Microsoft's new File Search Companion is a faster alternative to Windows Search on Windows 11

We recently reported about the Microsoft 365 Companion and it seems that this will be a whole suite of Companion apps for Microsoft 365 users within the People app.

According to EpicB’s post on X, the People/ Microsoft 365 Companion has been updated to include the new File Search Companion, an app that will use AI for file search on your PC.

File Search Companion is a WebView2 Taskbar extension that is able to provide live search and it is a lot faster than Windows Search. When you click on it, you get a compact window with a search bar containing several filters. For instance, you can look specifically for Word, Excel, or PowerPoint presentations right there.

However, being AI-powered, it detects contextual usage. If you’re working in office apps at the moment, your results will reflect within your search results.

It’s a lot faster than Windows Search because it’s a WebView2 app that uses the Edge’s engine to display the results.

It’s still unclear how you can install the app, but it will probably follow the People app route. That means you will need a Microsoft 365 work or school account to access it.

We welcome a better search option for Windows 11 as Windows Search is pretty useless right now. It is slow and seldom unresponsive.

What do you think about File Search Companion? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.