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My Windows 11 start menu was unresponsive today, unable to find local apps. I disabled Bing search "feature" and then it started working as expected: Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" -Name "BingSearchEnabled" -Value 0

@jenmsft.bsky.social I know Bing search being enabled by default is probably something imposed from higher up at Microsoft, but when it fails, it's extremely disruptive. All of a sudden I can't launch apps in a timely manner, and restarting explorer.exe didn't get it back on its feet.

Assuming this decision will remain (Bing search enabled by default in Windows 11 start menu), here's something that might help: track how long it takes to "find" a locally installed application. If it takes longer than 5 seconds, disable it at runtime, and throw a corresponding telemetry event