Microsoft has announced the introduction of a major overhaul of the Windows Search Box. Announced on the Windows Insider Blog on July 13, 2026, the update removes promotional content from web results, puts local apps, files and settings ahead of web suggestions and, for the first time ever, lets users turn off web and Microsoft Store suggestions.
The update is available only to Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel on Windows 11 version 26H2, rolled out gradually by Controlled Feature Rollout, with no specific GA date confirmed yet.
If you had the last four years of typing the name of an app into the taskbar and seeing Bing suggestions and Store promotions load before your installed app — this is the update for you.
Main takeaways
- Promotional content (related products and promotions) has been stripped from web results in Windows Search.
- A new setting in Settings > Privacy & Security > Search allows you to decide whether web and Microsoft Store suggestions show up or not.
- Local results (apps, settings, files, system locations) are now prioritised when they are the best match.
- Search home is simplified to feature recent searches instead of recommended and trending content.
- Improved typo tolerance, ability to find files using two-character queries, better settings ranking and enhanced reliability round up the release.
- This is currently an Insider-only update, rolled out in the Experimental channel through Controlled Feature Rollout — not everyone will get it.
What has Microsoft announced?
The post titled “Improving Windows Search Box, with less clutter and more control” is written jointly by Jeff Petty of the Windows Experience team and Anderson Aiziro of Bing Search. In itself, the byline indicates something important: Bing Search is still used for Windows Search, and this is a negotiated cleanup rather than divorce.
According to Microsoft, the company has decided to respond to user feedback. People have requested a faster, more relevant and easier-to-use search feature, and, since the search box is the point of user experience with the system, the Windows Search team has started with making search results more reliable, clearer and easier to browse.
The update comes via Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR), the staging mechanism employed by Microsoft, meaning that even among Insiders on the same version of the operating system availability of the update may vary. A restart may unlock the changes. Feature flags, as described on Microsoft Learn, provide a manual method, and the steps are listed below.
Every change to Windows Search, explained
| Change | Description |
| A calmer Search home | Simplification of the homepage, less clutter, easy access to recent searches |
| Clearer result types | Labels and metadata make it possible to understand if a link is an app, setting, file, web result or Store suggestion before you click |
| Promotions removed from web results | Product recommendations and promotions stripped; the answer is always the first |
| Web/Store toggle | A setting decides whether online suggestions show up with local results or not |
| Prioritisation of local results | Installed apps, settings and files are ranked before web and Store suggestions if they are a better match |
| System items surfaced | “PC”, Recycle Bin and other system locations are more easily accessible |
| Typo tolerance | Missed letters, additional letters and partial words are more intelligently handled |
| Settings ranking | The first round of relevance tuning, more to come |
| File search | Ability to perform a search with two-character queries; cloud and connected files surface better |
| Reliability | Faster and less prone to errors |
A calmer Search home
Today, opening the search box will bring up a bunch of recommended and trending content and assorted panels before you start typing anything. With the updated homepage, the clutter is gone and recent searches have room to surface.
This is the most noticeable change and the most probable one to be noticed even by people not reading changelogs. Thurrott describes the rollout as bringing a chance for Insiders to finally declutter Search home to the point of showing only recent searches.
Results that clarify what they are
The results window has been redesigned to include more labels and metadata. This makes it possible to understand if you are dealing with an installed app, a Settings window, a local file, a web result or a Microsoft Store suggestion — before you click it and land in an unexpected browser tab.
Removal of promotional content from web results
This is the headline. Previously, web searches conducted via Windows Search were capable of surfacing product recommendations and promotions, before the actual answer.
According to Microsoft, that is gone now, leaving the most relevant answer at the top. It is an insignificant change in its technical scope, but, given the reputation of Windows 11, a heavily symbolical one, as the perception of the system surfaces being occupied by advertisements has become one of the main sources of its bad reputation.
A toggle switch for web and Store suggestions
For users who prefer to stick to strictly local searches, there is now a switch. Under Settings > Privacy & Security > Search, the “Show suggested search results” setting controls whether or not you see web and Microsoft Store suggestions along with your files, apps and settings.
This is the “more control” part of the announcement’s title, and this is the actual implementation of the spotlight-style clean search box users have been demanding.
Better prioritisation and matching of local results
Under the hood, the ranking has been changed in such a way that local content is prioritised when it is the better match — a straightforward but long-forgotten improvement to Windows Search. Locations in the system like “PC”, Recycle Bin and others are now accessible through search, as opposed to previously hidden in a menu somewhere.
Matching has been made more intelligent as well. Missed letters, extra letters, missed parts of words and extra parts are better handled: typing “utlook” will result in finding Outlook now. Two-character queries are now valid when searching for files, as are cloud and connected files.
