How to Get Bing Off Your Computer

An easy-to-follow guide on removing Bing from your computer

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: October 7, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to remove the Bing search engine from your Windows computer and web browsers. While Bing is a commonly used alternative to Google, many types of malware and questionable software will set Bing as your default search engine and make it impossible to change to a different search engine from your browser's settings. You can fix this problem by removing the program or virus in question and then changing your browser's settings back to normal. Unfortunately, there is no way to disable Bing searches for Cortana.

Part 1

Part 1 of 6:

Running Windows Defender

1
Open Start
. Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
2
Open Windows Defender. Type windows defender into Start, then click Windows Defender Security Center near the top of the Start window.

Advertisement
3
Click Virus & threat protection. You'll find this tab in the upper-left side of the window.
- If you don't see this tab, first click ☰ in the top-left corner of the window.
4
Click Scan now. It's a grey button in the middle of the page. Doing so will allow Windows Defender to begin scanning your computer for malware.
5
Allow the scan to complete. Windows Defender will usually run for around 10 minutes, during which it will remove any malicious programs it finds.
- If asked to confirm the removal of any programs or files, follow the on-screen prompts or instructions.
6
Run an advanced scan. If Windows Defender didn't find any viruses, you may need to run a deeper scan. You can do this with the "advanced scan" feature:
- Click the Run a new advanced scan link below the Scan now button.
- Check the "Full scan" box.
- Click Scan now
- Follow any on-screen instructions or prompts.

Part 2

Part 2 of 6:

Uninstalling Bing Apps

1
Understand how this part works. While Bing usually isn't a program in and of itself, some software can download additional programs or toolbars which will change your browser settings when installed. These programs can set Bing as your browser's home page and/or default search engine, and will often change these back to Bing even if you change the settings yourself.
- Removing any programs, apps, or toolbars you installed right before you started seeing Bing in your browser will usually fix this problem.
- If you only just started seeing Bing in your browser, the problem is likely due to a program you just installed.
2
Open Start
. Click the windows logo icon in the bottom-left of the task bar or press the ⊞ Win key to open the Start menu.
3
Open Settings
. Click the gear icon located on the left side of the Start menu. This will open the Settings window.
4
Click Apps. It's in the Settings window. Doing so opens a list of your computer's installed apps.
5
Sort the programs by date. Click the item next to the "Sort by" heading (usually Name), then click Install date in the resulting drop-down menu. This will prompt the most-recently installed apps to appear at the top of the menu.
- You can skip this step if the Bing problem didn't start recently.
6
Look for suspicious programs. There isn't a specific set of criteria to look for, but you should keep an eye out for toolbars or programs you don't remember installing. The following programs are also known to install Bing:^{[1]
X
Research source}
- Babylon
- Bing Bar
- Bing.Vc
- Bing Protect
- Conduit
- Search Module
- Search Protect
7
Select a program. Click a program you want to uninstall. You should see the program's name expand.
8
Click Uninstall. It's below the program's name.
9
Click Uninstall when prompted. This will confirm your decision and launch the uninstallation process for the selected program. Once the program has officially been uninstalled, you can try changing your browser's default search engine to see if the program was responsible.
- Depending on the program, you may need to navigate through an uninstall wizard.
- If attempting to change your browser's default search engine doesn't work, you may need to uninstall a different program or adjust your browser's shortcut options.

Part 3

Part 3 of 6:

Adjusting Browser Shortcuts

1
Find your browser's shortcut. Look for the shortcut on your desktop. If your browser's shortcut isn't on the desktop, this part doesn't apply to you.
- This part doesn't apply to Microsoft Edge as you can't adjust the shortcut properties for Edge.
2
Right-click the shortcut. Doing so will prompt a drop-down menu.
- If your mouse doesn't have a right-click button, click the right side of the mouse, or use two fingers to click the mouse.
- If your computer uses a trackpad instead of a mouse, use two fingers to tap the trackpad or press the bottom-right side of the trackpad.
3
Click Properties. It's at the bottom of the drop-down menu. This will open the Properties window for your browser's shortcut.
4
Click the Shortcut tab. You'll find it at the top of the Properties window.
5
Review the "Target" text box. This text box is in the middle of the window. You should see a line of text which ends with .exe" in this text box, but there shouldn't be any text after the closing quotation mark.
- In order to see additional text, you may have to click once the "Target" text box to place your mouse cursor in it and then press the right arrow key to scroll right.
6
Remove anything after the ".exe" section. If you spot any extra URLs or commands after the ".exe" in the Target text box, highlight and delete the extra text. This includes anything that has dashes (such as "--") followed by any keywords.
7
Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window. Doing so will save your changes and exit the Properties window. This should prevent the shortcut from launching a specific program or website in the future.
8
Repeat this process for any other web browsers on your computer. Even if you don't use the other browsers very often, check any browser shortcuts for any extra URLs or commands that can override the homepage for your web browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.
- You cannot adjust the shortcut properties for Microsoft Edge.

