This week, Microsoft unveiled a major overhaul coming soon to Windows 11's search experience that's designed to fix its biggest flaws and criticisms. For a long time, many have agreed that search on Windows is pretty much broken, but the new changes that are now in testing may finally be fixing that problem.

I've been testing the new Windows Search out over the last two days, and I'm very impressed with the new experience. Right off the bat, the search pane is no longer a noisy mess of Bing ads and sponsored content. It's a clean list of recent searches, exactly what you'd expect from a search pane.

Search items that appear in this list are categorized so that you know whether an item is an app, document, setting, or web search. Hovering over items in this menu will display options depending on the type of item it is, such as apps which present the option to pin it to the Taskbar or run as an administrator.

You can also right-click on any of the items in the search pane for more info, which displays additional options such as uninstall or app settings, open file location, as well as the ability to remove the item from the recents list.

Getting onto the actual searching experience, it's a major step up. The UI is nice and clean, and web results now pretty much never show up at the top unless you are actively searching for a website or query that makes sense for a search engine. In the old Window Search, searing for "windows central" would always bring the Bing result to the top, but now it prioritizes my local files and folders.

When a web result does appear at the top, you'll no longer see any ads or sponsored content in that result. The Bing results are now ad-free, showing only results that relate to your search query, which is amazing. You no longer have to worry about accidentally clicking on a link or app that has paid to be there.

I also find that search results are now more accurate based on how you use your system. For example, on a PC where I have both the Photos and Photoshop app installed, typing "photos" actually surfaces Photoshop, which is what I want. I believe this is happening because I've never opened the Photos app on my PC before, and so Windows assumes that I'd want to use the app I use more often or most recently.

To test this theory, I ran Photos a few times and then typed "photos" again, and sure enough the Photos app was now appearing above Photoshop. To triple confirm, I started opening Photoshop a few times, and Photoshop became the top result for "photos" after.

This is great for those who have a system set in place where all the apps they ever use are already in full circulation on their PC. Windows knows which apps you use most, and will now do its best to position them as a best match when it thinks you're searching for it, listing follow up results below it that you can manually select if that's what you need instead.

I also find that search is now a little smarter and more dynamic. If you don't know the name of an app, you can search for a category and Windows will do its best to surface an app that it thinks can do that job. For example, if I type "video editor" into the search box, Windows surfaces Clipchamp as a result, as that's the only video editor I have installed.

Windows Search now also does a much better job at surfacing settings that you might want to configure. If I type "temp" it'll show delete temporary files, or if i type "wifi" the wi-fi settings page is at the top. Even things like "insider" now correctly surface the Insider settings page. You can now pretty much search for any Windows Setting and have it accurately appear in the search pane, without needing to open Settings first.

Some settings even have configurable options within the search pane. For example, typing restart PC will show a setting to do so right from search, which then lets you select whether you want to restart or shut down. It's pretty neat, though most people will probably find it faster to just do that from Start.

Overall, these new search improvements are a real strong step in the right direction. In my brief testing, I've not really been able to fault it, and understand why the best match results are what they are. Being able to turn off things like Microsoft Store and web results are also a great addition, letting you craft your experience into whatever you need it to be. If you only ever want local search results, you can make it so.

It's clear that even in its default state now, local results are the number one priority. Unless your search query is clearly one intended for a search engine, Windows will more than likely place a local result as a best match, which is going to address the biggest complaint most people have with Windows Search.

These improvements are rolling out now in preview for Windows Insiders, with general availability expected later this year.

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Windows 11's monthly Patch Tuesday update is here, and it's one of the biggest of the year. In addition to the usual group of bug fixes and security updates, the July Patch Tuesday update includes some major new features.

Our Mauro Huculak broke down the 13 features that matter most from Windows 11's July 2026 update. The update is substantial and includes new ways to recover your PC, improve accessibility, and update Windows.

As is normally the case for Windows 11 Patch Tuesday updates, we've known what was on the way for weeks. Microsoft rolled out the latest features and changes to Windows 11 through a preview update toward the end of last month.

Ironically, the biggest change in this update is that it will allow you to pause updates indefinitely. Starting with this build you can stop your PC from getting updates for up to 35 days and then re-pause updates.

The downside is that you have to manually pause updates again if you want to stop them for more than 35 days.

Point-in-time Restore is another big addition. The feature lets you roll back a system to a previous working state. Windows 11 automatically creates restore points that include settings, files, and apps.