There is a first round of improvements for ranking in Settings Search, which Microsoft promises to expand in the following months.
What the update does not do
A number of sites, including The Verge, have described this change as Microsoft testing Windows Search without the ads. That is not quite correct, and the difference is important.
Web results have not been removed, although promotional content has been stripped away from them. Microsoft does not ship its web and Store suggestions turned off by default: they are just demoted if the local result is a better match. To get the strictly local-only search box, you have to find the setting and turn it off yourself.
Bing remains the search engine. Leaving the setting on will keep Bing powering the search functionality.
It is currently released only to the Experimental channel. The GA date is not specified, and Microsoft’s wording in the official post speaks about further tuning, so this may very well be mid-way through development.
How to get the new Windows Search Box right now
- Sign up for the Windows Insider Program with your Microsoft account and follow the getting started guide to enrol your device in it.
- In Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, select the Experimental channel. Microsoft’s channel documentation explains what each channel provides.
- Update to a 26H2 build and restart your PC. The CFR may unlock the changes automatically.
- If no changes occurred, go to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > Feature flags.
- Enable “Refined Windows Search,” “Searchable System Components” and “Short Query File Search support.”
- Restart the PC.
- To stop web and Store suggestions from appearing, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Search and turn off “Show suggested search results.”
Feedback can be provided through the Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search. Microsoft notes that the experience may differ depending on the region.
An important note for people who are not on the bleeding edge: 26H2 and 25H2 have the same core platform, and features coming to 26H2 are expected to reach 25H2 as well. If you would like to leave the program later, Microsoft’s support page on managing Insider settings will help.
Why is this update happening now: Windows K2 initiative
These are small improvements individually. Taken together, however, they form a pattern.
Since the middle of 2025, Microsoft has been working on an internal quality initiative under the codename Windows K2. First described by Windows Central, it is not a new OS release, but a multi-year initiative built around four pillars: performance, craft, reliability and community.
The premise is a relatively unusual one: the problem with Windows 11 is not lack of features, but accumulated user mistrust, brought about by artificial intelligence spread across the system, slow system interface, disruptive updates and promotion of content in spaces that users consider their own.
PCWorld describes it in a similar way: it is an attempt to fix the things that users dislike the most.
Some of the visible output of Windows K2 initiative include a WinUI 3 implementation of the Start menu, a return of taskbar customisation, less disruptive Windows Update behaviour and removal of ads from Start, with Microsoft noting that the initiative brings a financial loss to the company.
Search is the next surface that has been tackled, and according to Pureinfotech, it is the strongest sign yet of the initiative reaching shipping software.
The most telling feature of this update is the lack of artificial intelligence features. With Copilot absorbing most of the oxygen in Windows announcements in recent years, Microsoft chooses to spend engineering resources on implementing the basic premise that the desktop search box should, first and foremost, search your desktop.
Engadget’s take is as dry as ever — these are small improvements that are supposed to add up — and that is pretty accurate.
It closes the gap that has been exploited by the competition for years. macOS Spotlight, PowerToys Run and other alternative launchers built their followings around their local-first and clutter-free design. The Windows Search Box that prioritises your files over a Store listing is, at last, playing the same game.
What to look forward to
Will it reach stable builds?
CFRs in the Experimental channel are used by Microsoft to test features, not to make promises about availability.
Will the default be changed?
Stripping promotional content is a good step, but turning off web suggestions by default would be a stronger one. At this moment, there is no indication that Microsoft intends to do so.
Will the settings search improve?
The ranking improvement is clearly marked as the first round. This is the area that is most likely to cause frustration.
Will it be reliable?
Search crashes and slow loading are exactly the kind of bugs that are most likely to recur.
FAQ
When was this update announced by Microsoft?
On July 13, 2026, in the Windows Insider Blog.
Who can use this right now?
Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel on version 26H2, rolling out gradually via Controlled Feature Rollout.
Does this remove ads from Windows Search?
It removes promotional content from web results. Web and Microsoft Store suggestions remain enabled by default; they can be disabled in Settings > Privacy & Security > Search.
How do I turn off web results in Windows Search?
Settings > Privacy & Security > Search > turn off “Show suggested search results.”
Is this Windows 12?
No, it is part of the ongoing Windows K2 quality initiative, implemented in Windows 11 updates.
Sources and further reading
Official Microsoft
- Improving Windows Search Box, with less clutter and more control — Windows Insider Blog
- Windows Insider Program
- Getting started with the Windows Insider Program
- Windows Insider channels and feature flags — Microsoft Learn
- Windows Insider Program documentation — Microsoft Learn
- Join the Windows Insider Program and manage Insider settings — Microsoft Support
