Enable Floating Search with Rounded Corners in Windows 10

How to enable Floating Search with Rounded Corners in Windows 10

Microsoft is working on a new floating search pane that comes with rounded corners and appears in the center of the screen. With a simple Registry tweak, this new feature can be enabled in stable versions of the OS. Let's see how it can be done.

As you may remember, Microsoft is testing an update to Cortana in Windows 10. In the Windows 10 release, developers separated Cortana and search in the taskbar by giving them individual taskbar buttons and flyouts. If you open the individual Search flyout, you will find a new 'Top Apps' section which features frequently used apps with a search box at the bottom.

The new floating search bar comes with UI changes, Top apps list, recent activities and improved performance. Here's how it looks.

This new hidden search bar reminds of Apple’s macOS Spotlight search box. It is a floating search bar that displays search results in a separate window in the center of your Desktop. Once enabled, it can be opened with the default keyboard sequence Win + S.

Microsoft has started working on this new feature in 2017 with Windows 10 "Redstone 4" version 1803.

Let's see how to enable the new search experience.

To Enable Windows 10 Immersive Floating Search with Rounded Corners,

1. Download the following ZIP archive: Download ZIP archive.
2. Extract its contents to any folder. You can place the files directly to the Desktop.
3. Unblock the files.
4. Double click on the Enable Floating Search Windows 10.reg file to merge it.
5. To remove the entry from the context menu, use the provided file Disable Floating Search Windows 10.reg.

You are done!

How does it work

To enable the new search experience, the files above modify a couple of Registry values.

Step 1. Open the Registry Editor and go to the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\

See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

Step 2. Here, you need to create a new 32-bit DWORD value named ImmersiveSearch. Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value. Set it to 1.

Step 3. Go to the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\Flighting\

Step 4. Here, create a new subkey "Override" to get the path

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\Flighting\Override

Step 5. Under Override, create these two 32-bit DWORD values

• ImmersiveSearchFull = 1.
• CenterScreenRoundedCornerRadius = 9.

Step 6. To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to sign out and sign in to your user account. Alternatively, you can restart the Explorer shell.

That's it!

Source: Windows Latest