Widgets are better following the update as well. You now have greater control over notifications and personalization settings. Opening the widgets panel will open the dashboard on first use.

The full release notes for the update are shared in a Microsoft support document and listed below.

Windows 11 July 2026 Update (gradual rollout)

• [Point-in-time restore for Windows] New! This flexible recovery feature helps you quickly roll back your PC, including apps, settings, and personal files, to a recent automatic restore point. It helps reduce downtime and simplifies troubleshooting when issues occur. To learn more, see Point-in-time restore for Windows.
• [Windows Update] New! A calendar experience in Windows Update Settings (Settings > Windows Update) lets you pause updates by choosing an end date, for up to 35 days. You can extend the pause by selecting a different end date and re‑pause updates as needed. For more information, see Pause updates in Windows.
• [Widgets] New! A quieter, more focused Widgets experience helps reduce interruptions and improves default settings and notification controls:
  • Reduce distractions: Widgets no longer open on hover. Notifications and taskbar badges are minimized by default.
  • Simpler: Open to the Widgets dashboard by default on first use.
  • Customize: Configure Widgets how you want by selecting Settings in the navigation bar, then changing any of the default settings.
  • Stay informed: Dashboard icons show the number of alerts, and badges clear automatically when you leave a dashboard.
  • Adjusted defaults: Some default settings are preserved based on usage, while others adjust to reduce interruptions.
  • Performance improvements: This update provides improved reliability, responsiveness, and visual quality across the Widget experience.
• [Accessibility] New! This update makes your screen easier to see and customizes your zoom experience:
  • Screen tint: Apply a full-screen color overlay to help reduce eye strain and improve readability. Choose from preset tint options, adjust the intensity, or turn it on automatically. Find this feature in Settings > Accessibility.
  • Magnifier: Enter a zoom percentage directly and change it in increments in the Magnifier window for more precise, flexible control.
  • Magnifier settings menu: You can now also modify zoom increments directly from the magnifier bar instead of navigating to Windows Settings each time.
• [File Explorer]
  • New! When you hover over a file in File Explorer Home, commands such as Open file location and Ask Copilot appear as quick actions. This experience is now supported for work and school accounts (Entra ID).¹
  • Improves the speed and performance of File Explorer launch.²
  • This update improves File Explorer responsiveness when mounting disk images.
  • The address bar now supports paths containing double backslashes and quotation marks (for example, C:\\Users\\user or "C:\Users\user"), improving compatibility with a wider range of inputs.
  • The address bar suggestion dropdown is more reliable and now consistently closes after an item is selected.
  • This update addresses an issue on File Explorer Home where OneDrive files could appear duplicated in the Favorites section.
  • This update includes several refinements to the Rename experience:
    • Addresses an issue where text was repeatedly selected when renaming items in folder views.
    • Addresses an issue where case-only name changes were not immediately reflected in folder views for items stored locally or in the cloud.
• [Bluetooth] This update improves reliability and performance when connecting to and using Bluetooth devices:
  • New! Windows now keeps the microphone mute state in sync between the audio mixer and the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) for a more consistent experience with Bluetooth headphones with mute buttons or indicators.
  • Accessory compatibility workarounds: Improves compatibility with specific Bluetooth audio devices, helping AirPods appear faster in pairing mode and improving microphone reliability on Beats Studio Pro headphones.
  • Bluetooth audio stability:
    • Improves overall Windows stability with certain PC manufacturer drivers (error code 0x9F).
    • Improves Bluetooth reliability for voice calls when using Classic Audio devices with the Hands-Free Profile (HFP).
    • Reduces time for LE Audio accessories to start playing audio while using the microphone.
  • Device management: Windows will no longer show a “Remove failed” message when attempting to remove Bluetooth devices if the Bluetooth radio is unavailable or has changed since pairing.
  • Settings experience: Improves stability when using the Bluetooth & devices settings page for a smoother, more consistent experience.
  • Connection reliability and responsiveness:
    • Reduces the time it takes for classic Bluetooth audio devices to reconnect after Windows resumes from hibernation.
    • Improves reliability when LE Audio accessories disconnect, such as when another device (for example, a phone) connects.
    • Improves reliability of LE Audio streaming after a connection is lost and restored.
• [Bluetooth and Phone Link] This update improves audio routing for calls made through a connected phone:
  • When an outgoing call is dialed from a paired phone, audio remains on the phone while ringing and transfers to the PC only when the call is answered from the PC.
  • When Do Not Disturb is enabled on Windows, incoming call audio from a paired phone no longer rings on the PC.
• [Voice access and voice typing] **New!**⁠ You can now use voice access and voice typing in French, German, and Spanish. As you speak, your PC improves your text in real time. It corrects grammar, punctuation, and recognition errors, and helps improve clarity—even in the presence of background noise. This makes dictation smoother and reduces the need for manual edits.³
• [Audio] This update improves the reliability of the inbox HD Audio driver.
• [Taskbar] This update improves the reliability of opening the Start menu when selecting the left edge of the taskbar when the icons in the taskbar are left-aligned.
• [Networking]
  • This update includes networking improvements for virtualized environments. Confidential Virtual Machines (CVMs) now use SR-IOV hardware acceleration by default for improved network throughput, and a configuration issue in nested Hyper-V virtualization network setup has been corrected to ensure reliable VM network provisioning.
  • This update improves the reliability of the Windows networking stack. It reduces bug checks (blue screen errors) related to Wi-Fi power and improves cellular (WWAN) connectivity, including support for IPv6 VPNs. Compatibility with third-party VPN software and SR-IOV configurations on server hardware is also improved. Network adapter settings and bindings are now preserved across OS upgrades.
• [Printing] New! New printer installations use Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) by default when supported, simplifying setup and improving reliability. For details about third-party driver deprecation, see End of Servicing Plan for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows. To control this behavior, use the toggle in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > Default install printers using Windows Ready Print. For more information, see Introducing Windows Ready Print and modernized driver selection. For more information, see Introducing Windows Ready Print and Modernized Driver Selection.
• [Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)] The update improves usage of WSL in mirrored networking mode with VPNs.
• [Display and graphics]
  • Improves the reliability of rendering content while scrolling for certain apps spanning across multiple monitors.
  • Improves the reliability and persistence of applying color profiles.
• [Location services] This update changes how some location settings are displayed in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location to help with clarity. When location services are turned off, settings like Default location and Allow location override don't immediately apply, since location information is not given to apps or services. These settings will now be greyed out when location services are off to reduce confusion over when they take effect.
• [Search] This update improves the reliability of setting Search related group policies.
• [Input]
  • New! You can now customize the size of the right-click zone in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad. Choose from default, small, medium, or large to control how much of the bottom-right corner responds to a single-finger right-click. This setting is only available on touchpads with a pressable surface. If your device manufacturer provides customization through their own app, a Custom option will appear to reflect those settings.
  • This update improves recognition of English characters when using Japanese handwriting.
• [General performance] Improves the time to shut down Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) when you turn off your PC.
• [General Reliability] This update improves the reliability of explorer.exe. It addresses issues on the login and lock screens related to third-party credential providers, reduces the probability of taskbar icons appearing as blank gray placeholders, and improves navigation to Home in File Explorer during OneDrive sync. It also improves explorer.exe reliability when switching between desktops, enhances app launch with shell extensions, and using acrylic blur effects in the Start menu, Settings, and the lock screen.
• [Apps] Resolves an issue where some installers and applications could show unexpected elevation (UAC) prompts after installing KB5089549.
• [Remote Desktop] This update refreshes the dialog design when you enable Remote Desktop in Settings > System > Remote Desktop.
• [Graphics Kernel] Improves memory-management policy that allows PCs with more than 32GB of installed memory to run larger local AI models.

