Microsoft’s free wallpaper app sneakily diverts your clicks to Bing

If you want to beautify your computer with stunning wallpapers, you may one day decide to download and install the Bing Wallpaper application from Microsoft. It was first made available in 2020 and then introduced to the Microsoft Store in 2024. But you might want to think twice, especially if you hate malicious behavior.

On paper, the Bing Wallpaper app is fine. It offers a wide range of photos from sources like Getty Images and National Geographic, as well as AI-generated images, which you can use as backgrounds for your Windows 11 wallpaper. (Yes, some of us still use wallpaper apps!)

But according to Windows Latest, a recent update to the app introduced an incredibly stupid “feature” that surely no one asked for: clicking anywhere on the desktop opens a new browser tab with a Bing search for anything in the wallpaper. Additionally, during installation, the app asks to set Bing as the default homepage and default search engine for Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.

Luckily, you can disable the desktop click-to-search behavior in Bing Wallpaper’s settings: look for the one labeled “Clicking the desktop opens Bing.” You can also disable Microsoft Recommendations and News Feed, which are also enabled by default.

Funny enough, this is not the first time that the Bing Wallpaper app has been criticized for its disgusting behavior. In November 2024, when it arrived on the Microsoft Store, Neowin called it “predatory” and “borderline malware” for actions such as exploiting browser cookies, installing the Bing Visual Search extension, changing browser settings, and setting Edge as the default browser. Yuck.