Bing Search Operators Cheatsheet

A comprehensive, fact-checked reference of all Bing search operators, their syntax, reliability status, and OSINT use cases. Updated June 2026.

Overview

Bing search operators are special commands appended to queries that instruct the engine to filter and refine results. They divide into two types:

Keyword operators — followed by a colon, e.g., site:, filetype:
Symbolic/Boolean options — e.g., "…", -, OR

Syntax rule: Always write operators without a space after the colon — site:example.com, not site: example.com — or Bing will ignore them.

As of 2026, several operators listed in official Bing documentation underperform or return inconsistent results in practice — a known and widely-reported issue (Microsoft Q&A, 2023).

Yahoo Search is powered by Bing, so all operators listed here apply equally to Yahoo searches.

Part 1 — Keyword Operators

`site:`

Restricts results to a specific domain or subdomain.

site:kremlin.ru
osint site:bellingcat.com
site:gov.pl filetype:pdf

Note: Returns only up to two subdomain levels deep (e.g., one.example.com works, one.two.example.com does not). This is Bing's most reliable and widely-used operator.

`filetype:`

Returns only pages of the specified file type. See Part 6 for supported formats.

OSINT methodology filetype:pdf
budget filetype:xlsx
strategy filetype:pptx

Note: Works reliably in Bing. Originally introduced by MSN Search in 2005 (Bing Search Blog, 2005) with support for html, txt, pdf, doc, rtf, xls, and ppt.

`contains:`

Finds pages that contain hyperlinks pointing to a specific file type — not pages that are that file type.

cybersecurity contains:pdf
NATO contains:xls

Note: Different from filetype:. The MSN Search Blog (2005) states: "Contains:<foo> searches for pages where there's a hyperlink to a file with the extension <foo>". Results are inconsistent in current Bing.

`intitle:`

Returns pages where the specified word appears in the page's title tag.

intitle:OSINT
intitle:"open source intelligence"
intitle:sanctions filetype:pdf

Note: Works in both Bing and Google. Word order within intitle: is respected in Bing.

`inbody:`

Returns pages that contain the specified term in the body content of the page. Bing's equivalent to Google's intext:.

inbody:oligarch
inbody:"money laundering"

Note: Reported as unreliable in practice by multiple testers as of 2023–2025 — results often deviate from the intended behaviour.

`inanchor:`

Returns pages that use the specified term as anchor text in links on the page.

inanchor:"OSINT tools"
inanchor:disinformation

Note: Word order is respected. Listed in official Bing documentation but delivers inconsistent, often irrelevant results in practice.

`instreamset:`

A general-purpose operator that checks if a string appears in one or more page properties simultaneously. More flexible than intitle:, inbody:, or inanchor: alone.

instreamset:(title url):sanctions
instreamset:(body url title):corruption
instreamset:(anchor):dark money

Supported properties: title, url, body, anchor — combinable in parentheses.

Note: Listed on Bing documentation but results in practice are inconsistent.

⚠️ inurl: substitute caveat: instreamset:(url):keyword is sometimes suggested as a workaround for the missing inurl: — but it is itself unreliable. There is no fully reliable equivalent to Google's inurl: in Bing. The best practical alternative is combining site: with keywords.

`ip:`

Returns indexed pages hosted at a specific IP address. Bing-exclusive — no Google equivalent.

ip:194.87.23.15
ip:194.87.23.15 government

Note: Useful for shared hosting investigations to identify co-hosted domains. Returns only indexed pages, not all domains on that IP.

`url:`

Checks whether a specific domain or URL is indexed in Bing.

url:kremlin.ru
url:https://example.com/page

Note: Unlike site:, url: checks for a single exact URL or domain, rather than returning all indexed pages. Bing-only.

`domain:`

Limits results to a specific domain, similar to site: but without subdomain traversal.

domain:moz.com seo
domain:reuters.com ukraine

Note: Bing-only. Not supported by Google (use site: there instead).

