One of the worst aspects of Windows 11 is how it replaces the fully-functional search box from Windows 10 with a search button that forces you to type your query into a pop-up menu. Making you do your search in another window is jarring, annoying and reminds me of the Windows 8 experience where you had to leave the desktop screen in order to view the Start menu or search bar. 

Finally, more than a year after Windows 11 launched, Microsoft is about to bring the search box back to the taskbar where it belongs. The company has been experimenting with an in-taskbar search box since September in Dev and Beta builds, but today it has come to the latest Release Preview build, which is build number 22621.1343. 

Enabled by default, the new search box shows the text from your query as you type it while displaying the results in pop-up menu. You can then click on the result you want to launch. For example, when I searched for “”solitaire,” the menu showed me the icon for “Solitaire Collection,” and it also showed me the text for “Collection” as a suggestion in the search box itself.

When I searched for content that didn’t have a match on the computer itself, I got results from the web. For example, when I entered “McDonald’s” in the search box, I got a list of local restaurants from that franchise. This is typical Windows search behavior, but it’s nice to have the query text appear right in the taskbar.

As you could before, you can also initiate a search from the Start menu itself. However, you’ll have to enter the query into a text box that appears at the top of the Start menu and, once you click on the box, you’ll be switched from the Start menu to the Search pop-up menu, but your query won’t end up in the taskbar search box.

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If you don’t like the search box in your taskbar, you can turn it back into a label or an icon by right clicking on the taskbar, selecting Taskbar settings and then choosing an option from the Search select menu. 

If you’re a Windows Insider in the Release Preview Channel, you will be getting this build as an update right now. If you are not an insider, you will probably be getting the new search experience very soon in an update to the release build.  

More New Features of Windows 11 Build 22621.1343

The search box isn’t the only new feature you’ll get in Build 22621.1343. Others include:

• Link to Quick Assist support app added to bottom of Settings > System > Troubleshooters
• Energy recommendations provided in the Settings > System > Power & Battery > Energy Recommendations
• Improved System Tray experience with rounded focus and hover treatment
• Touch optimized taskbar for 2-in-1 devices
• Improved support for braille devices
• Better voice access

As we reported a few days ago, Microsoft is also looking to add a new Gallery and File Explorer to future versions of Windows. You can test that hidden Gallery out right now in the Dev built of Windows 11.