Windows 11 July 2026 Update (gradual rollout)

• [Secure Boot] With this update, Windows quality updates include additional high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.
• [Authentication] This update improves Netlogon secure channel connections between domain controllers, enabling successful connections from member servers to domain controllers set up before 2025.
• [Emoji Panel Update] The emoji panel (Windows key + period (⁠.⁠)) now uses GIPHY for GIF content following the deprecation of Google’s Tenor API. Starting June 30, 2026, install the latest Windows update to continue using GIFs in the Emoji panel. If you don’t update, you will see a "GIF service is not available" error in the panel. Installing the latest Windows update will restore access to GIFs.
• [Networking] This update improves how your device connects to shared network resources. Connections used by apps and system features, such as the NetUseAdd function, now work more reliably, including unauthenticated (null session) connections.
• [Recycle Bin (known issue)] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where the confirmation dialog might display an internal Recycle Bin file name instead of the original file name when permanently deleting a file. This issue might occur after installing the June 2026 security update (KB5094126).
• [Storage] This update improves disk space usage for the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file.
• [Taskbar] This update improves notification badge display across your apps. Notification counts and badge visuals now update correctly, helping you stay up to date with new activity.
• [File Explorer] This update fixes an issue where the OneDrive shortcut in File Explorer stops working when File Explorer is run with administrative mode.
• [Notification badges (known issue)] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where notification badge counts for some applications such as Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, might not refresh correctly. As a result, badge indicators might continue to display outdated notification counts until the application is restarted or badge count is refreshed.

