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- Windows 11 search is getting two useful additions
- Microsoft is fixing search so that it works better to locate files with long compound names
- The search function will also start to pop up possible results after just two two characters have been typed
Windows 11 Search is getting more improvements designed to make finding the files you need easier — and one of those upgrades is arriving this month.
Windows Latest reports that there are two changes that Microsoft is working on for the search function in Windows 11, and one is actually already available in the current preview (optional) update for the OS. This means it'll start rolling out in the June update, arriving in a week, but you may have to wait a while for the rollout to hit your PC thereafter.
The first change is the ability for Windows 11 to start showing you possible search results when you've typed in as few as two characters.
A bigger change, called 'search by substring', is coming later and is now in testing in Windows 11's preview builds. It's quite simple to understand: when there are files with long single names that consist of multiple words run together – such as "CookingRecipesJune2026" – if you simply type "Recipes" in the search box, Windows 11 will flag up the correct file.
Currently – and rather annoyingly – typing "Recipes" or "June" by itself is unlikely to locate the correct file. You'll probably need to also include the start of the file name, ("CookingRecipes"), in order for Windows 11 to successfully locate it.
Analysis: search gets stronger
That compound naming pitfall is one of my biggest bugbears with Windows 11 search, so it's great to see that Microsoft is resolving it, if only in testing for now. That said, it's one of those fixes that should have been in place a long time ago, but this is true for quite a number of the updates Microsoft is applying across Windows 11 in the campaign to improve the desktop OS for 2026. Better late than never, as they say…
My other major pain point with Windows 11 (and Windows 10) search is that it pulls in web results alongside local files or settings, and Microsoft has made a move on that front, too. A couple of weeks back, again in testing, we heard the news that these web results would be less prioritized in searches, which is a laudable positive step forward – though frankly I'd like the option to banish them entirely, which probably won't happen.
The tweak to start presenting search results with as few as two characters typed could be a useful timesaver, too. Of course, with only a couple of characters for Windows 11 to go off, the odds of hitting the correct result first time are slimmer.
Nonetheless, I'm happy that Microsoft is working on improving Windows 11 search, and the change with compound file names is especially welcome.
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Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5
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