while still allowing secure connections over Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).It works on all browsers on the PC, and only the administrator on the device can undo the change.

Here's how to do it on your kid's Windows computerGoogle SafeSearch :

1. Search for Notepad on your Windows PC.

2. Right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator.

3. Click Yes when Windows asks if you want this program to make changes.

4. In Notepad, open your hosts file.On most Windows installations, it is located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. (If Windows is in a different location, you can find the hosts file by typing the following command at a command prompt: cd /d %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc).

5. Click the Windows key, type cmd, and press Enter.This will open a command prompt.

6. Enter the command:

ping forcesafesearch.google.com

Note the IP address, it will look like this: 216.239.38.120.

7. Create an entry at the end of the hosts file with the IP address you got, like:

216. 239. 120 www.google.com #forcesafesearch

You can also copy this line for any other google country domain you like, eg: www.google.co.uk

8. Finally, save the hosts file.

To confirm that SafeSearch is turned on, visit google.com and check that SafeSearch is turned on by default and cannot be turned off.

Keep your family and kids safe on the web

Today, the web is like a lifeline, connecting us and our families to a source of information, knowledge, art, technology, games and fun.However, there is a lot of content that is bad and not suitable for your loved ones, especially innocent children.

It's a good idea to make sure they're protected when they're using their computer or browsing the web -- you can do this with Bing and Google's SafeSearch settings.