You can download this month's Patch Tuesday update through the Windows Settings app. Clicking the "Check for updates" button within the "Windows Update" section should start the process.

Alternatively, you can download the update through the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

It's hard to find AI optimists these days.

AI-adjacent stocks have taken a battering in recent months, with Oracle and Microsoft particularly hard hit. Microsoft's stock is down over 20% from last summer's highs, as investors increasingly worry that the firm has over-extended and misjudged the opportunities therein.

Wider questions remain about the future viability of the tech. Cheaper Chinese models are pressuring the big U.S. hyper-scalers to find new efficiencies and strategies, as firms like OpenAI, SpaceX, Palantir, and Anthropic struggle to justify their more optimistic valuations. Some of the more dire warnings suggest the rife circular investments and financing could implode, threatening not only the associated companies, but potentially the entire global economy.

Recently, I caught up with Ed Zitron, head of EZPR and the Better Offline Podcast, who has become a prominent journalistic voice in AI analysis. Zitron's industry-leading tech newsletter Where's Your Ed At has become a primary source for those navigating the complex (and shady?) financial deals these companies are weaving, cutting through the industry hype with an oft-times scathing dose of reality.

I asked Zitron specifically about Microsoft's bets in this space, as the hype train objectively begins to lose steam.

Microsoft occupies an odd space in the "AI race," if you can still call it that at this point. Why do you think Wall Street and the stock market are rewarding Google but punishing Microsoft this year?

"It’s because Microsoft is uniquely awful at having to prove its worth outside of financials, and is run by some of the most decrepit, disconnected, and directionless leadership I’ve seen in any company I’ve ever monitored.

Whenever this company has to beguile investors, it can usually just throw up big money numbers and raise the price on Microsoft Office. This time it made the mistake of actually spending cash — and man, did AI save its ass from humiliation by distracting from its Activision-Blizzard acquisition! — on something, and doing so in the loudest way possible, because saying “AI” and spending lots of money on AI was all it took to make people buy your stock.

Sadly, $200 billion or more in capex in, Satya Nadella doesn’t really have a compelling answer as to where this money is going. He mentioned on their last earnings that they’d hit a $37 billion run rate for AI - around $3 billion a month in revenue, with the vast majority of that being OpenAI’s compute spend — and it didn’t get anybody hot and heavy, so the stock has kept tanking."

"This is also because Azure has been a much bigger business than Google Cloud.

Sundar Pichai is also better at the financial tricks than Satya Nadella, and worked out a way to make circular financing more conspicuous, selling Anthropic its own chips and then getting those chips put in Google data centers so that it can get the revenue from Anthropic, who it funds, buying compute. That huge bump in remaining performance obligations was, to be clear, mostly from circular financing.

I have no idea why Satya didn’t do this with OpenAI’s spend, and I have to wonder if he doesn’t start being really blunt about how much it’s boosting Azure revenue, even though that’ll probably work to his detriment.

Anyway, Google Cloud is a younger and smaller business and thus much easier to show explosive growth in. Satya is also not very good at marketing."

Do you think Microsoft will realistically see any long-term return on investment from its data center build out? Have they completely misjudged the potential?

"So, this depends on your definition of “ROI.” I think that, long-term, this will be seen as a disastrous, horrifying misallocation of capital, the kind of thing that will potentially get Satya Nadella fired.

In the short-term, Nadella got “ROI” out of AI in that it kept Microsoft interesting, and OpenAI’s compute spend buoyed Azure’s revenues without them ever having to disclose AI’s actual contribution. It was a shiny object to show investors, which gave them a vague sense of growth.

This was always a gamble, and because Microsoft started the era, it will inevitably be harmed the most by it.

