We open the Internet browser on our computer and we find that in the browser bar the Google search engine has been replaced by the browser Bing. What happened? It is very possible that this has been installed without us realizing it. The normal thing in this case is that we ask ourselves some questions: Is it dangerous? How can we remove it?
First of all, it must be specified that Bing.com is a search engine like any other, developed legally and free of viruses and malware. However, it is also true that this site has had a bit of a bad reputation as it has been frequently promoted by suspicious apps, those that try to "hijack" our browser and sneak into our system discreetly by modifying its settings.
Despite this, it is Microsoft who is trying to introduce the use of the Bing browser from the Windows 10 search box. In the Anglo-Saxon market, this "second brand" has already achieved a share of close to 3%, but in the Spanish-speaking Internet It seems that there is a greater resistance. Even counting with the guarantee of Microsoft.
Bing browser: pros and cons
Is it worth having Bing on our computer? If you're coming from Microsoft and haven't found your way to our team through other unorthodox means, using this browser for certain searches might be a good idea. Let's see what are your advantages and disadvantages, according to the experience of the users themselves:
- Pros: It has a powerful image search engine and does not require too many clicks to achieve the desired results.
- Against: visual content requires a longer loading time: on the other hand, its still low penetration means that some pages do not appear among the results. This second point will be resolved as the use of Bing becomes more widespread in the future (if that eventually happens).
The chosen way to introduce Bing discreetly to our computers has been through the search box in the start menu. One of the peculiarities of this tool is that it has an integrated button on the taskbar. In this way, when we search in “Start” we jump to the search box of the browser. Bing can also appear there.
Uninstall Bing from our computer
But if, despite Microsoft's endorsement and recommendation, you are willing to remove Bing, either as your preferred browser or in the Start menu, here are the steps to follow:
Remove Bing from start menu
It should be noted that this removal process is reversible, therefore, if in the future we want to have Bing help in our Windows 10 start menu again, we can reinstall it without problems. These are, in summary, the steps to follow:
- To begin with, we enter the Windows 10 Registry Editor by opening the Start Menu and writing redegit. Doing this will show the Windows 10 search bar.
- We choose the option of "Execute as an administrator".
- Next, we open the folder Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer.
- Inside this folder, we right click and select "New" and we select the option «Value de DWORD (32 bits)».
- In this way we create a new file inside the folder that we call DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
- In the tab "Value Information" we assign the number 1.
- Finally, we restart the computer.
This process and all its implications, including how to undo the action, are explained in much more detail. in this post.
Disable Bing Bar
Now we are going to see what are the options we have regarding the presence of Bing in the browser bar. If our intention is to use another search engine of our choice, such as Google, and forget about Bing without ruling it out completely, we can deactivate it with these simple steps:
- In the browser, we click on the three point icon which is at the top right.
- Let's go to the menu "Setting".
- There we select the option "Seeker".
- In the box shown on the screen below, where it reads "Search engine used in the address bar" the Bing name should appear. You just have to press the tab to open the other options (Google, Yahoo, DuckDuck Go, Ecosia) and select the one you want.
In this way, if we change our mind in the future and want to use Bing as the preferred browser, we just have to follow the same process and, in point number 4, choose the Bing option again.
Uninstall Bing Bar
To permanently remove the Bing browser bar from our Windows 10 computer, we have to follow the following steps:
- To begin, we click on the button Start.
- Next we go to Control panel.
- There we select the option "Uninstall a program".
- On the list "Uninstall or change program", click on the Bing Bar and then choose "Uninstall".
- To finish, we simply follow the instructions that appear on the screen.