Microsoft is currently testing a new way of searching in Windows 11, with the help of AI processing. The new search technique employs something called ‘semantic indexing’, which allows users to search for files and entries with natural language, while the system can also better understand the content beyond basic metadata.
Windows 11 Trials Semantic Indexing
Here’s how semantic indexing works: usually, search only looks for the file name, and in certain cases, texts in documents. For images, this is often ineffective if the file names are not organized beforehand – but with semantic indexing, you can search the image with the term “photos with mountains” instead of matching a word in the filename “mountkinabaluimage121.jpeg”. In similar fashion, you can now search for a specific settings to configure with natural language i.e. “enable dark mode”.
To make this work though, you’ll need a Copilot+ PC, since some of that processing require local AI capabilities. This means you need a PC with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series SoCs, while support for Intel Core Ultra 200 mobile processors and AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processors are “coming soon”. For these machines, the feature will be enabled by default, though it can be disabled through Settings > Privacy & Security > Searching Windows.
Supported languages include Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish, while supported file types are limited to the most common formats like .txt, .pdf, .pptx, .xlsx, .docx, .jpg, .png, and more; no signs indicate third-party file types like .psd (Adobe Photoshop) will be available at this time, however. For content or search query that isn’t in supported languages, traditional lexical search will be used instead (the language used for the Windows interface will not affect this).
Pokdepinion: I can see this being quite useful for sifting through unorganized file names.