No, I do not see any ROI at scale. Microsoft has spent over $200 billion on AI capex and will probably spend anywhere from $300 to $400 billion if it continues its pace past this year. It will need to make more than $500 billion in brand, spanking new revenue, in a very conspicuous way, to make any of this feel worthwhile."

"The problem they face is that the longer this goes on, the less incremental it can be. Showing modest growth in Intelligent Cloud and Business & Productivity isn’t going to make this problem go away.

The other is that the clock starts the second they stop spending on capex, and that includes a cut of anything more than 30%. Maybe they try and spread it out, but at some point they’re gonna have to stop, because this is a ludicrous expense.

But once they do, the street will start asking them to prove that they didn’t just nuke hundreds of billions of dollars and take on a bunch of debt for no reason.

I will say this: Amy Hood is very good at her job, and likely the only reason Satya Nadella hasn’t blown up the entire company."

Microsoft's early investment in OpenAI was initially hailed. In your research, how has that partnership panned out? Reporting suggests it hasn't gone well …

"At first, OpenAI must have seemed like the best thing that happened to Microsoft since it won that antitrust trial because the judge talked to the media. It was the single-most buzzy company in the world, and it had to spend money on Azure.

Satya Nadella could say that he had backed the next big tech titan, all while capturing the entirety of its value and cloud spend. The original deal - owning all the IP, making Azure their only cloud provider, all that stuff was a masterstroke.

Except it’s very obvious that something went sour there in 2024 or early 2025, likely when OpenAI demanded Microsoft build more compute than it wanted to. It must have also become clear that owning all of OpenAI’s IP and models and being able to power their services with it wasn’t actually helping Microsoft enough to justify the capex, so they got desperate and bought Mustafa Suleyman’s crappy little company so he’d bring that DeepMind magic to Microsoft."

"Also, Sam Altman very clearly started making demands that were effectively “change the agreement to our benefit for no apparent reason,” and Microsoft embarrassed themselves making any concessions for him. I think that Satya had assumed he had full control of Altman, and when that wasn’t apparent, I think it weakened both his and Microsoft’s position.

And, if I’m honest, Microsoft has embarrassed itself with AI - substandard models, lots of noise but not a lot of actual stuff, running GitHub Copilot at a massive loss for several years, then turning on token-based billing and creating a bunch of bad blood for no measurable gain?

The partnership was great when Satya had control, and the moment he let Altman buy compute from other companies was the moment he lost it, even though it was absolutely the right thing to do."

Windows users have backlashed pretty hard against some of Microsoft's AI products, including things like random Copilot buttons and Windows Recall. Do you see Microsoft finding any realistically good and viable uses for LLMs?

"Nope! I don’t remember the last time that Microsoft made anything that was both new and good, and every “idea” that Microsoft has is literally somebody else’s! Copilot Cowork is Claude Cowork, GitHub CLI is Claude Code, Scout is Codex or some other agentic crap; it’s all the same thing in the glossy Microsoft wrapper that used to mean “good but expensive” but now means “weird and sterile.”

This is not a product company, and the only thing they seem to be able to do with talent is lay it off. Nobody wants anything they’re selling other than for the products they like to work like they used to. If I surveyed 100 people about what they’d change about Microsoft, I bet at least 30% of them would say “remove Copilot.”

For that to change would require Microsoft to make a completely different product."

What do you think the AI landscape will look like in 5 years, if you had to predict?

"These are all guesses, and I can’t append them to any time period. I’m pulling them out of thin air — I can’t see the future! Nobody can! These are things that could happen far more than they are for sure events.

1. LLMs are gone from the cloud other than for obscure GCP/Azure/AWS instances with AI GPUs for people doing very specific things, all of which cost way too much to do regularly.

Whatever LLMs survive are a boring on-device situation you run on a $100k workstation, and that’s not very common because they’re pretty expensive. That being said, this might also be what happens to the large amounts of GPUs that are left for dead after the bubble pops.

2. Eventually, the big labs have to start doing aggressive cost cuts, which up usage but up costs, or cost increases, which destroys usage. Either way, growth is slowing because of token-minimizing, and it’ll accelerate and eventually break the companies."

"OpenAI dies or gets absorbed into Microsoft, who jacks up the prices and unwinds the business. The same happens to Anthropic, which likely becomes a much smaller company that’s effectively a subsidiary of Google and Amazon.

