Microsoft Tests Redesigned Windows Search in Insider Channels

Microsoft began testing a redesigned Windows Search experience Oct. 7, 2026, giving Windows Insiders a streamlined interface with direct system controls and broader search functions.

The preview is built on WinUI 3 and uses a single results list intended to reduce visual clutter. Search also handles typos and synonyms more effectively, while allowing users to activate dark mode or Bluetooth, adjust brightness, mute the device, minimize windows and arrange windows directly from results.

“This new Windows Search experience is built for speed,” Anshul Rawat of Microsoft’s Windows product team said.

Early testing showed substantial improvements in performance and memory usage, although no benchmark figures were provided. The feature is gradually rolling out in the Experimental and Experimental (26H1) channels, initially with English support. The relevant builds are 26340.9616 and 28120.3181.

The redesign is a preview for Windows Insiders and is not yet available as a general Windows 11 update. Phone actions through a connected Phone Link device are coming soon.

Planned additions include inline file previews, richer file details, web answers and category filters. Microsoft is also working to bring the experience to the Start menu in 2027, although that timing is not final.

“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,” Rawat said.

A separate Windows 11 preview update released Sept. 22 simplified the Search home screen, clarified result types and added controls for web and Microsoft Store suggestions.

Windows Search can index apps, settings and files on a device, along with content from Microsoft accounts and web results powered by Bing. Semantic-indexing data is stored locally and is not stored by Microsoft or used to train artificial intelligence models.