The search bar is part of the Task Manager improvements in the new build of Windows 11.

One of the improvements in the Windows 11 22H2 update is a redesigned Task Manager with a redesigned user interface, a refreshed Windows 11 look and feel, and more features. Laying that foundation appears to have given Microsoft the opportunity to work on other Task Manager improvements, some of which appeared in this week’s Windows Insider preview build in the beta channel.

The most significant of these changes is a new search bar for running processes, so you can more easily invoke the specific processes you’re looking for while excluding others. This is useful for organizational and aesthetic purposes – it can find needles in haystacks as well as clear hay so you don’t drop a needle and lose it again.

The new Task Manager’s dark mode support can also be toggled regardless of the theme setting you use for Windows. These themes will be applied to the Task Manager as well as the popups inside it. And the switch for efficiency mode now includes a “Don’t ask again”checkbox if you regularly switch individual processes in and out of efficiency mode and don’t want to be prompted for confirmation each time.

We don’t know when (or if) these changes will make it into public builds of Windows 11. Microsoft often uses the Windows Insider channels to A/B test multiple versions of a feature or to collect data on unfinished versions. changes that may disappear without an official release.

But having changes in the beta channel means they will eventually be released as a minor update to Windows 11 22H2 in the next few months. The more experimental Dev channel has moved to an all-new Windows 11 major build number, implying that it will eventually become the basis for the Windows 11 23H2 update at some point next year.

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Image listing from Microsoft