What you need to know
- An update to Microsoft Edge added Bing Chat and other Bing features to the browser.
- Those features are housed within the Sidebar and the shortcut to access them is the Bing icon.
- Some have criticized the icon for being too prominent and the fact that it cannot be hidden.
- Microsoft is testing an option to hide the Bing icon in Edge.
Microsoft announced the new Bing powered by ChatGPT earlier this year. Alongside that announcement, the tech giant unveiled an updated version of Microsoft Edge that includes Bing within the Sidebar. That update has since rolled out to Edge stable, bringing Bing to more users.
While the new Bing features impressive AI technology, some dislike how it is presented within Microsoft Edge. The shortcut to open Bing within the Sidebar is a large blue Bing icon (officially it's called the Discover). Some consider it too prominent and want to remove it.
It is possible to hide the Bing icon within Edge already, but it requires a registry edit. Microsoft is testing a new option that's much more user-friendly.
Leo Verela, who keeps a close eye on features for Microsoft Edge, spotted an option to hide the Bing icon in Edge. He shared some screenshots on Reddit, as well as details about the option. Those using Edge Canary can already hide the icon with a toggle. Assuming all goes well with testing, there's a good chance that Microsoft will ship the option to everyone in the near future.
When Microsoft announced the new Bing, there was a wait list to try out the revamped search engine. It seems that may be changing. Multiple members of our team have been able to sign up for the new Bing without waiting.
If you use the new Bing, you'll be using GPT-4, the newly announced Large Language Model from OpenAI. Microsoft recently confirmed that the new Bing is powered by GPT-4.
