How to Change Windows 11 Taskbar Search Button Layout

Change the Search Button Style Using Settings

The search bar on the Windows 11 taskbar can appear as a full search box, a small icon or a button, or it can be hidden. These styles are available in Windows 11 build 22621 and newer. Each one changes how much taskbar space the Windows search bar takes up.

These steps change the search bar settings on your Windows 11 taskbar, so Search appears as a box, an icon, a button or not at all.

1. Open the Settings app. Click the Start button (the Windows icon) at the bottom of the screen, then click Settings. Pressing Win+I is a faster way. The Settings⚙️ window opens with the System page showing.

2. Click Personalization. It sits in the left-hand menu of Settings. The right side now shows options such as Background, Colors, Themes and Taskbar.

3. Click Taskbar on the right. The taskbar settings page opens, with expandable sections such as Taskbar items and Taskbar behaviors. The full path so far is Settings › Personalization › Taskbar.

4. Scroll to Taskbar items and click Search. A drop-down list of search styles opens. If you cannot find Search, your build is probably older than 22621. Run Windows Update🔃 and check again.
5. Pick how you want Search to look on your taskbar🖥️. The taskbar changes as soon as you choose. These are the search🔍 box settings on offer:

   • Hide – No Search button is shown. You can still open search by pressing the Win and typing.
   • Search icon only – Only a small magnifying glass icon.
   • Search box – A box where you can type your search (default).
   • Search button – A button style different from the box. On some builds this option is labeled Search icon and label.

The taskbar updates instantly, and you do not need to restart or sign out. To undo the change, go back to the same drop-down and choose Search box, the default.

If the taskbar looks wrong afterward, restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager. Open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer in the list of processes, and restart it from there.

Change the Search Box Layout Using Registry Editor (Advanced)

Registry Editor is a database tool that stores low-level settings for Windows and apps. You can use it to set the search style without clicking through Settings on each profile. This is the method to use when you want to push one style to your user accounts. It works on both Home and Pro.

These registry values suit persistent, repeatable setups, which is why administrators use them for deployments. Check each key name and value carefully before you save.

The steps below set the same taskbar search style through the registry instead of the Settings app.

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor. Press Win+R, type regedit and press Enter. If a User Account Control prompt appears, click Yes. Registry Editor then opens. You can also read how to open the Registry in Windows 11.
2. Go to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search. You can paste it into the address bar at the top of the window, or expand the folders in the left pane one by one.
3. Create a Search key if it is missing. If you do not see the Search folder under CurrentVersion, right-click CurrentVersion. Select New › Key and name it Search. The new key appears in the left pane.

4. Click the Search folder on the left. Its values are listed on the right, and the list may be empty.
5. Right-click in the empty space on the right side. Choose New › DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new value appears with its name highlighted for editing.
6. Name the new value SearchboxTaskbarMode and press Enter. Spell it exactly, because Windows ignores a value with the wrong name.
7. Double-click SearchboxTaskbarMode to open it. In the Value data box, enter one of these numbers, then click OK:

   • 0 – Hide the search box
   • 1 – Show search icon only
   • 2 – Show search box (default)
   • 3 – Show search button

8. Check the taskbar🖥️. After you set the value, it should update right away. Then close Registry Editor. If nothing changes, sign out and back in, or restart the🔄 computer, and check again.

The taskbar updates your search preferences immediately. To undo the change, set the value back to 2 for the default search box, or delete the value you created.

Importing the backup you exported earlier also restores the previous state.

Summary

You can change the taskbar search appearance in two ways. The Settings app changes your own user account and is the safer option. Registry Editor is the method for applying a style across profiles on the machine.

Either way, you can choose a hidden state, a small magnifying glass icon, a button, or the full search box, depending on how you work.

The available layouts are hidden, icon only, full search box and search button.

Insider Preview (Microsoft’s beta testing channel) builds often get experimental interface changes first. The names or options for search styles may differ there from what is described here.

One recent change affects the search results, not the taskbar button. An update described in Microsoft’s October 7, 2026 release notes, “From searching to doing: Building a faster, more streamlined Windows search”, shows results in a single list. Before, Windows showed a results list on the left and a large preview pane on the right.

Microsoft says the single, easy-to-scan list reduces visual clutter. The change does not alter the steps above, and your search box settings work as before. Microsoft is rolling the update out gradually, so some PCs will get it later than others.

For more on finding files and documents with Windows search, see this guide: How to Search and Find Documents in Windows 11.