Part 4

Part 4 of 6:

Cleaning Google Chrome

1
Open
Google Chrome. Its app icon resembles a red, yellow, green, and blue sphere.
2
Click ⋮. It's in the top-right corner of the Chrome window. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.
3
Click Settings. You'll find this near the bottom of the drop-down menu. The Settings page will open in a new tab.
4
Scroll down and click Advanced ▼. It's at the bottom of the page. Clicking it unlocks more options below.
5
Scroll down to the "Reset and clean up" section. This section is at the bottom of the Settings page.^{[2]
X
Research source}
6
Click Clean up computer. This option is at the very bottom of the Settings page.
7
Click FIND. It's a blue link on the right side of the page. Google Chrome will begin searching for interference from programs on your computer.
8
Click Remove if prompted. You'll see this option if Google Chrome finds any malicious software or toolbars on your computer.
9
Change Chrome's home page. Once you've gotten rid of programs which are harming Google Chrome (if applicable), you can attempt to change your home page back to something other than Bing.
10
Reset Chrome to its defaults. You may need to do this in order to remove any additional settings changed by the malware:
- Click ⋮
- Click Settings
- Click Advanced
- Scroll down and click Reset settings
- Click RESET when prompted.

Part 5

Part 5 of 6:

Cleaning Firefox

1
Open Firefox. The Firefox app icon resembles an orange fox wrapped around a blue globe.
2
Click ☰. It's in the top-right of the Firefox window. Doing so opens a drop-down menu.
3
Click Help. You'll find this option near the bottom of the menu.
4
Click Troubleshooting Information. It's the option near the middle of the drop-down list.
5
Click Refresh Firefox…. This is in the top-right side of the troubleshooting page.
6
Click Refresh Firefox when prompted. Doing so will prompt Firefox to "refresh", which involves removing any installed add-ons (whether or not they were installed by you) and resetting Firefox to default settings.
- If the problem persists, repeat this process but select Restart with Add-ons Disabled instead. If this fixes the issue, you'll need to remove any add-ons from Firefox.
7
Consider changing your homepage on Firefox. You may need to do this to prevent Bing from appearing as your home page even after removing problematic add-ons:
- Click ☰
- Click Options (PC) or Preferences (Mac).
- Type a website address into the "Home page" text box or click Restore to Default

Part 6

Part 6 of 6:

Cleaning Internet Explorer

1
Open Internet Explorer. Its app icon resembles a blue "e" with a yellow band wrapped around it.
2
Click the gear icon. It's in the top-right of the browser window. This prompts a drop-down menu.
3
Click Internet Options. You'll find this in the drop-down menu. Doing so opens a pop-up window.
4
Select the Advanced tab. It's at the top of the Internet Options window.
5
Click Reset…. You'll find this option in the lower-right side of the window.
6
Click Reset when prompted. It's in the pop-up window.
7
Select Close, then click OK. This will save your changes and exit the Internet Options window.
8
Restart your computer. Doing so applies the changes and default settings.^{[3]
X
Trustworthy Source
Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.
Go to source}
- You may still need to manually change Internet Explorer's home page.

Community Q&A

Question

That was an awful lot of useful information, but far too much to put to memory. How can I get the information on my printer?

Community Answer

Take pictures with my cell phone of each screen that you feel you need. Scroll through your pictures as you advance through the process.
Question

I'm running Windows 10 and lost Internet Explorer when I reset my computer. How can I get it back?

Community Answer

Go to your settings and look at "Apps." If you can't find it there, it could also be in the trash folder.
Question

How do I remove Bing from Windows 7?

Community Answer

Go to 'Settings', then 'Default Search Engine', and enter in the search engine/ web home page you would like to see.