Microsoft is testing a streamlined version of Windows 11 search that strips out recommended content and advertising, according to a Windows Insider blog post published July 13, 2026. The new design is now available to testers in the Experimental channel Windows Insider Blog.

The changes affect both how search looks when you first open it and what it shows you when you type. Right now, opening the search box displays a grid of tiles on the right side — today's image, daily trivia, trending searches, game suggestions — alongside your recent searches. In the new version, that tile grid disappears. You see only your recent searches instead The Verge.

The results themselves have been reorganized too. Previously, search would lead with products you could buy and web content from Bing. Now it attempts to show the most directly relevant result first — which usually means local files, installed programs, and system settings appear before web results and Microsoft Store suggestions. This reordering effectively pushes the categories Microsoft uses to make money further down the list. When a result appears, the right side now shows file details and a preview, so you can confirm it matches what you want without opening it.

The test build also offers something Microsoft hasn't always provided: a toggle in Settings to turn off web and Microsoft Store recommendations entirely, according to the blog post and The Verge. Microsoft also says the underlying search system has been improved to handle typos better, work with extra characters, and understand partial words, along with unspecified performance improvements to how it processes queries.

Windows 11 search has been a persistent frustration since Microsoft began layering web results, Bing answers, and promotional tiles onto what was originally a simple file and application finder. Power users and IT professionals have complained for years that typing a keystroke meant to launch a local program instead brings up web suggestions, ads for Microsoft 365, or seasonal widgets. This Experimental channel test is Microsoft's clearest acknowledgment yet that the design drew sustained criticism rather than occasional complaints.

The broader context here: changes in the Experimental channel are not promises. Microsoft regularly tests interface changes there that never reach the general Windows release, and the company has modified or abandoned search features in the past after initial testing. Neither source gives a timeline for wider availability or confirms that the ad-free default will stick once the feature leaves the test environment and faces Microsoft's need to generate revenue from advertising and services The Verge.

That tension cuts deeper than this one feature. Windows Search has long served as a distribution channel for Bing, the Microsoft Store, and Microsoft 365 subscriptions — it is valuable real estate that Microsoft has been reluctant to cede even as users complained for years. A toggle that lets testers disable web recommendations in an Experimental build is a meaningful step; whether that toggle survives to the final release, is turned on by default, or quietly moves to a buried settings submenu is what will actually determine whether this matters to most Windows users.

The technical improvements — better handling of typos, faster searching and indexing — are less controversial and more likely to ship regardless, since they address search quality rather than how Microsoft makes money from it. Metadata previews in the results pane are a smaller but useful addition for anyone searching through folders with many similarly named files who needs to pick the right one before opening.

In my view, the more telling signal here is not the removal of a trivia tile — it's that Microsoft is testing a redesign where local results rank above the monetized categories by default. That reverses years of design choices, even if only in an experimental ring. Anyone who has watched Start menu ads, lock screen suggestions, and taskbar widgets appear and sometimes disappear over the past several Windows 11 updates will recognize the pattern: Microsoft tests a cleaner experience when complaints pile up, then quietly brings some version of the clutter back once attention shifts elsewhere. Whether this test actually leads to a permanent change is something the next few Insider builds will reveal, not this one.