Microsoft is Detaching Cortana from Windows 10 Search

This will be a part of the next major Windows update, set to roll out in April.

How the taskbar will look after the April update.

(Photo Courtesy: Microsoft)

Microsoft is planning to detach Cortana and search in the Windows 10 taskbar, allowing the Artificial Assistant to be accessed separately, as opposed to the search bar integrated Cortana. The update will come in April where Microsoft plans to bring users a built-in search experience for text queries while for voice search, Cortana will exist in the taskbar, instead of both of them being bundled together.

"Going forward, we’ll be decoupling Search and Cortana in the taskbar. This will enable each experience to innovate independently to best serve their target audiences and use cases," Dona Sarkar, Microsoft’s Windows Insider chief said in a blog post.

“This change is one of several we’ve made throughout this release to improve your experience in this space, including updating the search landing page design, enhancing your search results, and integrating Microsoft To-Do with Cortana.”

Dona Sarkar, Microsoft Windows Insider head

This update only decouples the two things, it does not mean that there will be any changes in how Cortana functions.

However, it might cause confusion, having two separate places for voice and text search on the taskbar.

Microsoft has already been testing this new update and according to Sarkar, they have received feedback on the update as well.

“Some Insiders have had this update for a few weeks now, and we appreciate all the feedback we’ve received about it so far!”

Dona Sarkar

Microsoft has anyways been working on its search for Windows. It unveiled 'Microsoft Search' last year to power search results in Office and Windows.