If you press the Windows key on your keyboard, it opens the Start menu, but what if it could do more? Microsoft plans to look at the “right behavior” for the key once its new Search experience reaches Start. But it’s being extra cautious because it can’t ignore your muscle memory.
For those who don’t know, Windows is getting a new Search UI, and it’s dramatically different from what we have now. Here’s a closer look at the new UI from Windows preview builds:
The new Search UI is separate from the Start menu, which still opens the old Search when you start typing. So you’ve got two Search UIs essentially doing the same thing. This new Search UI is built from scratch, lets you remove Bing results, and includes a feature called “Actions” that lets you change settings like toggling Bluetooth.
At some point, Microsoft plans to merge the two search experiences, but given how the new Search is built (shorter in height) and has a different feel compared to the Start menu, the transition wouldn’t really fit unless Microsoft has plans to make changes to the Start menu experience.
With Search now doing more, one Windows Insider asked Microsoft to make the Windows key better, and add more Actions, such as sending emails without opening Outlook.
“Apart from evoking the new search experience with just the Win key rather than Win+S, it would be great to support sending emails through Outlook using inline actions like Phone Link demo,” the user wrote in a post on X.
And to our surprise, Tali Roth, who heads Windows Shell experiences at Microsoft, actually responded with an interesting answer.
“Once we’ve brought this experience to Start too we’ll be looking into the right behavior for Win key since so many folks have built the muscle memory there. For email, it’s one of the actions we’re considering,” Tali Roth wrote in a post on X, as first spotted by Windows Latest.
That leaves open the possibility of a different role for one of Windows 11’s most familiar keys, but what could it be?
What happens to the Start menu when the new Search arrives?
This new “Search” experience is more than just a simple way to search your files or the internet. It’s clearly better than what we have right now.
In our tests, Windows Latest observed that the old Search UI still pops up when you’re using the Start menu, but that would change next year, and we can’t help but speculate how the Start menu would blend in with the new Search.
The company has not confirmed that pressing the Windows key will open Search instead of Start. For now, it looks like the Windows key could soon do more than open the Start menu, and you may be able to use the key to perform actions, such as sending an email.
Microsoft could also keep your pinned apps in Start and bring Search and its Actions into the same experience. That would let you press the Windows key and do more without losing the Start menu entirely. But that’s just my speculation for now, and we don’t know what Microsoft will settle on.
For now, it’s confirmed that Microsoft plans to change the behavior of the Start menu key on your keyboard.
Windows Search has a long list of problems to fix
Windows Search is one of a PC’s most-used features, and some of us use it more often than the Start menu. Without Search, you can’t easily find your recently edited documents or your favorite app that you did not pin to the taskbar or Start menu.
But Windows 11’s Search has been largely problematic, and I can write an essay on the list of problems. The most common complaints are:
- Search is slow and often takes longer than third-party apps or Microsoft’s own PowerToys.
- Search prioritizes Bing over local search results.
- Search cannot understand typos and frequently returns irrelevant items in the results.
In March 2026, Microsoft promised that it would make Windows Search better and give you greater control over its features. In July, it began testing a toggle to turn off Bing and Microsoft Store results in Search, while also improving typo detection and prioritizing local results over everything else.
At that point, it started to look like the ideal Windows Search experience was almost complete. But Microsoft recently pulled off a surprise and began testing the new experience on WinUI 3.
WinUI makes the Search experience faster and also native, so you wouldn’t have it stutter on a low-end PC. Moreover, as I noted, this new Search is more than just finding your files, apps, or settings.
You can literally play with Windows Settings using phrases like “turn on Bluetooth,” “switch to dark mode,” or “dim my screen” and make the change directly from Search. Microsoft has confirmed that phone actions are coming soon too, which means you’ll be able to complete quick tasks using your Phone Link-connected device.
And there are other potential actions in the works. For example, Microsoft quietly confirmed that it’s already considering letting you send emails directly from Windows Search.
If that happens, you could eventually open the Start menu and start typing your email, which would open the new Search and perform the action for you.
But then, would the Windows key’s only job, opening Start, make the most of these powerful Search integrations? I don’t think it would, which could explain why Microsoft is considering a new behavior for the key.
