Turn off Spotlight web search

dlete and rebuild the spotlight index and compare your results. Alluded to above.

From the Terminal.app copy and paste:

sudo mdutil -X /; sudo mdutil -i on /; sudo mdutil -E /

this deletes the .Spotlight-v100 folder; Turns indexing back on; Rebuilds index 

(note:re:sudo... your psswd will not echo on screen type it in anyway, use the enter\return key to proceed.)

you can verify it is working by entering something, just about anything into the Spotlight search field...

The web search option being there has nothing to do with your problem. That always shows up as an option. If it finds nothing else to match that meet the criteria it doesn’t give you search results. It just offers to search the term on the web because it found nothing else.

The solution to this problem appears fairly elusive, sometimes deleting the hidden .Spotlight–v100 folder and then re-indexing spotlight will make it work again. But sometimes it is tied to some third-party meta-data importer that is somehow stalling up the indexing process.

The Spotlight folder is in /System/volumes/Data.

I think it's just a feature of Spotlight to selectively ignore settings. I've turned off websites and also Tips. When I do a search it doesn't return any web searches, just the option to do so - but it does return loads of Tips, even though they are turned off. The first app I downloaded on my first Mac in 2009 was a search app because Spotlight didn't work very well then and since then I don't think it's seen a single fix or improvement. My recommendation would be to download a search app.

TomDenver09 wrote:

In macOS Sequoia, brand new clean install, I've turned off everything in Spotlight System Settings under Search results except Applications and System Settings.

When I type "keyboard" or "shortcuts", or "sound", I expect to see these System Settings near the top of the list like I used to.

Now, instead, when I start typing "sound", I see 4 web links: "sound", "sound clips", "sound wave", "sound softer".

<snip...>

Why can't I turn these off? Obviously these are autocomplete results and they do not respect my privacy. Apple claims to care about my privacy and accessibility, but this new "feature" shows that their words are not in accordance with their deeds.

Does anyone know how to get rid of this?

Is there a defaults write command to get rid of it?

Not sure what to tell you... the current macOS is 15.3.2

you can file a bug report / submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

make changes to your settings(?)

per your one example...

TomDenver09 wrote:

Yet "Apple Feedback" is there to give the appearance that Apple is listening to us. All I see in these communities are suggestions to leave Apple Feedback. If Apple cares about our feedback as users, why isn't it "open" like this community? Why is it closed and private?

It's not "closed and private." You don't even need an Apple Account to leave feedback. This Community, on the other hand is far more closed and private in that you need to create a log in to post.

What evidence is there that Apple has ever considered consumer feedback in its designs?

There are lots of changes that seem very likely to have been made as the result of feedback. Not to long ago, Apple changed the way you selected faces for the Apple Watch. Many, many people complained. They added the option to change it back. There have been some other, more recent things that I just can't think of right now.

So where does the Feedback go, the circular file?

It is all logged and routed to the correct people within Apple. But remember, just because one person makes a suggestion or gives feedback on something doesn't mean changes will happen.

TomDenver09 wrote:

It is all logged and routed to the correct people within Apple. But remember, just because one person makes a suggestion or gives feedback on something doesn't mean changes will happen.

We don't know that only one person made a suggestion, do we? It's closed and only available to Apple. We have no idea, because it's fractured and kept from us. There could be hundreds or thousands of customers with this issue, but it's spread all over the place. Only Apple knows how many comments it has received, and that information is not shared with us. "It is all logged and routed to the correct people" is placing a lot of trust in a corporation that is not very open about its practices and does not play well with others.

I used to give feedback diligently but I've given up.  I've got a list of dozens of bugs that I've reported repeatedly via the Feedback site at every major upgrade, some going back ten years, all of which are still present in Sequoia.   Draw your own conclusions.

TomDenver09 wrote:

We don't know that only one person made a suggestion, do we? It's closed and only available to Apple. We have no idea, because it's fractured and kept from us. There could be hundreds or thousands of customers with this issue, but it's spread all over the place. Only Apple knows how many comments it has received, and that information is not shared with us. "It is all logged and routed to the correct people" is placing a lot of trust in a corporation that is not very open about its practices and does not play well with others.

If you don't trust Apple, don't use their products. Find a company you do trust and give them your money.