Microsoft has begun rolling out the redesigned Windows Search experience to Windows Insider testers, offering faster performance, a simpler interface, and initial support for executing actions such as enabling dark mode and muting audio from search results.
Microsoft has begun rolling out a new Windows Search experience to participants in the Experimental and Experimental (26H1) channels of the Windows Insider program. The update combines faster search with a simplified results display, while adding direct actions that allow users to perform certain system tasks from within search instead of merely finding files and applications.
The new experience is based on WinUI 3 and aims to make results easier to read and navigate. Microsoft has also improved Search’s ability to understand user requests, including better handling of spelling errors and synonyms, while the company continues to refine these improvements over the coming weeks.
What can be performed from Search?
The built-in actions feature allows users to perform tasks such as enabling dark mode or Bluetooth, adjusting screen brightness, muting the device, and arranging windows. These functions remain in a limited testing phase, and the initial release supports English only.
After installing one of the relevant builds, the device must be restarted before the activation indicator for the new Windows Search experience appears. This means that access to the feature depends not only on installing the test build, but also on the appearance of its feature flag on the device.
Other updates in Insider builds
Microsoft released five test builds during the same period. Other changes included adding the Battery Status tool to Widgets to display the battery level of the computer and peripheral devices in one place. Narrator also gained support for reading and exploring mathematical equations in version 26H1.
In authentication, Microsoft enabled the IAKerb extension by default for Windows clients. According to the release notes, this extension allows Kerberos authentication to succeed in cases where a direct connection to the domain controller is unavailable, helping reduce reliance on NTLM. Task Manager also expanded process grouping to display some background application processes within a unified category, with Microsoft Defender being the first application to benefit from this capability.
Why does this news matter?
The most significant change is moving Windows Search from a tool for finding content to a shortcut control point for some system settings. If Microsoft succeeds in improving its handling of errors and synonyms, the number of steps required to perform everyday tasks could decrease, particularly for users who rely on search instead of navigating through the Settings app and system icons.
However, the scope of the test remains limited: the feature is available to testers in certain channels, and English-language support is what is available initially. The material also did not specify when it would be released for stable versions or other languages. Therefore, it cannot yet be considered a general change to the Windows 11 experience, but rather an early test whose practical value will be determined by search performance and the reliability of direct actions.