Microsoft has given Windows Insiders a rare and long-awaited gift: the ability to completely strip web and Microsoft Store suggestions from the operating system’s search experience. Starting July 13, 2026, testers on the Experimental Channel can begin using new privacy toggles that turn Windows Search into a local-only tool—or simply banish the promotional clutter that has increasingly infested results. The changes are part of a broader overhaul that also improves ranking, typo tolerance, and the look of the preview pane, marking one of the most significant search usability updates in years.

First reported by Thurrott and detailed in a Windows Insider Blog post, the revamp touches nearly every corner of the Search interface. Here’s what Insiders can now try:

A cleaner Search Home. Opening the Search box no longer drowns you in recommended and trending content. Instead, only your recent searches appear, making it simpler to jump back to a previous query.

Redesigned preview pane. Results now show clearer headers and more useful metadata, so you can tell at a glance whether an item is an app, setting, file, web result, or Store listing before you click.

New privacy toggles. Head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Search, and you’ll find two new controls:

Toggle What it does
Show web suggestions When off, removes all Bing-powered web results from search.
Show Microsoft Store suggestions When off, removes apps, games, and other Store content from search.

Even if you keep web suggestions on, the preview pane no longer shows related products or promotional blurbs. Microsoft has stripped the ad-like content that often lurked behind web results.

Smarter ranking. Local results—apps, settings, files—now appear above web and Store suggestions when Windows determines they are the better match. System items like This PC and the Recycle Bin are also easier to find.

Typo-tolerant searching. You can mangle a search term and still get what you need. The search engine now handles misspellings, extra letters, missing letters, and partial queries. Type “utlook” and Outlook will surface.

Two-character file searches. Searching for files with extremely short names is now supported, which is a boon for anyone who uses cryptic abbreviations.

Better cloud and connected file handling. When a cloud or network file is the best result, the system now presents it more prominently.

Settings search improvements. A first round of ranking tweaks brings more relevant Control Panel and Settings pages to the top. Microsoft plans additional tuning in the coming months.

Reliability fixes. The company mentions fewer crashes and loading problems, though no specific metrics were provided.

What the search overhaul means for you

The impact depends on how you use your PC.

For everyday users: Search becomes decidedly less noisy. When you type something, you’re looking for an app, a document, or a particular setting—not a web page about the thing you just typed. The new defaults and toggles mean you can finally have a search experience that stays on your computer, not the internet. If you’re the kind of user who finds the current search box overwhelming or distracting, these changes are for you.

For power users and professionals: Granular control is the headline. You can keep web results for quick lookups but kill the Store suggestions that often feel like unwanted ads. Or you can go fully local and rely on the improved ranking to surface exactly what you need. The typo tolerance and two-character support also speed up workflows—less correcting, more doing.

For IT admins and enterprise environments: Right now, this is a consumer-oriented test. There are no group policy or Microsoft Intune controls to manage the new toggles, so you can’t enforce a local-only search across your fleet. For organizations that see these features as a win for productivity (or a requirement for compliance), you’ll need to keep an eye on future Insider builds or a broader rollout. It’s also worth noting that the Experimental Channel may not reflect the final feature set that reaches retail Windows 11.

How we got here: a search that lost its way

Windows Search has been on a long, convoluted journey. In the Windows 10 era, Microsoft began infusing web results directly into the taskbar search box—a move that was often seen as an attempt to drive Bing traffic rather than genuinely help users. Over time, the company added trending topics, promotional tiles, and even “recommended” content that felt like veiled advertising. Each addition sparked fresh rounds of user backlash.

A basic toggle to hide web results did exist in Windows 10, but it was buried in the registry or required temperamental group policy edits. Windows 11 initially removed even that limited user control, making the search box even more web-centric. The result was an interface that often felt like it was fighting you: you searched for a control panel setting, and the top result was a Bing link for a support article.

The changes rolling out now are a direct response to that years-long criticism. In its blog post, Microsoft explicitly acknowledged user requests for “search that is faster, more relevant, and easier to use—whether you’re opening an app, finding a file, or changing a setting.” The new toggles and ranking logic show that the company is finally willing to let the search box be, first and foremost, a tool for navigating your own PC.

How to enable the new search features right now

If you’re a Windows Insider on the Experimental Channel, here’s how to try the new search experience:

  1. Make sure you’re on the latest build. Open Settings > Windows Update and check for updates. The rollout began on July 13, 2026, but as a Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR), it may take days or even weeks to reach every eligible device.

  2. Reboot or use Feature Flags. If the features don’t appear after an update and restart, you can try manually enabling them. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, and look for “Feature Flags.” Microsoft says the new search options can be toggled on there if they haven’t been activated automatically.

  3. Find the new toggles. Once the features are live, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Search. You’ll see the new checkboxes for web and Store suggestions. Uncheck what you don’t want, and the change takes effect immediately—no reboot required.

  4. Provide feedback. Microsoft is specifically asking Insiders to submit feedback through the Feedback Hub under “Windows Search.” Your input could shape the final design before it ever hits the stable release.

For everyone else: these improvements are an early test, not a public update. There’s no guarantee that every change will survive the preview phase, and a broader rollout could be months away. But if history is any guide, features that debut in the Experimental Channel often evolve into the Dev and Beta channels before landing in a future Windows 11 Moment or annual update.

Microsoft has said it will continue tuning the settings search ranking in the coming months, so expect further refinement. The bigger question is when—and in what form—these controls will reach the stable version of Windows 11. Given the overwhelmingly positive reaction to similar decluttering efforts in other parts of Windows (like the Start menu), it seems likely that this is the direction of travel.

The lack of enterprise management tools for the new toggles is a notable gap. Admins will be watching for group policy or CSP support, which would let organizations enforce a local-only search environment across all managed devices.

For now, the Experimental Channel test is a welcome signal that Microsoft is listening. It’s a rare move that puts user control back into an area that has long felt like a one-way street of web integration. If the company’s feedback loop works as intended, Windows Search might finally become the fast, reliable, ad-free launcher that users have wanted for years.