You can disable Bing as your search engine in Windows, Edge, and other browsers, but the steps differ by device and browser

Bing is Microsoft's search engine, and it's the default on Windows computers, Microsoft Edge, and some other Microsoft products. If you want to stop using it, you have two separate choices: you can switch to a different search engine (like Google, DuckDuckGo, or Brave Search), or you can disable Bing's ability to track your searches by changing your privacy settings while keeping Bing as your engine. Most people do both.

The steps depend on what device you use and which browser you're in. If you use Windows 11 or Windows 10, Bing is built into the taskbar search box at the bottom of your screen — that's separate from your web browser. If you use Microsoft Edge as your browser, Bing is the default there too. If you use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, Bing might still be your default unless you changed it. Each one has its own set of steps.

Key Takeaways

  • Windows taskbar search and Microsoft Edge browser search are two separate things, and you disable Bing in each one differently.
  • To switch search engines in Edge, go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Address bar and search, then pick a new default from the dropdown menu.
  • To turn off Bing in Windows 11 taskbar search, go to Settings > System > Search, toggle off "Search online" and "Include web results".
  • Even if you keep Bing as your search engine, you can turn off search history tracking by signing out of your Microsoft account or changing privacy settings in your account dashboard.
  • DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, and StartPage are alternatives that collect less search data than Bing or Google do.

Disable Bing in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is the browser that comes with Windows. If you open Edge and search from the address bar at the top, Bing is the default engine. To change it:

Open Microsoft Edge and click the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Select Settings. On the left side, click Privacy, search, and services. Scroll down to the Search engine section. Under "Address bar and search", you'll see a dropdown that currently says "Bing". Click it and pick a different engine — Google, DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, and others are listed there. Once you pick one, it becomes your default.

If you want to remove Bing entirely so it doesn't appear in the dropdown at all, you can, but that requires a few more steps. In the same Search engine section, look for Manage search engines. Find Bing in the list, click the three dots next to it, and select Remove. This prevents Bing from showing up as an option, but it doesn't affect Bing's ability to track you if you visit Bing.com directly.

Disable Bing in the Windows 11 taskbar search

Windows 11 has a search box built into the taskbar at the bottom of your screen. When you click it and type, it searches both your computer and the web using Bing by default. To turn off web search entirely:

Click the Start button and open Settings. Go to System on the left side, then click Search. You'll see several toggles. Turn off Search online and include web results. This stops the taskbar search from sending your searches to Bing. You can also turn off Search highlights if you don't want Windows to show you trending searches.

If you want to keep web search on but use a different engine, Windows doesn't give you that option directly in Settings. Your only choice is to use your web browser's search instead of the taskbar search — open Edge, Chrome, or Firefox and search from there, where you can pick your engine.

Disable Bing in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari

If you use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari, Bing is probably not your default search engine — Google usually is. But if it is, or if you want to make sure it isn't, here's how to check and change it.

In Chrome: Click the three-dot menu in the top right, go to Settings, then Search engine on the left. Under "Search engine used in the address bar", click the dropdown and pick a different engine. Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo are all listed by default.

In Firefox: Click the three-line menu in the top right, go to Settings, then Search on the left. Under "Default search engine", click the dropdown and select a different one. To remove Bing from the list entirely, find it under "One-Click Search Engines", click it, and select Remove.

In Safari: Click Safari in the top menu bar, then Settings. Go to the Search tab. Under "Search engine", click the dropdown and pick Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, or Brave Search. Bing is not a default option in Safari, so if you're seeing it, you may have installed a browser extension that changed your settings — check the Extensions tab in Settings and remove anything you don't recognize.

Turn off Bing search history tracking without switching engines

If you want to keep using Bing but stop it from storing your searches, you have two options: sign out of your Microsoft account, or change your privacy settings while staying signed in.

Sign out of your Microsoft account: Go to Bing.com. In the top right corner, click your profile picture or name. Select Sign out. When you're signed out, Bing still sees your searches, but it doesn't link them to your account. It may still use your IP address and browser information to show you targeted ads, but it won't build a searchable history tied to your name.

Change your privacy settings while staying signed in: Go to account.microsoft.com and sign in. Click Privacy on the left side. Under Bing search history, toggle off Save my Bing search history. This tells Microsoft not to store your searches in your account, though Microsoft may still collect the data for other purposes like improving Bing's results.

Search engines that collect less data than Bing

If you're switching away from Bing, you have several options depending on how much privacy matters to you. DuckDuckGo doesn't store your search history or use your searches to build a profile about you — it's designed specifically for people who want less tracking. Brave Search is similar; it's made by the Brave browser company and doesn't track you by default. StartPage shows you Google results but strips out Google's tracking before sending them to you, so you get Google's search quality without Google's data collection.

Google and Bing both collect search data and use it to build profiles for advertising, though you can turn off search history storage in both. If you stay with either one, signing out of your account or turning off search history in your privacy settings will reduce what they store, but they may still collect data tied to your IP address or device.

None of these engines are perfect — they all see your searches when you make them, and they all know your IP address. The difference is what they do with that information afterward. DuckDuckGo and Brave Search delete it faster and don't use it to build long-term profiles. Google and Bing keep it longer and use it for advertising.

What happens to Bing if you uninstall or reset Windows

If you uninstall Windows or do a factory reset, Bing will come back as the default search engine because it's built into Windows and Edge. Changing your default search engine doesn't uninstall Bing — it just stops you from using it. If you want to prevent Bing from being the default again after a reset, you'll need to change your settings again after the reset is complete.

If you use a work or school computer, your IT department may have locked Bing as the default and prevented you from changing it. In that case, you won't be able to change the search engine without permission from your IT support team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does disabling Bing stop Microsoft from tracking me?

Disabling Bing as your search engine stops Bing from recording your searches, but Microsoft may still track you in other ways — through Windows itself, through Edge if you use it, and through other Microsoft services. To reduce Microsoft tracking more broadly, you can change privacy settings in Windows Settings under Privacy & security, and sign out of your Microsoft account when you're not using Microsoft services.

Will changing my search engine slow down my computer?

No. Switching to DuckDuckGo, Google, or any other search engine won't make your computer faster or slower. Search speed depends on your internet connection and the search engine's servers, not on which one you pick.

Can I use different search engines in different browsers?

Yes. You can set Bing as default in Edge, DuckDuckGo in Chrome, and Google in Firefox all at the same time. Each browser has its own search engine setting, and changing one doesn't affect the others.

What if Bing keeps coming back as my default after I change it?

This usually happens because a browser extension or installed program is resetting your settings. Go to your browser's extension or add-on page and remove anything you don't recognize. In Windows, go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps, look for programs you didn't install yourself, and uninstall them. If it keeps happening, run a malware scan with Windows Defender or a tool like Malwarebytes.

Is DuckDuckGo really private, or is that just marketing?

DuckDuckGo doesn't store your search history or build a profile on you, and that's verifiable — security researchers have tested it. But it still sees your searches when you make them, and it still knows your IP address. It's more private than Bing or Google for search specifically, but it's not anonymous. If you want true anonymity, you'd need to use Tor Browser, which is slower and more complicated.