If you've been waiting for Microsoft to fix Windows 11's atrocious Search, I wouldn't bother. Not because the company shouldn't fix it, of course, but because they show no inclination to improve it and keep stuffing things users don't want, like targeted advertising, into the search results. The good news is that you've got plenty of options to replace Search with, depending on your needs and how you like to search. I've been playing around with Search replacements, and I think I've found my go-to app. It's called Fluent Search, and it has everything I love about Spotlight on macOS, without any of the junk I hate about Windows Search.

The problem with Windows Search

Sorry, problems because there are many

I can't remember the last time Windows Search was actually performant, but it certainly wasn't at any point in Windows 11's lifetime. One of the problems is that Windows Search indexing is a resource hog, and you're better off without it running. But that's far from the laundry list of complaints with Search, with unwanted web content at the top of my list of grievances. Seriously, Microsoft. I'm looking for files or settings on my PC. Why do I get four web results before the content I actually want?

But it's much worse than that. Windows only indexes a few primary locations by default, so there is no Earthly reason it should be so bad. Every other operating system and file storage service I use takes a fraction of the time to find the things I'm searching for, so much so that I rarely bother with folder structure as a simple search is faster.

And that's also before you consider the annoyances Microsoft keeps adding to Search, like sponsored and 'suggested' apps and content, showing up in the Start menu when you do a Search. It's not a fun time, and the aggravating thing is that Microsoft could easily fix things if it cared. But they don't. Complicated, slow, advertisement-laden Search results are the intended behavior, and that will not stop any time soon.

Fluent Search runs rings around Microsoft's offerings

And it rivals some of the best alternatives

While there are plenty of alternative search apps for Windows, Fluent Search appealed to me because of how much additional power is behind that simple search bar. Starting to type instantly starts searching, giving you an evolving list of options as you add more characters. I love this not just for finding similarly-named documents but because it can search for PowerShell commands, or browser tabs, or a million other things if you enable some add-ins.

I've got things like translation, number converters, and a random string generator enabled on my Fluent Search bar, all things I used to use a browser-based tool to handle. It can pull results from my clipboard history, open apps, or load found documents into my editor of choice. I haven't even scratched the surface of how powerful the tagging system is, and it offers my favorite feature from macOS — one-button preview of files.

One neat thing is that once you've searched for a terminal or PowerShell command, you can select the Run dialog to open the respective Terminal window and execute that command, saving you a few steps. And you have choices with the indexer, as Fluent Search has a native indexer, or you can use Windows Search, or Everything as the index, giving you a coherent experience across all the search options on your PC.

The keyboard navigation function is fantastic

One of my favorite features is Screen Search, which is triggered by a hotkey combination and lets you navigate your screen without lifting your fingers from your keyboard. Tapping the hotkeys puts small hotzones over every clickable object on your screen, each with a letter combination, and tapping that combo has you navigate to it.

This is wonderful, not just because it's faster, but because having to move my hand between keyboard and mouse dozens of times an hour while working causes repetitive strain injuries, and my tendonitis is touchy enough without adding to the strain. Plus, I've been used to keyboard navigation for a lifetime of DOS, Terminal, and Linux desktop environments designed for keyboard navigation, which greatly pleases my inner nerd.

Windows Search should be your last resort

Microsoft has made Windows Search worse over time, and when there are many alternatives to consider, I don't know why you should settle for the subpar experience. While macOS' Spotlight has an edge, Windows users can switch to Everything, or Fluent Search, or any of the other choices we've tested out in the past. And PowerToys Run is always an option, if you want to stick with Microsoft's offerings.