Remove Bing Bar (No Admin Rights)

TL;DR

The Bing bar often installs without your permission and can be tricky to remove if you don’t have admin access. This guide shows how to get rid of it using Task Manager, browser settings, and a few other tools.

Removing the Bing Bar Without Admin Rights

1. Close Your Browser: Completely close all instances of your web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc.). This is important for the next steps to work properly.
2. Open Task Manager: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc simultaneously. Alternatively, right-click on the taskbar and select ‘Task Manager’.
3. Find Bing Bar Processes: In the ‘Processes’ tab (or ‘Details’ tab in newer Windows versions), look for any processes with names like:
   • BingBar
   • Microsoft Edge Update
   • msedge.exe (if it’s running as a separate process)
4. End Bing Bar Processes: Select each of these processes one by one and click ‘End Task’. Be careful not to end important system processes!
5. Check Browser Extensions/Add-ons: Open your browser again. Now, remove the Bing bar from your extensions or add-ons.
   • Chrome: Type chrome://extensions in the address bar and press Enter. Find ‘Bing Bar’ and click ‘Remove’.
   • Edge: Type edge://extensions in the address bar and press Enter. Find ‘Bing Bar’ and click ‘Remove’.
   • Firefox: Click the menu button (three horizontal lines), go to ‘Add-ons and themes’, select ‘Extensions’, find ‘Bing Bar’ and click ‘Remove’.
6. Reset Browser Settings (Optional): If the bar keeps reappearing, resetting your browser settings can help. Be aware this will remove other customisations!
   • Chrome: Type chrome://settings/reset in the address bar and press Enter. Click ‘Restore settings to their original defaults’.
   • Edge: Type edge://settings/resetProfileSettings in the address bar and press Enter. Click ‘Reset settings’.
   • Firefox: Type about:support in the address bar and press Enter. Click ‘Refresh Firefox’.
7. Check Installed Programs (If Possible): If you *can* access the Control Panel, check for a Bing Bar program entry.
   • Open ‘Control Panel’ (search for it in Windows).
   • Go to ‘Programs’ > ‘Programs and Features’.
   • Look for ‘Bing Bar’ or similar. If found, uninstall it. You may need to right-click and select ‘Uninstall/Change’.
8. Run a Malware Scan: Sometimes, the Bing bar is bundled with unwanted software. Run a scan with your antivirus program or a free malware scanner like Malwarebytes (free version is sufficient).
9. Check Scheduled Tasks: The Bing Bar might be re-installing itself via scheduled tasks.
   • Open Task Scheduler (search for it in Windows).
   • In the ‘Task Scheduler Library’, look for any tasks related to ‘Bing’ or ‘Microsoft Edge Update’. If you find any, disable them. Be careful not to disable important system tasks! Right-click on the task and select ‘Disable’.