Windows 11 has plenty of annoyances baked into the operating system, but I’ve often found Search to be among the most frustrating. You use it to find an installed app or a file saved somewhere on your PC, and Windows appears to show the right result.
Then you click it, and Microsoft Edge opens a Bing search page instead. It is a small issue, but it makes Windows Search unreliable for basic local searches. Now, in the latest insider experimental build, Microsoft seems to be addressing this issue.
Windows Search may stop pushing the web first
Microsoft is now testing a change that should make Windows 11 Search better at showing local results. In Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8493, the company says the Windows Search Box is getting relevance improvements, starting with apps and files.
According to Microsoft’s release notes, files and apps should “more reliably appear ahead of web suggestions” when they are the better match for what the user typed. Web results are not being removed, but they should no longer take priority as often when the answer is already on the device.
Windows Latest reports that the change is already visible in some preview builds. In its testing, Windows 11 showed local files and apps above web suggestions, even when the search query included typos. Microsoft also says more relevance improvements are planned in future builds.
Microsoft is cleaning up Windows 11 bit by bit
This is not the only Windows 11 fix Microsoft has been testing recently. The company has also been working on several smaller changes that target long-running complaints, including better taskbar behavior, automatic driver cleanup, improved memory efficiency, faster app launches through a low-latency mode, quicker right-click and Quick Settings actions, and File Explorer improvements.
None of these fixes will make Windows 11 feel new overnight, but they could make it less frustrating to use every day.