What Are Desktop Trending Searches?
Google recently pushed an update to the desktop version of Chrome (Windows, Mac, Linux) that mirrors a feature long-hated on Android: Omnibox Trending Searches. Now, when you open a blank New Tab page and click into the search/address bar (the Omnibox) before you type a single letter, Chrome will display a dropdown list of “Trending Searches”—usually celebrity news, sports scores, or viral topics.
If you use Chrome for work or prefer a distraction-free browsing experience, having tabloid news shoved into your address bar every time you try to navigate to a website is incredibly frustrating. You can completely disable this feature.
How to Disable Trending Searches in Desktop Chrome
Because this feature is deeply integrated into the search provider, you must disable it using the hidden Chrome Flags menu.
- Open Google Chrome on your desktop computer.
- Type the following into the address bar and press Enter:
chrome://flags- In the search box at the top of the Experiments page, type Trending.
- Look for the specific flag titled Omnibox Trending Zero Prefix Suggestions. (Note: There might be multiple flags with similar names; ensure you find the one specifically for the Omnibox).
- Click the dropdown menu next to it (which is likely set to “Default”).
- Change the setting to Disabled.
- Click the blue Relaunch button that appears at the bottom right of the screen to restart the browser.
When Chrome reopens, clicking into the empty address bar on a New Tab page will only show your recent search history and bookmarks, completely removing the irrelevant trending news topics.