Microsoft has released a major update aimed at improving the search experience in Windows 11 with more accurate results, less reliance on the internet, and even the removal of annoying ads and promotional materials.
“You’ve asked for faster, more relevant, and easier-to-use search—when opening an app, finding a file, or changing a setting,” Microsoft says in a new blog post. “Since the Windows Search Box is where many people start, we focused on making the results more reliable, easier to scan, and clearer before clicking.”
The company touts a number of key improvements, including prioritizing local results before they hit the web, as well as clearer results that better show why a search result appears when a query is typed.
Search also gets better at handling issues like typos, which helps show the correct results even when a user misspells a program or file. The search home bar will no longer display MSN or Bing content, and advertising content and ads will no longer appear in search results.
Here’s the full list of changes Microsoft announced for search in Windows 11:
- A quieter home screen. Home search has been simplified to reduce visual clutter and make it easier to quickly return to recent searches.
- Clearer results. Search does a better job of showing where the result came from—an app, setting, file, web result, or Store suggestion—so it’s easier to tell what you’re looking at and where to go before you click.
- Promotional content has been removed from web results. Web results show the most relevant answer instead of showing related products and promotions first, helping to make searching more focused and less distracting.
- Control of web and Microsoft Store results is in your hands. New setting Settings > Privacy & Security > Search allows you to choose whether web and Microsoft Store offers appear alongside local results.
- Local results are preferred when there is a better match. Apps, settings, and files appear more reliable before web and Store offers when your content is a stronger match. It’s easier to find system items like Computer and Trash.
- Finding apps is more forgiving. It’s better at handling search errors, dropped letters, extra letters, and partial words for apps. Queries like “utlook” can still find Outlook.
- The results of the parameters are improved. With more tweaks planned in the coming months, we’ve made the first round of ranking improvements to help more relevant settings appear higher in results.
- Finding files is improved. Search is better at finding the right local files with added support for two-character file searches. We’ve also made improvements to show cloud and associated files in results when there’s a stronger match. These changes help you get to the document, download, or folder you’re looking for faster.
- Reliability improves. More work is done, improved search reliability, including reduced probability of crashes and loading problems.
These improvements are now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Experimental Channel and are expected to be available to all Windows 11 users later this year. Insiders may not see the changes immediately because they spread in waves.
These improvements are part of Microsoft’s larger Windows K2 effort aimed at fixing Windows 11’s biggest problems and positioning the platform as a viable competitor alongside macOS and other systems. Linux.
Search has been a Windows pain point for several years, and hopefully these improvements will be what Windows users have been waiting for to bring it up to par with the rest of the competition.
Join us Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your thoughts and discuss our latest news, reviews and more.
