If you have ever typed a file name into Windows Search but stopped midway because you only remembered part of it, Microsoft has something for you.
In its latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build, Microsoft has added a focused but genuinely useful improvement to the way Windows Search finds your files. It is one of those fixes that makes me wonder why it took so long.
What is Search by Substring and why does it matter?
Released on May 29 to both the Experimental and Beta channels, the new feature is called Search by Substring, and what it does is quite simple.
Previously, looking for a file in Windows required you to enter the beginning of its name. So, typing “april” would not surface a file called MeetingNotesApril, simply because Windows was not looking inside more complex file names.
Search by Substring changes that for good. Type “april” and Windows will now return files whose names contain that string anywhere, whether at the start, end, or middle.
The same applies to content within files. Type “status” and a document called ProjectStatusReport becomes discoverable immediately.
Is this actually a big deal?
For anyone who stores files with descriptive compound names, people working in documents, project folders, or any kind of organized file system, yes, the new Search by Substring feature surely is a big deal.
The old behavior forced you to remember exactly how a file started, which is not how human memory works, added comma before. This is a small fix with a a disproportionately large quality-of-life impact.
The Search by Substring improvement is available in the Experimental channel with Build 26300.8553 and in the Beta channel with Build 26220.8544. In the same build, Microsoft has added Start menu improvements including section-level toggles, a renamed Recommended section now called Recent, and size options for the Start menu itself.