`language:`

Restricts results to pages in a specific language, using ISO 639-1 language codes.

sanctions language:ru
OSINT tools language:en
election fraud language:de

Common language codes:

Code	Language
`en`	English
`ru`	Russian
`de`	German
`fr`	French
`pl`	Polish
`es`	Spanish
`zh`	Chinese
`ar`	Arabic

Note: Bing-only. Some off-language results may appear on the first page

`feed:`

Returns RSS or Atom feed URLs for the specified search term.

feed:cybersecurity
feed:disinformation

Note: Bing-only. Useful for finding active news/blog feeds on a topic.

`hasfeed:`

Finds pages that have an RSS or Atom feed related to the search term.

hasfeed:OSINT
site:moz.com hasfeed:seo

Note: Listed in official Bing docs but largely deprecated or non-functional in current Bing.

`define:`

Returns an instant definition for the specified word or phrase.

define:geolocation
define:OSINT
define:habeas corpus

Note: Works in both Bing and Google.

`info:`

Returns information Bing holds about a domain: related pages, external mentions, cached version links.

info:rt.com
info:bellingcat.com
info:provereno.media

`imagesize:`

Pulls results from Bing Images filtered by image size.

china flag imagesize:large

Option	Approximate Dimensions
`small`	Width < 200px AND Height < 200px
`medium`	Width 200–500px AND Height 200–500px
`large`	Width > 200px AND Height > 200px

Part 2 — Boolean & Symbolic Operators

Source: Microsoft Support — Advanced Search Options

Symbol / Keyword	Function	Example
`"…"`	Exact phrase match	`"money laundering offshore"`
`-`	Exclude a term or site	`sanctions -Russia` / `-site:rt.com`
`+`	Force inclusion of a term (incl. stop words)	`+and +the oligarch`
`( )`	Group terms or operators	`(OSINT OR geoint) site:gov.uk`
`AND` or `&`	Both terms must appear (default behaviour)	`drone AND surveillance`
`NOT` or `–`	Exclude a term	`hacking NOT ethical`
`OR` or `\|`	Either term is acceptable	`leak OR breach`
`*`	Wildcard — any single word	`"best * tool for OSINT"`

⚠️ Critical Rules (Official Microsoft Documentation)

NOT and OR must be CAPITALISED — lowercase versions are treated as stop words and ignored.
All searches default to AND — you do not need to type it.
Only the first 10 terms are used to generate results.
Stop words and punctuation are ignored unless inside " " or preceded by +.
Operator precedence: ( ) → " " → NOT / - / + → AND / & → OR / |
Enclose OR expressions in parentheses when combining with other operators.

⚠️ The `-` Exclusion Operator

The exclusion operator (-) is officially documented but widely reported to be unreliable in Bing — in many cases it fails to exclude terms or even appears to prioritise them (Microsoft Q&A, 2023). Test carefully and verify results when using it.

Part 3 — Proximity Operator

`NEAR:N`

Finds pages where two terms appear within N words of each other.

"climate" NEAR:5 "policy"
"money" NEAR:3 "laundering"

Note: The correct Bing syntax places the first term before NEAR:N and the second term after it (e.g., bing NEAR:5 awesome). Results can be inconsistent depending on the query. Bing-only (Google uses AROUND(N) instead).

Part 4 — Operator Status Summary (2026)

Operator	Bing	Google	Reliability in Bing (2026)
`site:`	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`filetype:`	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`intitle:`	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`define:`	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`"…"` (exact phrase)	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`OR` / `\|`	✅	✅	✅ Reliable (must CAPITALISE)
`AND` / `&`	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`*` (wildcard)	✅	✅	✅ Reliable
`imagesize:`	✅	⚠️ different syntax	✅ Reliable (images only)
`related:`	✅	✅	⚠️ Partial
`info:`	✅	❌ dropped 2017	⚠️ Partial
`ip:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Partial
`url:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Partial
`domain:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Partial
`language:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Partial
`loc:` / `location:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Partial
`feed:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Partial
`NEAR:N`	✅	❌ (uses `AROUND()`)	⚠️ Partial
`-` (exclude)	✅	✅	⚠️ Unreliable in Bing
`inbody:`	✅	✅ (as `intext:`)	⚠️ Unreliable
`inanchor:`	✅	✅	⚠️ Unreliable
`instreamset:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Unreliable
`contains:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Unreliable
`prefer:`	✅	❌	⚠️ Unreliable
`hasfeed:`	✅	❌	❌ Deprecated/broken
`inurl:`	❌	✅	❌ Suspended 2007, never restored
`link:`	❌	❌	❌ Suspended 2007 alongside `inurl:`
`linkdomain:`	❌	❌	❌ Suspended 2007 alongside `inurl:`

