Windows 11 search still mixes files with web and Store suggestions. You can trim the noise without registry hacks — mostly settings app toggles people miss.
I spent an afternoon tuning a fresh laptop and cut the daily annoyance in half. Built-in search still isn't a filename specialist, but it stops fighting me on every query.
Turn off web results
Settings → Privacy & security → Search permissions → disable cloud content search where you don't need it. Stops Bing from hijacking queries that look like questions.
Indexed locations and dedicated tools
Control Panel → Indexing Options still exists. Add project folders on D:, remove default AppData bloat if you're not searching mail stores. Rebuild once after changes. Even tuned, Win search wants to be a launcher — a dedicated filename indexer stays focused with smaller index and faster partial matches.
See also: The Windows search bar isn't enough — and that's fine, Why filename search beats full-text for daily work.