Microsoft trials an ad-free Windows Search for Insiders

Key points

• Microsoft began rolling out a cleaner Windows Search to Insiders in the Experimental channel on Monday.
• A new setting under Privacy & Security lets users turn off Microsoft Store and web suggestions in search results.
• File search now works with two-character queries and tolerates typos when finding apps.
• The update is part of a wider Windows overhaul announced by Windows president Pavan Davuluri in March.

Microsoft is testing a version of Windows Search that puts your own files and apps ahead of Store promos and web suggestions.

The change started rolling out on Monday to people in the Windows Insider Program's Experimental channel. That is the earliest tier of testers who volunteer to try unfinished features before the general public.

If you have ever typed the name of a document into the Windows search box and been shown an app from the Microsoft Store instead, this update is aimed squarely at you.

What actually changes for the person using it?

Results are clearer about where they come from. Each match now shows whether it is an app on your computer, a Windows setting, a local file, a web result, or a suggestion from the Microsoft Store, so you know what you are about to open before you click it.

There is also a new switch. Under Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Search, you can choose whether Store and web suggestions appear alongside your local results at all. Turn it off and the search box focuses on things already on your machine.

Local files get priority when they are the stronger match. File search now handles queries as short as two characters. Cloud files, meaning documents stored in services like OneDrive, are more visible in results. And the search box is more forgiving of typos and partial words when you are hunting for an app.

Microsoft says it has also cut crashes and loading problems, with more fixes on the way.

Why is Microsoft doing this now?

The short answer: people have been complaining for years. Windows Search has long mixed local results with promotional content, and the criticism has been loud and constant.

The redesign is part of a broader push announced in March by Windows president Pavan Davuluri to make search behave the same way across the Start menu, the taskbar, File Explorer and the Settings app. Jeff Petty and Anderson Aiziro of Microsoft's Windows and Bing Search teams laid out the specifics in a company blog post, first reported by BleepingComputer.

"You've 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," Petty and Aiziro wrote.

They said the team focused on the search box first because it is where most people begin.

How do you get it?

You have to be signed up to the Windows Insider Program and on the Experimental channel. Even then, not everyone will see it immediately. Microsoft is using what it calls a Controlled Feature Rollout, which means the update reaches testers in waves. A reboot sometimes speeds things along.

Feedback goes through the Feedback Hub app under Desktop Environment, then Search.

Is this a security story?

Not directly, but there is a small privacy angle worth noting. Turning off web and Store suggestions means fewer of your keystrokes in the search box get sent to Microsoft's cloud services for suggestions. If you have ever felt uneasy that typing a colleague's name or a sensitive filename might travel beyond your laptop, that new toggle is the one to find.

The update sits alongside other changes Microsoft began testing in May, including a resizable taskbar and Start menu and a modernised Run dialog with dark mode support.

A general release date has not been announced.