3. Microsoft does a $5bn-$10bn write-down of GPUs and Nadella is booted in favor of Amy Hood. Maybe more!

4. The software industry enters a prolonged depression within the next few years because growth starts to stumble in one of the major hyperscalers. Remember: Anthropic and OpenAI are currently boosting the revenues of Microsoft, Google and Amazon, to a level that I really should look into!

5. NVIDIA’s revenues eventually return to the 2023 era, single-digit billions of dollars annually. I also expect some sort of write-down on their side too."

A huge thanks to Ed Zitron — now it's your turn

Thanks a ton to Ed Zitron for joining us on this piece. Be sure to check out Ed Zitron's podcast and newsletters here; both are full of incredible research and insights into the AI biz more recently, but also tech in general.

Often when I'm writing about AI, I feel like the big players are gaslighting me into believing that the tech is good enough to solve all of humanity's problems, if we'll just hang on and accept a little bit more (a lot more) compute. While it seems AI does have a role to play in parsing large quantities of data and tracking anomalies humans might miss, the "hyperscale" opportunities increasingly seem far-fetched and vague as we head through the current cycle.

Where it all ends up remains anyone's best guess. Perhaps some kind of incredible breakthrough will give AI the nuance and accuracy it needs to actually be a viable general-purpose assistant — rather than an expensive mimicry and content theft machine.

Perhaps its pairing with robotics will enable real opportunities that have so far eluded the big corps. Or perhaps the simple truth is: there's no real room for optimism here. Perhaps we've all been conned by something that seems suspiciously capable on the surface, until you actually put it to any form of real work.

What do you think? Hit the comments, let's talk.

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Microsoft has unveiled a huge update to search on Windows 11 that look to be focused on improving the search experience with more accurate results, less reliance on the web, and even a removal of annoying ads and promotional material.

"You’ve have been asking for search that is faster, more relevant, and easier to use—whether you’re opening an app, finding a file, or changing a setting," Microsoft says in a new blog post. "Because the Windows Search Box is where many people start, we focused first on making results more dependable, easier to scan, and clearer before you click."

The company is highlighting several key improvements, including clearer results that does a better job at showing why a search result is appearing when a query has been typed, alongside prioritizing local results before reaching out to the web.

Search is also getting better at handling things like typos, which should help surface the right results even when the user misspells an app or file. The search home pane will no longer show MSN or Bing content, and promotional content and ads will no longer appear in search results.

Here's a complete list of the changes Microsoft has announced for search on Windows 11:

• A calmer home screen. Search home has been simplified to reduce visual clutter and make it easier to get back to recent searches quickly.
• Clearer results. Search does a better job showing where a result comes from—app, setting, file, web result, or Store suggestion—so it’s easier to tell what you’re looking at and where you will go before you click.
• Promotional content has been removed from web results. Web results show the most relevant answer, instead of first showing related products and promotions, helping search feel more focused and less distracting.
• You’re in control of web and Microsoft Store results. A new setting in Settings > Privacy & Security > Search lets you choose whether web and Microsoft Store suggestions appear alongside local results.
• Local results prioritized when they’re the better match. Apps, settings, and files more reliably appear ahead of web and Store suggestions when your content is the stronger match. System items like This PC and Recycle Bin are easier to discover.
• Finding apps is more forgiving. Search is better at handling typos, dropped letters, extra letters, and partial words for apps. Queries like “utlook” can still find Outlook.
• Settings results are improving. We’ve made a first round of ranking improvements to help more relevant settings appear higher in results, with more tuning planned in the coming months.
• Finding files is improving. Search is better at surfacing the right local files with added support for two-character file searches. We’ve also made improvements to show cloud and connected files in results when they’re the stronger match. These changes help you get to the document, download, or folder you are looking for faster.
• Reliability is improving. Improved search reliability, including reducing likelihood of crashing and loading issue, with more work underway.

These upgrades are now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Experimental Channel, and are expected to roll out to all Windows 11 users later this year. Insiders may not see the changes right away as they are rolling out in waves.

These improvements are part of Microsoft's larger Windows K2 effort, which is an effort to fix Windows 11's biggest problems and reposition the platform as a viable competitor alongside macOS and Linux.

Search has been a sore point of Windows for a number of years, and so hopefully these improvements will be exactly what Windows users have been waiting for to bring it back up to par with the rest of the competition.

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