Microsoft Ships Browser Extensions to Switch Off Bing's AI Overviews

Microsoft released a browser extension for Chrome and Edge on 12 November 2026 that suppresses AI-generated overviews and chat elements on Bing's results page. The catch: installing it resets your default search engine to Bing.

The company said research showed users want to decide, session by session, whether AI participates in their searches. That claim arrives without a published study, sample size or method — we only have Microsoft's word for it. Note what is missing.

What does the extension actually change?

The add-on strips the automated AI summaries and the accompanying chat interface from Bing's results page. Users get back a classic hit list — the layout that existed before generative summaries crowded the top of the page.

But the tooling comes with conditions:

• The extension automatically sets Bing as the default search engine in the browser.
• The Chrome variant also redirects newly opened tabs straight to Bing.
• The Edge documentation does not mention that tab behavior — an inconsistency Microsoft has not explained.
• The release sits in a preview phase, so Microsoft can change or withdraw it at any time.

No details exist yet on regional availability, pricing tiers, or how the extension behaves on mobile devices.

Is there a way without installing software?

Yes. In a Bing blog post, Microsoft described a search operator that blocks AI answers per query. Append the suffix "-ai" to any search term. The company's own example: "why is the sky blue -ai". Bing then hides the AI summary for that single request, without touching permanent browser settings.

The operator route costs nothing and changes nothing. The extension route costs you your defaults. Users who want a clean results page once, for one question, have the lighter tool; users who want it every time must hand Microsoft their new-tab page and default engine. That trade reads less like user choice and more like distribution strategy.

Why is there no toggle on Bing itself?

Here the story goes quiet. Bing's own interface offers no switch, no toggle, no account setting to disable AI features platform-wide with one click. Microsoft's publications do not say why the company skipped an integrated option in user accounts or search settings, choosing instead extensions and query operators.

A first-party toggle would live in one place, work on every device and require no install. An extension lives in two stores, behaves differently per browser and resets defaults. The engineering argument for the second path is not obvious. Microsoft has not made it.

The preview label gives Microsoft room to add that native toggle later — or to quietly narrow what the extension blocks. Watch the Edge documentation for whether the tab-redirect gap closes.