One of my least favorite things about Windows 11 is how inaccurate Start menu search bar results can be. I'll often tap the Windows button on my keyboard to pull up the search window and type in a simple query like "Grammarly," only for incorrect apps to be recommended and the app I'm looking for not appearing at all. Instead, I'm greeted with a bunch of seemingly random ads and useless app recommendations.

According to a recent X post from Diego Baca, the design director at Microsoft for Windows 11, the tech giant has plans to make the operating system's Start menu search results more predictable (via Windows Latest). Hopefully, this also includes ditching web results that have nothing to do with what I'm searching for.

Baca says that "search performance + predictability from Start" is something Microsoft is working to improve as part of its comprehensive plan to enhance Windows 11 in the coming months. In a reply to a user on X, Baca said that this is exactly how he uses the Start menu, too.

This is part of Microsoft's broader plan to improve Windows 11

Search clutter will be cut down, too

As part of its broader plan to improve Windows 11, Microsoft confirmed it's toning down Copilot AI integration, bringing back the vertical taskbar, and improving File Explorer, among other changes.

At the time, Microsoft said it planned to speed up Windows Search and clean up much of its clutter by cutting down on ads and recommendations, alongside a renewed focus on surfacing files that are actually on your PC.

Following the reveal of this strategy shift, various Microsoft executives have been surprisingly vocal about their plans to improve Windows 11, including a more modern UI for Control Panel and Device Manager and a timeline for dark mode's arrival, just to name a few examples. We also briefly caught a glimpse of the operating system's upcoming vertical taskbar in action.