- Windows 11 Search Might Give You the Option to Turn Off Web Results
- Microsoft is already giving those results a lower priority, but it could go even further and also remove results that point to its store.
- This is all based on changes seen in a meeting with Windows 11 testers, but for now it remains a rumor.
In what will hopefully be one of the most refreshing changes ever made to Windows 11, Microsoft is rumored to be working on allowing users to ditch web results (and therefore Bing) from the search feature in the operating system.
Windows Latest reports that it was present at a private Windows 11 tester meeting where Microsoft revealed that the ability to disable web results in search was coming.
The website provides photographic evidence of the feature in an internal version that has not yet been released as a preview, which shows a switch to disable web searches and another search suggestions element that can also be disabled, namely the Microsoft Store search results.
We’re told these new options will roll out to Windows 11 testers in a matter of weeks, so we shouldn’t have to wait long before we get concrete evidence of these changes.
Analysis: spam disappeared
If you’ve ever performed a search in Windows 11 (or 10), you’ll no doubt be familiar with web results that appear and get in the way of what you really want to see (i.e. local files that appear or perhaps Windows settings).
Just a few weeks ago, we heard that Microsoft is deprioritizing those web results in Windows Search, meaning that as things stand with the current plan, they’ll still be present, but they’ll appear lower in the list than local files and other generally more relevant content.
At the time, I noted that Microsoft should give users the option to turn off web results entirely, but I commented that this seemed unlikely. So I’m very happy to see that Microsoft has (reportedly) defied my expectations and is actually moving forward with this option, and the option to get rid of Microsoft Store recommendations to begin with (even if these options should always have been in place when it comes down to it).
This effectively gives users the option to get rid of much of the ‘spam’ in Windows 11 search, reducing it to just local results without anything web-based being returned for a given query. It’s a great move, and in fact, I’d say it’s key in terms of getting rid of unwanted promotional activity on Windows 11 (whether it’s pushing apps from the Microsoft Store or web results that naturally open in Bing within Edge, driving traffic to those Microsoft properties).
Before I get carried away, it’s worth remembering that for now this remains a rumor, albeit a solid one given that Windows Latest shared a photo of the meeting and new configuration options. However, even if all of this is genuine, there’s always a chance that Microsoft could reverse course on the idea, but I doubt it, especially given that the company is very much in the mood to make crowd-pleasing changes to Windows 11 these days.
Keep those fingers crossed.
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