A faulty Bing update is causing the search function in the Windows Start menu to crash. Microsoft is rolling out a patch.
Are you seeing a white box when trying to search via the Windows search bar? Microsoft acknowledges an issue with the search function but states it only affects a limited number of users. Microsoft has since rolled out a fix and expects search results to be visible again for every Windows user soon.
Although Microsoft claims the Windows search bar has only been broken since April 6, reports of similar problems have been circulating since late 2025. Some users report that search results are not visible, but are still clickable.
Bing is the culprit
However, Microsoft points to a recent Bing update as the cause. The search engine is integrated into the Windows search bar to also display online search results. This is a functionality that offers little to no added value and primarily serves to force Microsoft’s search engine on Windows users.
“Investigation revealed that the issue coincided with a server-side Bing update intended to improve search performance,” Microsoft writes in the Windows Health dashboard, as noted by Bleeping Computer. Because the update did the opposite of improving search performance, it has been rolled back. The fix should automatically restore the search bar if web functionality is enabled. If you want to remove Bing from the Start menu as quickly as possible afterwards, read our guide.
This problem will be resolved fairly quickly, but Microsoft is struggling with more persistent issues in the Windows Start menu. Since the summer, the Start menu has been prone to freezing during cumulative updates because XAML packages are not registered in time. Affected users have had to manually register the missing packages for months. A definitive solution for this bug has still not been found.