Microsoft Bing Wallpaper Reportedly Acts Like Adware, Opens Bing on Desktop Clicks

Microsoft’s Bing Wallpaper app is reportedly opening Bing.com when users click an empty area of their Windows 11 desktop, raising concerns about the company’s promotional tactics.

According to testing by Windows Latest, simply left-clicking the desktop background can launch Bing in the user’s default browser, even when they have no intention of searching the web.

The behavior reportedly occurs once every 24 hours, making it harder to reproduce and potentially allowing it to go unnoticed.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft’s wallpaper app has attracted criticism. We previously reported that Microsoft’s Bing Wallpaper app was turning the Windows 11 desktop into advertising space.

Microsoft appears to have removed the option to disable desktop clicks

Bing Wallpaper previously offered a setting called Desktop click opens Bing, which allowed users to disable the behavior.

However, Windows Latest reports that the toggle no longer appears in the latest version of the app, leaving users without an obvious way to prevent Bing from opening when they click their desktop.

The app also reportedly displays prompts encouraging users to make Bing their default search engine across installed browsers. Accepting these prompts allows Bing Wallpaper to attempt changes to browser search settings.

Users who want rotating desktop backgrounds without installing Bing Wallpaper can instead use Windows Spotlight, which automatically changes wallpapers through Windows 11’s personalization settings.

Microsoft’s aggressive Bing and Edge promotions continue

Unfortunately, this type of promotion is nothing new for Microsoft.

The company previously promoted Edge through a comparison banner when users searched for Chrome on Bing.

Microsoft also offered a $1 million giveaway to encourage Edge adoption, a campaign that drew criticism from users who considered the promotion intrusive.

The latest Bing Wallpaper reports add another example of Microsoft using its Windows ecosystem to promote its own services.

Microsoft has not publicly explained the reported desktop-click behavior or confirmed whether it plans to restore the option to disable it.