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TechRadar

Kristina Terech

Microsoft plans to make searching in Windows 11 better - I just hope it doesn't screw it up

Microsoft Windows XDA

A man and a woman sitting on a couch and the woman has a laptop on her lap.

Microsoft is developing a new "File Search" app, possibly to improve Windows Search, aiming for more accurate results and better usability
The app will support searches across both local files and cloud storage, also allowing more specific queries
Screenshots reveal that File Search is still in development, with potential concerns over its functionality and Microsoft’s app ecosystem integration

Microsoft is reportedly working on a new app for the rather unpopular Windows Search tool, in the hopes of making it feel more useful to Windows users. Windows Search is currently seen as fairly unreliable and hard to use, causing many users to abandon it altogether.

The new app will apparently allow you to search for files both on your PC as well as stored in a cloud storage service like Microsoft’s own OneDrive. You’ll also be able to carry out more specific searches by using details like file names, keywords, and people, which will show up in the taskbar. This sounds like you might be able to search directly from the taskbar, which I think would be particularly popular with users as you wouldn’t have to open a separate dialog box to search.

Evidence that such an app was in the process of being developed was spotted by user EpicB on X, raising people’s hopes that Windows Search might finally turn out to be a helpful feature.

This happened yesterday, but here's the File Search Companion app that got released yesterday. (hopefully more details soon) pic.twitter.com/ACS9sfThZ2November 29, 2024

EpicB doesn’t explain where they caught glimpses of the new companion app in the operating system (OS) or in which version of it, but they do provide some screenshots of a window that appears to introduce the new app to users and shows what it currently looks like. In one screenshot, you can see a query for files to do with ‘Renewable Energy’ and some files listed as results. In other screenshots, there’s an FAQ section and a ‘Preferences’ page with some options regarding notifications, which are greyed out.

The app itself is named ‘File Search’ in these screenshots, but as this is still in development, the name could change. XDA writes that File Search won’t just be able to search using things like file names, but also by keywords in the document itself or by the names of people who work on a certain file.

Maybe one of many Companion apps in the pipeline

File Search looks set to be another ‘Companion’ app that Microsoft has been introducing to Windows 11, which are designed to be small, helpful additions. XDA also reports that a Microsoft 365 taskbar Companion was announced at Ignite 2024, which it thinks indicates that we’re probably going to see more of these apps be added to Windows 11.

From the screenshots provided, it doesn’t look like EpicB was able to try the app for themselves, and Microsoft is still in the process of testing and refining it, so we’ll have to wait and see the finalized version. It’s also unclear if (and how) the Companion app is related to Windows Search itself.

I’m rooting for Microsoft in this instance and I hope the File Search Companion app is a success. This would make Windows 11 more efficient and easier to use, and function how you would hope a search app would work. The tech company still has some ways to go when it comes to winning many users’ favor and developments like this would be steps in the right direction.

I do worry that Microsoft could still mess this up, however. Either by rushing it out in an unfinished state, with some features not working as intended, or by using the app to strongarm people into using its other apps and services, such as opening links in its Edge browser, even if you use another web browser as your default, or limiting the cloud search feature to only work with its OneDrive service, and not rivals such as iCloud and Google Drive.