Microsoft has built a dedicated Windows 11 app that exists to put Bing in front of users who already chose another search engine. The utility, Microsoft Recommended Search Settings, arrives as a standalone 22.2 MB installer named MicrosoftSettings.exe.
It is hosted on Microsoft’s official download servers rather than Windows Update or the Microsoft Store, and its job is narrow: install a Bing extension, ask for a default-search switch, then send the user to Microsoft Rewards.
Windows Latest said to Cyber Security News (CSN) that tester Xeno Panther first uncovered the executable. In a hands-on run on a PC already using Google in Chrome and Brave Search in Brave, the first screen was titled “Welcome to Microsoft Recommended Search Settings,” with the Bing option already flipped to Yes.
Small text said the change applies to Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. Clicking Accept and continue produced a brief setup, a “You’re all set!” page, and a Finish button that opened rewards.bing.com/m365offer in Edge.
Windows 11 Default Search App
The packaging is the part security teams should notice. Microsoft wrapped the campaign in a WinUI shell with WebView2 and gave the file a name that looks like a system tool. The add-on, Microsoft Bing Homepage & Search, is not new.
The Chrome Web Store already lists it under Microsoft Corporation with about five million users. What is new is the Windows-native funnel that can reach Chrome, Firefox, and, in testing, Brave, then open a Rewards page.
Chrome and Brave both interrupted the install. Chrome warned that the extension wants permission to read and change all data on websites, show notifications, and replace the homepage, start page, and search settings with bing.com.
Those are the same powerful hooks abused in search-hijacking campaigns and fake AI search extensions that reroute queries through someone else’s infrastructure.
Microsoft’s add-on is a first-party product, not a criminal implant, but the permission grant is still a browser-control decision. Once enabled, Chrome’s new tab page can become the cluttered MSN feed rather than the user’s previous start experience.
Google then tried to claw the default back. After Bing took over search, Chrome asked, “Change back to Google Search?” Microsoft answered with a second box aimed at that restore button: “Wait, don’t change it back!” and warned that reverting would disable the extension. Windows Latest documented a nearly identical prompt war in Chrome in March 2024.
It is still not a silent takeover. Microsoft has not said the app will ship automatically, and both the Windows wizard and the browser require a click. The preselected Yes toggle, the official-looking filename, and the Rewards payoff are built for people who tap through. Home users should refuse MicrosoftSettings.exe unless they want Bing and MSN.
Administrators should treat this as an extension-policy problem: block unapproved search add-ons in Chrome, apply the matching controls in Firefox, and review Brave the same way.
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