Windows 10 lets you change the default Start menu search bar text to whatever you want. Here is how to do it in simple steps.
The default Windows 10 taskbar has a big search bar with the default text “Type here to search.” The Start menu search bar allows you to search for anything with just a single click, as long as the target file is successfully indexed. There is no need to open the Start menu first then search for things you need.
Though there are not many options to customize how the search bar looks, you can certainly change the search bar placeholder text. i.e, you can change “Type here to search” to whatever you want. For example, you can set your name or a funny quote as the search bar placeholder text. Put simply, you can make the placeholder a bit more personalized.
In this simple and straightforward Windows 10 guide, let me show you the steps to change Start menu search bar placeholder text in Windows 10.
Change Start Menu Search Bar Text
To change the Start menu search bar text, you have to make changes to the registry editor. So, before moving forward, I recommend you back up the registry. The backup allows you to restore the registry if something goes wrong or if you don’t like the result.
- Open the Start menu.
- Search and open “Registry Editor.”
- Copy the below path.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\Flighting\1\SearchBoxText - Paste it in the address bar and press Enter.
- Double-click on the “Value” value.
- Type the custom placeholder text.
- Click “Ok.”
- Close the registry editor.
- Restart Windows 10.
Since we need to make changes in the Registry Editor, you need to open it. To do that, open the Start menu, search for “Registry Editor” and click on the top result. Alternatively, open the Run dialog box (Win + R), type “regedit” and press Enter.
After opening the registry editor, copy the below path, paste it in the registry editor’s address bar, and press Enter. This action will take you to the SearchBoxText folder. This is where you can change the Start menu search box text.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\Flighting\1\SearchBoxText
On the right panel, double-click on the “Value” string value. In the value data field, type the text you want to appear in the Start menu search box. Next, click on the “Ok” button to save changes.
After that, close the registry editor and restart Windows 10. Once you restart, you should see your custom text as the placeholder in the Start menu search bar.
To restore the default text, follow the same steps but set the value to “Type here to search” in the registry editor.
That is all. It is that simple to change the Start menu search bar text in Windows 10. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. Also, did you know that you can hide or remove the Start menu search bar if you don’t like it?
