Microsoft is testing Windows Search without all the ads and fluff

Microsoft is testing a cleaner version of the Windows 11 search menu that strips it of recommended content and ads. In a blog post on Monday, Microsoft announced It’s rolling out the Ranked Search box to Windows Insiders in the beta channel as the company looks to Restore trust with users and Repair Windows.

One of the biggest changes is the revamped main search screen that shows only recent searches. Currently, when you open the search menu, it displays your recent searches along with several distracting boxes in the left pane, containing things like Photo of the Day, daily quizzes, trending searches, and game recommendations.

Microsoft is also cleaning up the web results, so the search listing will display “Most relevant answer” first, instead of showing “Related products and promotions.”

Aside from making some tweaks, Microsoft is testing other notable improvements to its search menu. It will display the metadata more clearly, along with a file preview in the pane on the right side of the search list, making it easier to see where the result came from. Windows 11’s search system will also prioritize results from your local files, apps, and settings, which will “appear more reliably” before web and Microsoft Store recommendations. Testers can now turn off web and store recommendations entirely from the Settings menu.

There are a few quality of life updates too, with Microsoft saying the search system it’s trialling can better handle typos, extra characters and partial words, while offering some performance improvements.