How to Disable Visual Search in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft switched from EdgeHTML to Chromium for better compatibility and extension support. The Edge browser now feels bloated with unnecessary add-ons like the shopping assistant, game news feed, and visual search. This last feature can be confusing and irritating. If you feel the same, read on to learn how to disable Visual Search in Microsoft Edge.

Visual Search is powered by Bing and allows you to search the web using images. When dealing with multiple images in Edge, the Visual Search feature can interfere with webpage navigation. Let’s see how to disable it.

What Is Visual Search in Microsoft Edge

Visual Search is Microsoft’s version of Google Lens search. Sometimes, you may want to search queries using images instead of text. The Visual Search can help you find more information about an image without leaving the current interface. You can select the Visual Search icon in the top-right corner of an image for more details.

Here are the main features of Visual Search:

– Extract text from an image.

– One-click solution to search images on Bing.

– Check the original image source.

– Check related images/products on the web.

While Bing Visual Search integration can be useful in certain situations, it may not appeal to everyone. Fortunately, Microsoft allows you to disable it in Microsoft Edge.

Disable Visual Search Completely

There are two ways to access Visual Search in Microsoft Edge. You can enable image search from the context menu or by hovering the cursor over the top right corner of an image. Follow these steps to turn it off.

Step 1: With a web page open in Microsoft Edge, move your cursor over the top-right corner of an image.

Step 2: Select the three-dot menu beside the Visual Search icon.

Step 3: Click on it and open Settings from the side menu.

Step 4: It shall open Visual Search settings in the Edge browser.

Step 5: You can disable Visual Search on image hover or in the context menu.

Disable Visual Search on image hover so you can always access it from the context menu.

To access the Visual Search menu in Microsoft Edge, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge and click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner.

2. Go to Microsoft Edge Settings.

3. Click on ‘Appearance’ in the left sidebar.

4. Scroll down to ‘Context menus’ and click on ‘Visual Search.’

5. You can disable this function either on the image hover or in the context menu.

Turn Off Visual Search for Specific Websites in Microsoft Edge

Visual Search is a tool that can be helpful when shopping from popular online retailers like Amazon, eBay, or Walmart on your desktop. Microsoft Edge gives you the option to disable Visual Search for specific websites. Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Open the Visual Search menu in Microsoft Edge Settings.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Add’ button.

Step 3: Enter the website URL and click Add.

Repeat the steps to disable Visual Search on your frequently visited websites. You don’t need to frequently open Microsoft Edge settings to disable Visual Search on a specific website.

Step 1: With the website open in Microsoft Edge, hover the cursor over any image in the top-right corner.

Step 2: Click the three-dot menu and select ‘Hide for this site.’

Try Google Image Search

Google image search is not as integrated as Bing Visual Search in Microsoft Edge, but it can still be used to find image information on the web. Here’s what you need to do:

1. When you find an interesting image in Microsoft Edge, right-click on it and select Copy Image Link.

2. Go to Google Images search on the web.

3. Click on the camera icon in the search bar.

Step 4: Paste the image link or import an image and click the ‘Search by image’ button.

Step 5: Check image-related information on the web.

Ditch Visual Search in Microsoft Edge

Visual Search can often be unhelpful in daily browsing. Inaccurate and confusing results can lead to frustration. To solve this problem, disable the function and use Google image search on your desktop instead.