Microsoft created an app that exists only to make Bing the default search engine in other browsers

Microsoft built a standalone app whose only purpose is to set Bing as the default search engine across browsers on Windows 11, including Chrome, Firefox, and Brave.

This was spotted initially by @XenoPanther and reported through a post on X. You can view the relevant media below.

Later on, Windows Latest tested the app and the extension; credit goes to them for the attached screenshots in this article.

Essentially, a 22.2MB file named “MicrosoftSettings.exe” was found on Microsoft’s official download servers. However, it isn’t installed by a Windows Update and also doesn’t appear in the Microsoft Store.

When launched, the app shows a welcome screen that says “Welcome to Microsoft Recommended Search Settings” with the Bing option already turned on.

Tiny text in the app states that the search engine change applies to Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. After you accept this, the setup completes… but the program opens a Microsoft Rewards page for some reason.

The folks at Windows Latest ran the installer on a test PC that used Google as the default search engine in Chrome, and Brave Search as the default one in Brave. After running it, both browsers displayed a new add-on called “Microsoft Bing Homepage…”

This add-on already has 5 million users. Furthermore, Chrome warns that the add-on can read and change data on websites, show notifications, set the start page to Bing, and more.

Here’s what’s funny: Once you enable the extension, Chrome actually offers you to switch back to Google Search. Microsoft doesn’t want to let you go so easily, and says, “Wait, don’t change it back!” The extension warns you that you’ll lose Bing search and wallpapers, and urges you to keep Bing as the default.

If you end up accepting the conditions, it’ll turn Chrome’s home page into an MSN layout and set Bing as the default search engine.

While Microsoft is desperate to push Bing as your default search engine, there have been interesting developments to Edge lately as well. A new ‘Remix’ feature recently dropped, which we’ve covered here.

Google and Microsoft are busy battling it out to take your default search engine spot, but they’ve also teamed up recently to fix the biggest pain point in browser screen sharing. More on that here.

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