Disabling Suggested Searches (Autocomplete) in Google Chrome

Why?

Schools should consider disabling Search Suggestions on Google Search to mitigate the potential for harmful and inappropriate suggestions. Autocomplete can inadvertently expose students to sensitive or explicit content, compromising their safety and well-being. Additionally, in the context of web filtering and monitoring systems, Search Suggestions can lead to false positives, flagging harmless searches as potentially problematic.

Edge and Chrome managed by InTune

Log in at intune.microsoft.com
Select Devices and then Configuration from the Manage Devices menu
Create a new Policy
When prompted, select Windows 10 and later for the Platform and Settings catalog for the profile type, then click Create
Give the policy an appropriate name and description, then click Next
Click Add settings. From the Settings picker search for Enable search suggestions.
From the available categories select Google Chrome. In the subcategory select Enable search suggestions
From the available categories select Microsoft Edge. In the subcategory select Enable search suggestions
From the main profile window click Next
If required select a Scope tag, then click Next
Click Add all devices (while testing you may want to select a specific group of computers), then click Next
Finally click Create to finish setting up the new policy and apply it to all Windows clients being managed by InTune

Chrome managed by Google Workspace

Log into the Google Workspace Admin console - admin.google.com
Select Chrome browser, then Settings
Navigate to the OU (organisational unit) where you want to apply the AutoComplete setting
Search for and then select the setting SearchSuggestEnabled
On the configuration drop down select Never allow users to use Search Suggest, then click Save

Edge and Chrome managed by Group Policy

Before Edge and Chrome can be managed via a Group Policy the relevant policy files need to be added to the domain's Central Store. There is guidance from Microsoft on how to do this here - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/group-policy/create-and-manage-central-store

The required files can be downloaded from the following webpages

Edge - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download?form=MA13FJ - Ensure you select the 'Download Windows XX Policy' option below the download button for Edge.

Chrome - https://chromeenterprise.google/browser/download/?sjid=4943034258704231650-EU#manage-policies-tab

Once you have imported the policy files into the Central Store you can disable AutoComplete by configuring the following settings within a Group Policy:

For Edge

Computer Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Microsoft Edge

Set Enable Search Suggestions to Disabled

For Chrome

Computer Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Google - Google Chrome

Set Enable Search Suggestions to Disabled