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

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by Radu Tyrsina 

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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:

GIF showing how Visual Search works, using searching for a blue couch as an example, with similar results popping up after sniping a screenshot of the couch

“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.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina Shield

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.