Part 5 — Key Bing-Specific Notes for OSINT

`inurl:` Does Not Exist in Bing

Microsoft suspended inurl: in March 2007 to prevent mass automated data mining abuse — along with link: and linkdomain: — and it has never been restored (Bing Search Blog, March 2007).

"For those of you who use some of the advanced query syntax in our search engine such as link:, linkdomain: and inurl:, you may have noticed that this functionality has been recently turned off. We have been seeing broad use of these features by legitimate users but unfortunately also what appears to be mass automated usage for data mining." — Bing Search Blog, 2007

There is no reliable direct equivalent to Google's inurl: in Bing. instreamset:(url):keyword exists but is itself unreliable. The best practical workaround is combining site: with keywords.

IP-Based Investigation

ip: is a Bing-exclusive operator with no Google equivalent, making it valuable for OSINT use cases such as identifying co-hosted domains on shared hosting infrastructure.

Combining Operators

Bing supports combining multiple operators in a single query:

site:gov.ua filetype:pdf intitle:sanctions 2024
ip:194.87.23.15 language:ru
(oligarch OR tycoon) site:ft.com
"weapons export" site:gov filetype:pdf
instreamset:(title body):corruption language:ru

Yahoo = Bing

Yahoo Search is powered by Bing's index — all operators listed here apply equally to Yahoo (HowToGeek).

Part 6 — Supported File Types for `filetype:`

Extension	Format
`pdf`	PDF document
`doc` / `docx`	Microsoft Word
`xls` / `xlsx`	Microsoft Excel
`ppt` / `pptx`	Microsoft PowerPoint
`rtf`	Rich Text Format
`txt`	Plain text
`html` / `htm`	Web page

The original 2005 MSN Search launch supported: html, txt, pdf, doc, rtf, xls, ppt. Modern Office XML formats (docx, xlsx, pptx) were added later.

Part 7 — Operator Combination Examples

OSINT / Fact-checking

# All PDFs on a government domain about sanctions
site:gov.ua filetype:pdf intitle:sanctions

# Find Excel budget files on a specific domain
site:example.org filetype:xlsx budget

# Exact phrase in title, PDF only
intitle:"money laundering" filetype:pdf

# Either keyword, excluding a domain
(oligarch OR tycoon) -site:rt.com

# Body content search (use with caution — unreliable)
inbody:"offshore account" language:en

Fact-Check Notes

This document was fact-checked against primary sources in June 2026. Key verifications:

Claim	Source	Status
`inurl:` suspended in 2007	Bing Blog, March 2007	✅ Confirmed — primary source
`link:` and `linkdomain:` also suspended 2007	Same Bing Blog post	✅ Confirmed — previously omitted from earlier versions
`contains:` finds links to file types, not the files themselves	MSN Search Blog, 2005	✅ Confirmed — original operator description
`NOT`/`OR` must be capitalised	Microsoft Support Docs	✅ Confirmed
`-` exclusion operator unreliable in Bing	Microsoft Q&A, 2023	✅ Confirmed
Yahoo uses Bing's index	HowToGeek	✅ Confirmed
`instreamset:` as `inurl:` substitute — no reliable equivalent	Reddit r/bing	⚠️ Corrected — earlier versions overstated this workaround

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Bing Search Operators Cheatsheet

Table of Contents

Overview

Part 1 — Keyword Operators

site:

filetype:

contains:

intitle:

inbody:

inanchor:

instreamset:

ip:

url:

domain:

language:

feed:

hasfeed:

define:

info:

imagesize: