Windows 11 Search highlights adds changing content to the taskbar search box and Search home, including notable events, daily topics and, for work or school accounts, organization information. Microsoft announced the feature on March 9, 2022, for Windows 11 Insiders, with rollout beginning the following week in stages—not as a new rollout today. You can turn it off using the Search settings control Microsoft documented in 2022.
What Search highlights shows
Search highlights adds visual and informational content to the Windows taskbar search box and Search home. Microsoft described items tied to holidays, anniversaries and educational topics, with content that could vary by region. Search home could also show a word of the day, Microsoft Rewards offers and trending searches. Its left side included recently launched apps, files, settings and websites.
Microsoft summarized the feature in its June 2022 update documentation: “Search highlights will present notable and interesting moments—like holidays, anniversaries, and other educational moments in time both globally and in your region.” Microsoft’s KB5014668 documentation describes the later customer rollout.
How the experience differs for work and school accounts
For work or school accounts, Microsoft’s 2022 description included organization updates and suggestions for people and files. Users could also browse an organization people chart and find organizational content through Microsoft Search. This is distinct from the consumer-oriented daily and notable-event material: what appears depends on the account context, and enterprise presentation can be managed by administrators.
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How to turn Search highlights off
- Open Settings.
- Go to Privacy & security > Search settings.
- Turn off Show search highlights. Turn it back on in the same place if you want the content again.
This is the path and toggle name in Microsoft’s March 2022 announcement. Settings labels can differ across Windows versions, so if you do not see that exact path, search Settings for “search highlights” or check the Search settings available on your Windows build. Microsoft also noted that organization administrators have additional controls in the Microsoft 365 admin center and linked Search policy documentation.
What “coming next week” meant—and what changed later
The headline’s “next week” refers to the week after Microsoft’s March 9, 2022 announcement, not the week after today’s date. The initial announcement covered Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22572 in the Dev Channel. Microsoft said the rollout would be phased, so not every Insider would see Search highlights immediately. The original announcement sets out that timing.
On June 23, 2022, Microsoft described Search highlights in the Windows 11 KB5014668 preview update as rolling out to customers over several weeks, with broad availability expected in the following months. That was also a staged rollout; it does not establish whether the feature is enabled on any particular PC now.
Microsoft announced a separate set of Windows Search box improvements on July 13, 2026, for gradual rollout to Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel. Those changes address Search home clutter, result types, promotional content in web results, suggestion controls, ranking, typo tolerance and reliability. They are not the 2022 Search highlights announcement or a continuation of its “next week” timing. Microsoft’s 2026 announcement describes that separate work.
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