From searching to doing: Building a faster, more streamlined Windows Search

Microsoft is rolling out a redesigned Windows Search experience built on WinUI 3, starting on the taskbar for Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel beginning October 7. The rebuild consolidates the results list and preview pane into a single scannable list, improves typo and synonym matching, and promises faster performance and lower memory usage. Future updates include inline file previews, rich web answer cards, category filters, and inline actions (e.g., toggling dark mode, night light, Bluetooth, muting, or arranging windows) directly from search, with Start menu integration and Copilot ties planned for next year. Insiders can enable the flag via Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > Feature flags after updating to build 26340.9616 (Experimental) or 28120.3181 (Experimental 26H1).

Source: https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/10/07/from-searching-to-doing-building-a-faster-more-streamlined-windows-search. 8 Sync News only summarizes and links out; content copyright belongs to the authors and original sources.