Windows Search is getting a new Bing Visual Search feature that’s rolling out first in the US

Microsoft is improving its Windows Search Bar and Windows 10 with a new Bing Visual Search feature that is now rolling out to users in the US. This feature will allow Windows Search users running the Windows 10 May 2019 Update or newer to search the web using a screenshot, with the Bing-powered Windows Search surfacing similar items or shopping suggestions.

Bing Visual Search has its own dedicated button in the bottom right corner of the Windows Search window, and clicking it will bring up the Windows 10 snipping tool. You can see how it works in the GIF below:

“We found people also wanted to search with screenshots, so we brought searching with screen snips to the Windows search bar,” says Nektarios Ioannides, Bing Image Search lead. Microsoft has already built similar visual search features in other places such as the Windows 10 Photos App, Microsoft Edge, the Bing App, the Microsoft Launcher on Android phones. Bringing Bing Visual Search to Windows Search seems like a welcome addition, and the tool can actually identify celebrities, landmarks, animals, as well as text in images.

It was just earlier this year that Microsoft finally separated Windows Search from Cortana in the Windows 10 May 2019 Update. “This will enable each experience to innovate independently to best serve their target audiences and use cases,” the company explained in a blog post for Windows Insiders. It’s nice that we’re now starting to see the results of these changes, though if you’re not in the US the company says that Bing Visual Search in Windows Search will be available soon in other international markets.