Image search engine
Bing Visual Search
Bing Visual Search is Microsoft's image search mode, available in the Bing search box, the Edge browser, the Windows Snipping Tool and the Bing app. It identifies objects, products, landmarks and text in an uploaded image and returns visually similar pictures and pages. It is free, matches images rather than faces, and Microsoft's product page says nothing about facial recognition.
Updated November 6, 2026 · 2 min read · reviewed November 6, 2026
- $0
- Cost per search
- 7
- Entry points: Bing, Edge, Snipping Tool, Photos, Bing app, GroupMe, extensions
- 0
- Statements about faces on the product page
Microsoft, Nov 2026
explore.microsoft.com/bing/visual-search
Same page, checked Nov 6, 2026
What does Bing Visual Search do?
Microsoft's product page lists six jobs: finding where to buy furniture, fashion or decor seen in a photo; surfacing similar images and patterns; identifying objects, plants, animals and landmarks; reading and translating text seen through the camera; explaining the steps of a photographed maths or science problem; and answering follow-up questions about an image (Microsoft, checked November 6, 2026). All of it is image understanding and image similarity, the definition of a reverse image search.
The page makes no statement about facial recognition, privacy practices or how long an uploaded image is kept. In use, a portrait returns pictures with similar framing and clothing and, for public figures, Bing's knowledge-graph entry. It does not return other photos of a private person's face the way a reverse face search does.
Where is it built in?
| Entry point | How to start | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bing search box | Click the visual search icon, then upload, drop, paste or take a photo | Desktop and mobile web |
| Microsoft Edge | Right-click an image and choose visual search | Desktop |
| Windows Snipping Tool | Snip a region of the screen and send it to Bing | Windows 11 |
| Windows Photos | Menu option Visual search with Bing | Windows 11 |
| Bing app | Camera mode | Android and iOS |
| GroupMe | Visual search inside the chat app | Microsoft-owned messaging app |
| Chrome and Firefox extensions | Right-click search | Third-party browsers |
Results arrive in panels: visually similar images, pages that carry the picture, shopping matches with prices, and recognised objects or text. For a reused photo, the page list is the useful part, since it shows where a copy was published. There is no Find image source button as in Google Lens; the page list serves that purpose.
How does it compare with the other image engines?
| Finds copies of a picture | Finds other photos of a face | Shopping and object results | Text and translation | Free | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bing Visual Search | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Google Lens | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| TinEye | ✓ | – | – | – | ✓ |
| Yandex Images | ✓ | Often, by similarity | – | – | ✓ |
How do you remove an image from Bing?
Bing offers a content removal tool for page owners and a reporting route for personal information and intimate images; both act on Bing's results, not on the hosting site. There is no face opt-out because Bing has no face index. The opt-out routes directory lists the Microsoft forms beside the face engines' processes, and the NCII removal directory covers intimate-image reports.
Questions
Can Bing find a person by photo?
Not as a feature. It finds similar images, products, objects and text. Other photos of a private person's face are not a result type.
Is Bing Visual Search free?
Yes for consumers. Developers pay for the Bing Visual Search API through Azure.
Where is the fastest way to use it on Windows?
The Snipping Tool: snip any region of the screen and send it to Bing Visual Search without saving a file.
How do I get a photo of me out of Bing?
Use Bing's content removal or reporting forms, which remove the result from Bing. Ask the hosting website separately.
Sources
- 1.Microsoft: Bing Visual Search product page (checked November 6, 2026)
- 2.Bing Webmaster Tools: content removal (checked November 6, 2026)
Entry reviewed November 6, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.
Related entries
- Engine Google Lens Google Lens as an image search: search by image on desktop and phone, what results show, why it does not find faces, and how Google removes photos of you.
- Engine TinEye TinEye, the image-copy search engine since 2008: fingerprint matching, sort options, free web search, API bundle prices, and why it never finds another face photo.
- Engine Yandex Images Yandex Images search by image: how it works, why it finds faces more often than Google or Bing, what it returns, and the privacy questions around uploading a photo.
- Term Reverse image search Reverse image search defined: searching the web with a picture as the query, what it finds (copies, crops, edits), the main engines, and why it is not a face search.
- Directory Opt-out routes for every face search engine Opt-out routes for 20 face and image search engines side by side: form or email, verification asked for, stated timeline, cost and link. Checked Nov 6, 2026.
Cite this entry
FaceSearch Wiki editors. "Bing Visual Search". FaceSearch Wiki, updated November 6, 2026. https://facesearch.wiki/engines/bing-visual-search/