Windows 11 Search Highlights feature is ready for action

Windows 11 Search Highlights

Ready for prime time! Windows 11 is about to get an interesting new feature that goes by the name of Search Highlights, with Microsoft weeks away from initiating the rollout.

Which itself might take several months before all Windows 11 devices get access to it.

This brave new addition to the OS has made it way to the Release Preview channel by courtesy of the recently released build 22000.776.

In case you are not familiar with this new feature, it is supposed to enhance the search experience in Windows 11 by beaming additional content relevant to each user. This includes regional and global holidays and anniversaries, and whatnot.

Microsoft explained this upcoming feature in these words:

“Search highlights will present notable and interesting moments of what’s special about each day—like holidays, anniversaries, and other educational moments in time both globally and in your region. To see search highlights, click or tap on the search icon on your taskbar. For enterprise customers, search highlights will also feature the latest updates from your organization and suggest people, files, and more.”

This functionality is optimized for your workflow, meaning if you have a work or school account linked to the operating system, you will see content recommendations related to your organization like files and contacts.

An example of the difference between the two choices:

While the idea sounds enticing at first, this is simply another attempt at pushing MSN and Bing fueled content to Windows users. Redmond has been doing something similar on Edge, but doing this on Windows will very much double its reach.

Luckily, turning Search Highlights off should be a simple enough process, if this is not your jam.

The feature is now a step closer to launch, after going live in the Release Preview channel. However, the rollout will be gradual and take place in stages — as is almost always the case.

Microsoft wants to make sure this new addition is sans any eleventh-hour bugs that may be discovered by testers. This way, the company can suspend the process before more devices are impacted by these last-minute problems.