Windows Search has been one of the most frustrating parts of Windows 11 and now Microsoft is addressing this with a major overhaul. A new redesigned Windows Search is currently being tested that is much faster, more capable and much more modern. “This new Windows Search experience is designed to be fast,” says Anshul Rawat, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows product team. “It is built on WinUI 3 and is part of our broader investment in modernizing our core Windows experiences.” Microsoft says early tests of this new search have shown “substantial improvements in performance and memory usage,” meaning the company is also not adding more features to Windows to improve search. The user interface has also been greatly improved, with quick animations and a large preview panel. While search is being overhauled visually, behind the scenes Microsoft is also improving the fundamentals. “We’re also improving the way Windows Search understands what you’re looking for, including better matching for typos and synonyms,” says Rawat. I got to try out this new Windows Search interface yesterday at Microsoft’s Windows and Surface event, and I was impressed with how fast it is and how uncluttered it feels. Right now, if you search for something like an actor’s height, it will take a few seconds to figure it out and essentially show you a miniature Bing result. The new Windows Search simply displays the result online, just like the modern search interfaces you see on iOS and Android. These online results also extend to previews of PowerPoint presentations, photos and other files. The most impressive part of this new Windows Search is being able to use it as a launcher, like many third-party tools, and have it perform actions for tasks like turning Bluetooth on and off or dark mode. You can even ask search to minimize windows or open apps side by side. If you use Phone Link, these actions will also extend to your phone, so you can simply type “text mom, I’m late” and it will send her a text from your phone. Microsoft is testing this new Windows Search interface with its Windows Insiders right now, which should mean we’ll see it appear in Windows 11 in the coming months. “Looking ahead to next year, work is already underway to bring the new Windows Search experience to the Start menu and make it adapt naturally to different taskbar positions and Windows settings,” says Rawat. “Our goal is to make Windows Search more capable, with more natural ways to express what you need, richer information in context, and more ways to get things done directly from search.”
