How can I deactivate Cloudflare. Cloudflare is blocking all search requests.

Hello DArwin Burke,

Thanks for reaching out. Please note that Cloudflare itself isn't part of Edge or Windows, it's a security and proxy service that the website operator chooses to put in front of their site. So there's nothing to "deactivate" from your end in the traditional sense — but when Cloudflare blocks or loops a specific browser, it's almost always because something in that browser's traffic is being flagged. A few questions to narrow it down:

1. What exactly do you see — a "Verifying you are human" loop, a "403 Forbidden" page, or just a blank/blocked result?
2. Is it on all websites or specific ones (and if specific, which)?
3. Does the same site load fine in Chrome / Firefox or in an InPrivate window in Edge?

Also, it's worth trying first:

• Edge > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > scroll to Security > turn off Microsoft Edge Secure Network.
• Restart Edge and retry the site.

If that doesn't help, run through these in order:

• Open the site in an InPrivate window (Ctrl + Shift + N). If it loads, an extension is the cause — disable extensions one by one, especially any ad blocker, VPN extension, or user-agent switcher.
• Clear cookies and cache for the site: Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data > choose Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files > Clear now.
• Check whether you're behind a VPN, proxy, or company/school network — Cloudflare often flags shared exit IPs. Disconnecting briefly is a quick test.
• Try changing secure DNS to a different provider: Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Security > Use secure DNS > choose a service provider like Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google.

If the same site is also blocked in Chrome / Firefox / InPrivate, it's not really an Edge issue — at that point it usually means your IP address itself has reputation flags on Cloudflare's side, and the only real fix is to ask your ISP for a new IP, or contact the site owner directly.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

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Cloudflare itself isn’t a component of Microsoft Edge or Windows 11, so it can’t be “turned off” from Edge settings. It is either:

• A DNS/proxy/WAF service configured on the domain you’re visiting (controlled by the site owner), or
• A network-level service configured by whoever manages the network (for example, an organization or school), or
• A service you explicitly configured for your own domain or application.

If Cloudflare is blocking search requests when visiting websites that you own and manage (for example, a site fronted by Cloudflare WAF), the way to stop Cloudflare from inspecting or acting on traffic is to remove or change the Cloudflare-side configuration for that domain. For example, when Cloudflare is used as an integration with another Microsoft service, disabling it is done from the Cloudflare dashboard:

1. Sign in to the Cloudflare Dashboard.
2. Select the domain that’s using Cloudflare.
3. Adjust or remove the security controls that are blocking requests (for example, WAF rules, bot protection, or other security features), or disable the integration that is sending data to or through Cloudflare.

For integrations that send logs or traffic to Microsoft services (such as Clarity AI Visibility), disconnecting Cloudflare is done by deleting the Cloudflare job that pushes data:

1. Sign in to the Cloudflare Dashboard.
2. Select the domain used for the integration.
3. Go to Analytics & Logs > LogPush.
4. Locate the LogPush job created for the Microsoft service.
5. Delete that LogPush job to stop Cloudflare from sending data.

If Cloudflare is being used as a WAF in front of Microsoft Entra External ID or Azure AD B2C custom domains, Cloudflare is configured at the DNS and WAF level. To stop Cloudflare from affecting traffic, remove or change those DNS and WAF settings in Cloudflare:

1. In Cloudflare DNS for the affected CNAME, turn off the Proxy status (switch from Proxied to DNS-only) so traffic no longer passes through Cloudflare’s WAF.
2. Optionally, remove or relax Cloudflare firewall rules or bot protections that are blocking search requests.

If Cloudflare is managed by a third party (for example, a school, company, or hosting provider), only that administrator can change or disable it. In that case, contact the network or domain administrator and ask them to adjust or remove the Cloudflare configuration that is blocking search requests.

References:

• Disconnecting AI Visibility Integrations
• Configure Cloudflare Web Application Firewall with Azure Active Directory B2C
• Configure Cloudflare with Microsoft Entra External ID