How to Change Bing to English and See U.S. Trending Topics on the Homepage (2026 Guide)

Bing automatically sets its homepage language and trending topics based on your detected IP location. If you’re browsing from outside the U.S., using a VPN, or if your account region is misconfigured, you’ll see foreign-language content and non-U.S. trending stories instead of the English results you want. As of 2026, Bing provides several settings that let you lock in English and U.S. content — plus a URL shortcut that overrides location detection entirely.

This guide covers every method, from the fastest fix to the most permanent solution.

Quick Reference: Which Method to Use

Situation	Best Fix
First time setting up Bing	Method 1 (Bing Settings)
Changes keep reverting	Method 3 (Clear cache + cookies)
Using a VPN or traveling	Method 2 (?cc=us URL) or Method 7 (Redirect extension)
Microsoft account synced across devices	Method 4 (Account region)
Edge browser shows wrong language	Method 5 (Browser language settings)
Want a permanent, set-and-forget solution	Method 6 (Default search engine with U.S. URL)

Method 1: Change Display Language and Region in Bing Settings

This is the right starting point for most people. Bing has two separate settings that control language and trending topics: the display language (what language the interface uses) and the country/region (what trending content it shows). You need to set both.

Step 1: Open bing.com in your browser.

Step 2: Click the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner of the page.

Step 3: Select Settings from the dropdown menu.

Step 4: On the Settings page, look for the Language section. Under “Display language,” select English (United States) from the dropdown. This changes all menus, labels, and navigation to English.

Step 5: Scroll down to the Country/Region section. Select United States from the list.

Step 6: Under Search results language preferences, check the box for “I prefer results in English” and set it to English only. This controls the language of news articles and trending stories that appear on your homepage.

Step 7: Scroll down and click Save to apply all changes.

Once saved, Bing will reload with English content and U.S. trending topics. The settings are stored in a cookie, which is why they can vanish if you clear your browser data — more on that in Method 3.

Note: If you don’t see a hamburger menu, Bing may have updated its UI. Look for a gear icon or a “Settings” link in the top-right corner area. You can also go directly to bing.com/account/general to access preferences.

Method 2: Use the ?cc=us URL Parameter

This is the fastest workaround and works regardless of your location, VPN status, or cookie settings. Adding ?cc=us to the end of the Bing URL forces the homepage to load with U.S. region settings:

https://www.bing.com/?cc=us

Bookmark this URL and use it as your Bing homepage. Every time you load Bing through this link, it behaves as though you’re browsing from the United States — even if your IP address says otherwise.

To set this as your homepage in Chrome: Go to Chrome Settings → On startup → Open a specific page and enter https://www.bing.com/?cc=us.

To set this as your homepage in Firefox: Go to Firefox Settings → Home → Custom URLs… and enter https://www.bing.com/?cc=us.

To set this as your homepage in Edge: Go to Edge Settings → Start, home, and new tabs. Under “When Edge starts,” select Open these pages and enter https://www.bing.com/?cc=us.

The ?cc=us shortcut overrides Bing’s location detection but doesn’t permanently change your account settings. If you share a computer, other users who load bing.com directly will still see their own regional content.

Method 3: Clear Browser Cache and Cookies

Bing stores your language and region preferences in browser cookies. If those cookies become corrupted, or if you cleared your browser data after setting up Bing, the settings vanish and Bing reverts to location-based defaults. If you made changes in Method 1 but Bing keeps reverting, clear your cache and cookies, then redo the settings.

In Chrome: Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + Delete (Mac). Set time range to All time. Check Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. Click Clear data. Reopen Chrome, go to Bing, and redo Method 1.

In Firefox: Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete. Set time range to Everything. Check Cookies and Cache. Click OK. Reopen Firefox and redo Bing settings.

In Edge: Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete. Set time range to All time. Check Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. Click Clear now. Reopen Edge and configure Bing settings again.

After clearing cache, always test Bing in a private/incognito window first. This shows you what Bing looks like without any stored cookies, confirming whether your settings are saving correctly.

Method 4: Update Your Microsoft Account Region

If you sign in to Bing with a Microsoft account, your account’s country/region setting overrides the browser-level preferences you set in Method 1. This is a common source of frustration: you change everything in Bing settings, but your account keeps pushing back your old regional settings.

To update your Microsoft account region:

Go to account.microsoft.com and sign in
Click Your info in the top navigation
Under the Country/region field, click Edit
Select United States and save

This syncs your regional preference across all Microsoft services — Bing, Outlook, Edge, and MSN. After making this change, sign out of your Microsoft account in your browser, then sign back in for the update to take effect in Bing.

Important: Microsoft only allows you to change your account region once every 3 months. If you recently changed it, you may not be able to change it again immediately.

Method 5: Fix Browser Language Settings

Your browser sends a list of preferred languages to every website you visit, and Bing uses this information to decide which language to display. If your browser’s language is set to something other than English, Bing may override your Bing settings and show non-English content.

