Microsoft is rolling out a new version of the Snipping Tool in Windows 11, which might be worth paying attention to. The big news with this update is that Microsoft is adding a visual search feature powered by Bing. If you’ve ever used Google Lens, then you know what to expect here.
According to Windows Latest, it works like this: whenever you make a selection on screen with the Snipping Tool—which is accessible using the Windows key + Shift + S keyboard shortcut—you’ll now see a new action in the toolbar called “Visual Search with Bing.” Clicking it launches a Bing search that tries to identify the subject in the selection.
The Snipping Tool is one of Windows 11’s best features because it can do so much more than just take screenshots. For instance, it can extract text from an image using OCR, it can record screencast videos, and it can export screencasts as animated GIFs. Visual Search is an excellent addition to the arsenal—and Windows Latest even says that it performs slightly better than Google Lens in their tests.
Visual Search with Bing is currently only available in Snipping Tool version 11.2508.29.0 and only to users in the US for now.
Further reading: Overlooked Windows 11 features I wish I tried sooner
