How to Manage the Cortana Search Bar in Windows 10

Cortana is a digital assistant just like Siri and Google Now. Microsoft has made an effort to integrate search with more functionalities making it more useful. You can use it to set reminders, or find files on your computers, or search for information online. Many users may not like how much space the Cortana search bar takes up in the Windows 10 taskbar. Thankfully, you can enjoy all of the features of Cortana in a much smaller package. Here’s how to shrink or hide the Cortana search bar in Windows 10.

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To shrink the Cortana search bar, right-click on any blank space in the Taskbar and select Search > Show Search Icon.

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You’ll immediately see the Cortana search box disappear, replaced by a much smaller taskbar icon with the familiar Cortana circle logo. If you have turn off Cortana you’ll see that the Cortana icon in your taskbar changes to a magnifying glass. You can still access the full Cortana experience by clicking the Cortana search icon, or by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard.

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If you’d prefer to hide Cortana entirely, you can do so by right-clicking on an empty space in the Taskbar and selecting Search > Hidden.

This removes Cortana’s presence from the Windows 10 taskbar entirely, but Cortana will still run in the background for things like reminders and notifications. You still have the full functioning Cortana to start a search open Start Menu and start typing.