Clearing Bing and Microsoft Malware Warnings

By Glenn Lyvers · Updated September 20, 2026 · 4 min read

Almost everyone focuses on Google and forgets there is a second ecosystem entirely. Bing has its own crawler, its own malware detection and its own webmaster tools, and Microsoft Edge blocks sites through SmartScreen, which is a separate system again. Clearing Google does nothing for either — and with Bing now feeding AI assistants that cite sources, being flagged there costs more than it used to.

Two separate Microsoft systems

The first is Bing's own site evaluation, reported in Bing Webmaster Tools. If Bing's crawler finds malware or deceptive content, your listing can be flagged or your pages dropped from results, and the fix runs through Bing Webmaster Tools.

The second is SmartScreen, the reputation service built into Edge and other Microsoft products. It maintains its own view of whether a site is safe and shows a full-page block when it decides otherwise. A site can be flagged by one and not the other, which is why people fix one and remain blocked in the other and conclude that nothing works.

The Bing Webmaster Tools side

If you have not verified your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, do that first — it is free, it takes a few minutes, and without it you have no visibility into what Bing thinks and no channel to ask for a review. It is worth having regardless of whether you are currently flagged.

Once verified, the security or malware section will show what was detected. Clean the site completely, then use the review or recrawl option to ask Bing to re-evaluate. Bing generally re-crawls reasonably promptly after a request, and flags clear once the malicious content is genuinely gone.

The SmartScreen side

SmartScreen has its own reporting process for sites that are blocked incorrectly or that have been cleaned. You submit the site through Microsoft's feedback channel for SmartScreen and ask for re-evaluation, and the block clears once the site is assessed as safe.

This is a separate submission from the Bing one and needs doing separately. The SmartScreen removal guide on my articles section covers the exact form and what to include, and the blacklist removal links page collects the equivalent process for every other vendor.

Clean before you submit

The same rule applies here as everywhere else: submit for review after the site is genuinely clean, not before. A failed review wastes days and makes the next one no easier. Work through the full cleanup — files, database, administrator accounts, persistence, credentials, entry point — and verify from outside with no login cookie.

If you do not know what was detected, Bing Webmaster Tools and Search Console will usually both tell you something useful, and comparing the two often gives a fuller picture than either alone. My guide on identifying website hacks covers establishing what you are dealing with.

Why Bing matters more than its market share suggests

Two reasons. Edge is the default browser on Windows, so a SmartScreen block hits a large population of ordinary business users regardless of which search engine they prefer. And Bing's index feeds Microsoft's AI assistant products, so a flagged site can quietly disappear from AI-generated answers that cite sources.

That second effect is invisible in your analytics and increasingly consequential. It is a good reason to check your Bing status even when Google looks fine, rather than assuming the two track each other.

Afterwards

Once cleared, verify from a Windows machine in Edge as well as in Chrome, because that is the combination most likely to still show a block. Keep Bing Webmaster Tools verified so you get told next time rather than finding out from a customer.

And work through the other vendors while you are at it — antivirus products maintain their own blocklists and each needs its own delisting request. My guide on URL:Blacklist detections covers the pattern, and if you would rather have the whole set handled alongside a proper cleanup, that is my malware removal service.

Common questions

Does clearing Google also clear Bing?

No. They are entirely separate systems with separate detection, separate reporting and separate review processes. Sites are routinely clean in one and flagged in the other. Each needs its own submission, and so does each antivirus vendor blocking you.

What is the difference between Bing and SmartScreen?

Bing is the search engine and flags affect your search listing, handled through Bing Webmaster Tools. SmartScreen is the reputation service built into Edge that shows a full-page block before the site loads. They are separate systems and a site can be flagged by either or both.

Do I need a Bing Webmaster Tools account?

You should have one regardless. It is free, verification takes minutes, and without it you have no visibility into Bing's view of your site and no channel to request a review. Most site owners only discover this when they are already flagged and wish they had set it up earlier.

How long does Bing take to clear a flag?

Usually days rather than weeks once the site is genuinely clean and you have requested a review or recrawl. SmartScreen submissions are typically similar. Both are faster when the site is definitively clean, and both fail when submitted prematurely.

Why does Bing matter if most of my traffic is from Google?

Because Edge is the default browser on Windows, so a SmartScreen block affects a lot of ordinary business users regardless of their search engine. And Bing's index feeds Microsoft's AI assistants, so a flag can remove you from AI answers in a way that never shows up in your analytics.