Bing Wallpaper reportedly opens Bing search after a desktop click

TechRadar’s Darren Allan reports that Microsoft has reintroduced a Bing Wallpaper app behavior that can open a Bing search after a click on the Windows 11 desktop. The search runs in the user’s default browser and relates to the wallpaper image.

According to the report, the behavior occurs when a user clicks an empty area of the desktop. It triggers once, then does not trigger again for 24 hours. The Bing Wallpaper app, which changes the desktop background daily, must be installed separately; it is not included with Windows 11 by default.

TechRadar says the app previously had an option to disable the behavior, but that option is absent in the current version described by Windows Latest. The report says Microsoft reversed the feature after it appeared a year earlier, and now seems to have brought it back.

Allan argues the search should be optional and criticizes the lack of a way to turn it off. He also points to a recent Harry Potter advertisement in the Bing Wallpaper app that, according to the article, prompted a backlash. The report does not identify the app version or say when the behavior returned.