Skip to main content

Microsoft plans to overhaul a central feature of Windows 10

windows 10 october update

With Windows 10 getting major updates twice a year, the operating system is always seeing new improvements. In a new one of these updates, Microsoft is overhauling the Windows search feature, now beta testing indexing changes with Windows 10 19H1 Fast Ring build 18267.

Noted on the Windows Insider Blog, Microsoft’s search improvements involve enabling Windows to index and search all folders and drives, instead of limiting it to the default documents, pictures, and videos folders.

Related Videos

Currently, the feature is only available in preview testing and isn’t turned on by default. For consumers beta testing Fast Ring build 18267, it can be enabled by heading to Windows settings and selecting “Enhanced” under Windows search settings. The indexing will then take about 15 minutes and Microsoft recommends to plug in before starting since indexing can be a resource intense activity.

As the Windows Insider beta testing program often sets out to do, the change was built on the feedback of those who found that Windows search needed improvements.

“When the indexing is complete, you’ll be able to find all your files almost instantly when you use Windows Search. To exclude a folder from search, add it to the Excluded Folders list. Thanks for your feedback about search and the indexer. These improvements were made because of your input. Keep the feedback coming,” said Microsoft.

Microsoft is officially calling the new mode “Enhanced Search” and it will be interesting to see if it will make Windows searches more accurate and less painful. Regardless, the experience could still be buggy, as it is being previewed with an early beta version of the next update to Windows 10. The name can also change, too, and it might even be removed, as Windows 10 preview features have come and gone in the past.

This is just the latest set of changes coming in the next version of Windows 10 as a previous preview recently introduced the ability to remove more of the pre-installed Microsoft apps on a PC. The same Windows 10 19H1 Fast Ring build 18267 also adds in Vietnamese Telex and Number key-based keyboards, more symbols on the touch keyboard, and several improvements for Windows narrator.

There is still no solid date yet for when standard non-beta Windows users can expect these features on their PCs. Windows 10 updates are typically released around April and again around October.

Editors' Recommendations

GPT-4 has come to LinkedIn, because of course it has
LinkedIn's GPT-4 headline generator feature.

With the official introduction of Open AI's GPT-4, Microsoft is expanding its range of product support to include AI upgrades embedded into LinkedIn.

The business-focused social media platform announced Thursday that it will begin testing a host of AI-driven features based on both the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 language models with its Premium subscribers. These functions will allow people to do things such as create more personalized profiles and job descriptions using AI-generated prompts. In particular, the GPT-4 language model will be the power behind AI profile writing, according to LinkedIn.

Read more
How Microsoft 365 Copilot unleashes ChatGPT from its restraints
Copilot in Microsoft Word generating results.

Thanks to ChatGPT, natural language AI has taken the world by storm. But so far, it's felt boxed in. With these chatbots, everything happens in one window, with one search bar to type into.

We've always known these large language models could do far more, though, and it was only a matter of time until that potential was unlocked. Microsoft has just announced Copilot, its own integration of ChatGPT into all its Microsoft 365 apps, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. And finally, we're seeing the way generative AI is going to be used more commonly in the future -- and it's not necessarily as a straightforward chatbot.
Bringing natural language into apps

Read more
Firefox just got a great new way to protect your privacy
Canva in Firefox on a MacBook.

If you’re fed up with signing up for new accounts online and then being perpetually spammed in the days and weeks after, Mozilla has an idea that could help. The company has just announced its Firefox Relay feature is being directly integrated into its Firefox web browser, and it could help guarantee your privacy without any extra hassle.

Firefox Relay works by letting you create email “masks” when you sign up for new accounts. Instead of entering your real credentials into the sign-up field, Firefox Relay provides you with a throwaway address and phone number to use. Any messages from the website -- such as purchase receipts -- are then forwarded to your real email address, with all the sender’s tracking information stripped out to protect your privacy.

Read more