Top features of the new Microsoft Search

Here’s what you’ve got to look forward to in the next few months.

Easier searches and personalisation

To start with, the search bar on the apps you work with regularly is going to move to a more prominent, consistent place. From Outlook to PowerPoint, Office.com to SharePoint, the search bar will be in the same place on every program, and this applies across desktop, mobile and web.

You’ll also start to see more personalised results as soon as you click in the search box, such as people you share content with frequently, and the most recent documents you’ve been working on.

Helping your apps to work together

With the new updates, search results will include files and documents from across your organisation. For example, when working in Word, you can find not only other Word documents, but also any presentations you’ve been working on. From there, you can choose to either navigate straight to that presentation or incorporate slides from that file directly into your current document, saving you the hassle of copying and pasting.

Searching in Bing

If you’re a Bing user, searching in Bing now returns both your organisational results and your web results once you’ve made a search. This feature makes it easy for you check up on what resources you’ve already got covered, as anything saved to your computer about a specific topic will show up immediately, and the things you’re not so sure about can be found in the results of the web-specific search.

Easier searching with Office.com

With new search updates to Office.com, you can easily find documents you were recently working on, as well as recommended documents that your colleagues or friends have directly mentioned you in. This helps you to keep up to date with what changes have been made since the last time you opened the file. Collaboration and keeping everyone in the loops have never been so simple!

Updates to the Outlook mobile app

The Outlook mobile app has also targeted the search feature as an important element of the user experience, as it provides quick access to commands, content and contacts.

The new zero query search feature allows users to bring up recommendations powered by AI and the Microsoft Graph by simply clicking the search bar – you don’t even have to type anything.

What’s next?

By early next year, the company aims to have implemented Microsoft Search features into all Office apps across desktop, mobile and web, as well as directly into the Windows task bar. This will allow users to perform searches without having to open a specific app, which will save time and deliver more accurate results.

For further information on what to look forward to, keep checking the official Microsoft website.