Bing Wallpaper Reintroduces Windows 11 Click-to-Search With No Off Switch

Windows Latest reported that the old shortcut has returned to the Bing Wallpaper app: clicking a blank area of the Windows 11 desktop launches a search in the separate Bing engine in the user’s default web browser. A year ago, Microsoft added a similar behavior, then reversed course. The company now appears to be trying the feature again, but with a key difference. Last year’s version included an option in the app’s settings to disable the behavior; Windows Latest noted that this time there is no such option.

The feature is not built into Windows 11 by default. Users must choose to install the Bing Wallpaper app, which cycles through Bing images as a daily desktop background. The search also does not fire on every click. It triggers only when a user clicks a blank desktop area—one without a file, folder or icon—and then will not trigger again for another 24 hours, so the effect is limited to once per day.

Even with those limits, TechRadar’s report argues that Microsoft should not be enabling the behavior by default. The search is tied to the wallpaper image, and some users might want to learn more about the picture, but the report says that should be an optional ability that users turn on, not something enabled by default. The report also criticized the absence of an off switch, calling the change worse than the earlier version.

TechRadar asked why Microsoft is using this kind of promotion for its own services in 2026, which the report describes as a year of fixing Windows 11 and curing the operating system’s problems. The app is not part of the operating system, but it is still official Microsoft software, and TechRadar argued that there should be no place for a cynical Bing traffic grab or other anti-consumer practices. The report added that whether the app is part of Windows by default, or whether users are being foolish to install it as some online commenters argue, is beside the point. It pointed to a recent Harry Potter advert in the Bing app that provoked a considerable backlash as further evidence that Microsoft needs to try harder.

Editor's Summary

Microsoft’s Bing Wallpaper app has reintroduced a Windows 11 feature that opens a Bing search when users click a blank desktop area. The search is limited to once every 24 hours and the app is optional, but unlike a previous version there is no setting to turn it off. TechRadar criticized the change as an unnecessary default behavior in an official Microsoft app.