Microsoft Rewards is now integrated with Windows Search

By Sean Endicott
published

It's now easier than ever to earn Microsoft Rewards points from your PC.

Windows 10 Search Rewards
Windows 10 Search Rewards (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • You can now earn Microsoft Rewards points through Windows Search.
  • The search box on Windows 10 now shows a Microsoft Rewards icon.
  • The feature is available on devices running Windows 10 version 1909.

It just got easier to earn Microsoft Rewards points on your PC. On devices running Windows 10 version 1909, you can earn Microsoft Rewards points by performing web searches through Windows Search. In addition to being able to earn points directly within Windows Search, you can also keep track of your points with a Microsoft Rewards icon within Windows Search. HTNovo first spotted the change (via WinBuzzer).

The feature appears to be in the middle of a rollout right now. Several members of our team opened up Windows Search, and only some of them saw the new Microsoft Rewards icon. One of our writers is on a corporate account and didn't see the icon, while another on a personal account did. There's a chance that the functionality is only available for certain types of accounts. We were able to earn some Microsoft Rewards points by performing web searches through Microsoft Search.

Microsoft Rewards allows you to build up points and redeem your points for things like Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, Microsoft Store gift cards, and more. While there are some options for non-Microsoft services, the best values usually come from redeeming your points for a Microsoft service subscription or gift card. For example, I've built up my movie collection by redeeming my points for Microsoft Store gift cards. Many people use Microsoft Rewards points to cover their subscription to Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass.

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

13 Comments
  • More useless bloat. Glad I can replace the start menu with something proper.
  • I know you're probably a russian troll of some sort but... this article is referring to the search icon to the right of the start menu, not the actual start menu that you're referencing. The search icon setting can be toggled by right clicking the task bar and hovering over "Search".
  • Not sure if you are trolling or not. The search in the start menu and in the taskbar are the same.
  • Cool, it is the same, thanks!
    BTW, have you been posting the same thing on every Windows 10 start menu article for the past 5 years? It just cracks me up people still post stuff like: "More useless bloat. Glad I can replace the start menu with something proper.".
  • The more places to gain points the better. I have over 700,000 lifetime points. Currently using Microsoft rewards to pay for my Xbox Live Gold and Hulu subscriptions.
  • I'm slightly behind you, about 500K lifetime points. I'm currently saving up for a $100 MS giftcard!
  • Sad how live gold now costs tons more rewards points
  • More spying, wow, Micrsoft do not give up on their spying and people say Google is bad. All I want from a search in windows is to search for local files and I do not want that going to back Microsoft. I am am still on 1809, so when I do update to the latest windows 10, I hope there is a way to disable that rubbish.
  • Google tracking is worse and much more of a hassle to disable or often even impossible. That being said, I agree with you, I don't want MS to go down the same road as Google. For stuff like Bing I get it, but in the OS itself, big no. There will most likely be an option to disable it though (considering you can also disable cloud search etc) and there is O&O Shutup10.
  • The difference is Google tracking is not built into my computer and online it can be disabled.
    No proof that software like O&O Shutup really works, sure it works on the stuff we can disable anyway, but it claims to block telemetry, as far as I know, there is no way to block telemetry. I
  • Google tracking might not be build into your Windows pc, it is build heavily into Android and ChromeOS (which competes with Windows on the laptop market). Of course if you're not using products with Google trackers at all they can't track you (quite hard because Google analytics / Firebase analytics is also in many third party tools), but that also goes for MS products.
  • I'm very glad for this. 5 years ago I was laid off, looking for work. When you're unemployed and find yourself unable to do the things you used to do, whatever could help get you some of that back, is a Godsend. Using Microsoft Rewards and doing search with Bing I could earn enough, per month, to let me go to Starbucks, twice a month, to purchase a cup of coffee. And of course, having my laptop with me, I would sit there for an hour and continue searching for more work, connecting with potential employers, etc. Little things like that mean a world of difference in handling the unusual nature of being unemployed. I've never forgotten those moments of feeling normal, at least for an hour, twice a month.
  • Relevant... https://youtu.be/sU8zh9OJgIA