In Chrome: Go to Settings → Languages. Under “Preferred languages,” make sure English (United States) is at the top. If not listed, click Add languages and add it, then drag it to the top position. Restart Chrome.

In Firefox: Go to Settings → General → Language and Appearance. Under “Choose your preferred language for displaying pages,” click Choose. Add English (United States) if needed and move it to the top.

In Edge: Go to Settings → Languages. Make sure English (United States) is listed first under “Preferred languages.” Remove any languages causing Bing to switch. Restart Edge.

Microsoft Edge is tightly integrated with Bing, and browser language settings have a stronger influence in Edge than in Chrome or Firefox. If you’re using Edge and Bing keeps switching languages, the browser language settings are often the root cause.

Method 6: Set U.S. Bing as Your Default Search Engine

For a permanent setup that doesn’t require bookmarks or extensions, configure your browser to use the U.S. Bing URL as the default search engine. Every search from the address bar will use U.S. trending data.

In Chrome: Go to Settings → Search engine → Manage search engines and site search. Click Add next to “Site search.” Set the URL to https://www.bing.com/search?cc=us&q=%s and set it as default.

In Firefox: Go to Settings → Search. Under “Default Search Engine,” select Bing. To force U.S. results, navigate to https://www.bing.com/?cc=us and Firefox will detect it as a custom search engine option you can add.

In Edge: Go to Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Address bar and search → Manage search engines. Add a new entry with the URL https://www.bing.com/search?cc=us&q=%s and set it as default.

Method 7: Use a URL Redirect Extension (For Travelers and VPN Users)

If you frequently travel internationally or use a VPN, Bing may keep resetting to a non-U.S. region because your IP address changes. The most reliable fix for this scenario is a browser extension that automatically redirects bing.com to bing.com/?cc=us every time you open it.

Using the Redirector extension (Chrome and Firefox):

Install the Redirector extension from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons
Click the Redirector icon → Edit Redirects
Create a new redirect: Example URL = https://www.bing.com/, Redirect to = https://www.bing.com/?cc=us, Pattern type = Regular Expression with pattern ^https?://www.bing.com/?$
Save the rule

From now on, any time you navigate to bing.com directly, the extension silently redirects you to the U.S. version. You won’t notice the redirect — Bing will simply always open in English with U.S. trending topics.

Troubleshooting: Why Bing Keeps Reverting to Another Language

If you’ve applied the settings above and Bing keeps switching back to a different language or region, here are the most common causes.

Cookie blocking is enabled. If your browser blocks third-party cookies or uses privacy extensions like Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin in strict mode, Bing’s language preferences may not save. Check your extension settings and add an exception for bing.com.

Your Microsoft account has a conflicting region. Account settings always override browser cookie settings. Complete Method 4 (Microsoft account region update) to resolve this.

A VPN is overriding your settings. Some VPN providers route traffic through non-U.S. servers automatically, causing Bing to detect a non-U.S. location even after you’ve configured everything correctly. Use Method 2 or Method 7 to force U.S. results regardless of VPN.

Your browser clears cookies on exit. Some browsers are configured to clear all cookies when closed. If Bing’s cookies are set to “Clear on exit,” your language preferences disappear every session. In Chrome, go to Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies → Sites that can always use cookies and add bing.com to the allowed list.

You’re on an enterprise or school computer. IT administrators can enforce browser language settings through group policies, which override your personal preferences. In this case, use the ?cc=us URL method instead, which doesn’t rely on stored cookies.

Bing’s personalization is disabled. If you’ve turned off Bing’s personalization features in privacy settings, Bing may default to location-based content every session. Re-enabling personalization allows Bing to remember your language and region preferences.

Bing in Microsoft Edge vs. Other Browsers

Microsoft Edge uses Bing as its default search engine and has tighter integration than Chrome or Firefox. In Edge, Bing homepage settings are more directly influenced by your Windows display language and your Microsoft account region. If you’re on Windows and using Edge, and Bing keeps reverting to another language, check your Windows language settings first: go to Windows Settings → Time & Language → Language & region and confirm the display language is English (United States) and the region is set to United States. Windows-level settings take the highest priority and can override everything set in the browser.

How to Verify Your Settings Are Working

After applying the fixes above, here’s a quick checklist to confirm everything is set correctly:

Open a new private/incognito window and go to bing.com
Confirm the homepage displays in English
Check the “Trending” or “News” section — stories should reference U.S. events, not foreign news
Run a test search and confirm results pages are in English
Close the private window and reload bing.com in your regular browser window to confirm settings persist

If the private window shows English but your regular window doesn’t, the issue is with stored cookies or extensions interfering with Bing. If both windows show non-English content, the issue is at the account or browser language level — revisit Method 4 and Method 5.