Microsoft is acting further on its promise to fix some of Windows 11’s worst annoyances. The company is rolling out changes in the Windows Insider Experimental channel that promise a less cluttered search box that largely eliminates ads, although you’ll need to tweak settings to get the best results.
The upgraded search starts with a “calmer” appearance that doesn’t try to stuff trends, trivia, and other less-than-helpful features into its home screen or results. You’ll see highlights for recent searches, clearer organization, and a better sense of where results come from. It’ll be easier to tell if you’re looking at a file or a web result, for instance.
More importantly, Microsoft has stripped “promotional content” (read: ads) from web results, focusing on the most relevant answer instead of promos and products. Windows 11 now prioritizes local results over the web, and a “first round” of ranking improvements will help useful settings show higher in results.
Other updates include more forgiving results (mistype “utlook” and you’ll still find Outlook), more accurate file searches, and fewer crashes.
How to get rid of Microsoft Store ads in Windows 11
A new setting should clear things up
The search box updates don’t get rid of everything by default. You’ll still see web and Microsoft Store suggestions in some cases. However, Microsoft is also introducing a new toggle to disable those recommendations. If you’re part of the rollout, here’s how you disable the ads in Windows 11 search:
- Visit Settings.
- Click Privacy & security.
- Click Search.
- Under Show suggested search results, toggle Web searches and Microsoft Store to “off.”
After this, your search results should be more focused on what you wanted to find. Note that there are already ways to disable Start menu ads in the Personalization section of Settings.
Microsoft continues its campaign to fix Windows
Less bloat, more useful features
Microsoft confirmed in March that it was making a “commitment to Windows quality” that would involve significant OS changes throughout 2026. Effectively, it acknowledged that it had neglected core parts of the experience while pushing services customers didn’t necessarily want.
It has already toned down Copilot, given users more control over Windows Updates, and made for “quieter” widgets, and made functional improvements to File Explorer. There have also been moves to expand taskbar customzation and streamline the Windows Insider program.
These are welcome updates, but they also reflect the mounting pushback to Windows 11. Adoption of the OS has been slowing, and might be feeding into rising market share for Linux and Macs. The revamped search box and other tweaks could keep users in the Windows ecosystem, not to mention spur upgrades from customsrs still holding out with Windows 10 despite the end of normal support in October 2025.
