Author Topic: Enable Hidden Taskbar Search Box In Windows 10  (Read 2568 times)

Offline javajolt

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Enable Hidden Taskbar Search Box In Windows 10
« on: November 18, 2014, 02:31:27 PM »
Microsoft’s newest preview release of Windows 10 comes with a few hidden goodies. First among these is a hidden taskbar search box that can be accessed via a simple registry edit.

Instructions below, if you want to try this out on the recent Windows 10 build 9879.

However, if you are new to tinkering with registry files, then ensure that you are have installed your preview build on a backup PC or in a virtualized environment — nothing goes wrong if you follow the instructions, but you run the risk of bricking your installation, in some instances.

First unearthed here, the steps are listed below:

Launch the Registry Editor tool by typing in regedit.exe in the search box or the run window and hitting enter. A new windows will pop up on the screen. Navigate to the following path;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

In case the Search key is missing, you can easily right-click the parent directory, which in this particular case is “CurrentVersion” and create “Search” manually. Then right-click in the right side of the window and create a new DWORD value called “EnableSearchBox”.

Add 1 as its value and hit “Enter”.

Now either restart Explorer shell, or reboot your machine, and you will see a new search box that makes it easy to search right from the good old taskbar.

Unfortunately, it does not actually function. But it looks set to be a feature that will be part of the final version, as the icon for speech input and options to toggle it on or off by right-clicking the taskbar show.

Maybe Microsoft will integrate Cortana here, fair chance of that happening.

In any case, nice to see Redmond adding in more productivity features into Windows 10, and this might come in handy depending on your workflow.

source:windows10update