MS has said it plans to reduce advertising in Windows 11. However, a recent update to its widely promoted Bing Wallpaper app introduced adware-like behavior: clicking the desktop background can open Bing.com.

Bing Wallpaper is entirely optional. Users can download it manually or discover it through promotions on MS.com. The app has traditionally been useful because Bing provides access to wallpapers captured by professional photographers, but its recent behavior has raised concerns.

After previously turning the Windows 11 desktop into a Harry Potter promotion, Bing Wallpaper now appears to have repeated behavior observed last year. Testing found that the app can redirect users to Bing.com when they left-click anywhere on the desktop background.

Unlike the earlier implementation, the current version does not appear to include the toggle that previously allowed users to disable this behavior.

One mitigating detail is that Bing.com opens in the user's default browser. When Chrome was configured as the default, clicking the desktop background still opened Bing.com in Chrome rather than MS Edge.

The redirect also appears to occur only once within a 24-hour period, making it difficult to identify. Repeated desktop clicks after the first redirect did not open Bing.com again. However, another test performed after 24 hours successfully triggered the redirect by clicking the desktop near the Start button.

Bing Wallpaper Previously Allowed Users to Disable Desktop Redirects

Bing Wallpaper tested this feature last year and included a setting explicitly labeled “Desktop click opens Bing.” Although the option was enabled by default on the tested PCs, MS at least identified the behavior and provided a way to turn it off.

The following screenshot, captured in October 2025, shows the original setting:

A video recorded during the earlier test demonstrated the same desktop-click behavior now appearing again after the latest update.

Bing Remains Useful, but Bing Wallpaper Is Becoming Difficult to Recommend

It is disappointing to see a capable wallpaper application adopt behavior that resembles adware. Users would not normally expect a wallpaper app to intercept desktop clicks and redirect them to a search engine.

MS Bing works with independent photographers, National Geographic, Getty Images, and other organizations to provide high-quality photography. This collection originally made Bing Wallpaper appealing, but the app's experience in 2025 and 2026 has become increasingly problematic.

The application also includes a “Show AI images” option. Although that is a separate issue, displaying generated images can undermine the original appeal of discovering and supporting photographers' work.

Bing Wallpaper Also Attempts to Change Browser Search Settings

The app also displayed a pop-up asking users to make Bing the default search engine across their installed browsers. Selecting “Enable now” during testing prompted the application to attempt browser-setting changes in the background. In Chrome, the browser prevented the extension from being enabled, allowing Google to remain the default search engine.

Google has used similarly questionable tactics, including displaying prompts on Google.com in MS Edge that encourage users to download Chrome. MS employs comparable promotions, but Bing Wallpaper's increasingly intrusive behavior makes the situation more concerning.

Users may want to switch to Windows Spotlight, which also provides Bing wallpapers, or choose a third-party wallpaper application that does not intercept desktop clicks.