Microsoft is finally killing the worst thing in Windows 11: Goodbye ads, quality search is coming

End of advertisements and intrusive web content

One of the most important changes is the complete removal of promotional content and ads from the results. The home screen will be visually simpler, focusing on recent activity instead of Bing content. Apps, settings, and local files will now have clear priority over suggestions from the web. Users also get full control through a new option in the privacy settings, where they can turn off the display of suggestions from the web and from the Microsoft Store along with local results.

Find files smarter and faster

In addition to visual search, Microsoft is introducing two key improvements to the search engine. First, the system will be able to find files based on an input of only two characters. Second, the search for complex names, the so-called “Search by Substring”, has been significantly improved. In practice, this means that users will be able to find a file named “StatusProjektAtravanj” by typing only “status” or “April”, which was impossible until now. These changes drastically improve the naturalness and intuition of use, eliminating the need to remember the exact beginning of the file name.

Tolerance to tipfelers and greater reliability

As part of the improvements, search becomes significantly more tolerant of human error. It will be better to deal with typfellers, omitted or added letters and partial words when searching for applications. For example, a query like “outlook” will now find Outlook without any problems. Microsoft also promises a general improvement in reliability, which includes reducing the likelihood of the search system crashing and loading problems, which have been frequent user complaints. System settings results are also ranked higher.

These upgrades are currently being rolled out to users within the Windows Insiders program in the experimental channel. It is expected to become available to all Windows 11 users this year as part of future updates.