msnbot
Microsoft · reviewed 2026-11-05
About msnbot
Legacy Microsoft crawler that still appears in logs and feeds MSN/Bing infrastructure.
Operates Bing, MSN and Copilot; Bingbot indexes for Bing search, Copilot fetches pages when a user asks.
Usually means: A classic search crawler fetched this URL for its search index. This traffic is counted separately from AI arrivals.
Identity
User agent
Crawlers are matched by token, not the full browser string. Providers may add version or product text around it.
robots.txt token
Use this token in a User-agent line to allow or block the crawler.
Block this token
User-agent: msnbot Disallow: /
A Disallow only stops crawlers that honor robots.txt. Classify the category before blocking; check the live file with the robots.txt checker.
Verify a hit
A matching user agent is not proof: any client can send the string. When the vendor publishes network data, compare the request against it before you trust the hit.
Match the user agent
Request UA contains msnbot.
Check reverse DNS
Hostname ends with search.msn.com.
Check the IP range
Fetch the endpoint below and compare the request IP.
Reverse-DNS suffixes
search.msn.comRange endpoints
A verified hit proves the network path; it does not prove what the crawler will do with the page.
msnbot: common questions
What is msnbot?
msnbot is a crawler from Microsoft, filed under Search engines. Legacy Microsoft crawler that still appears in logs and feeds MSN/Bing infrastructure. Requests advertise it in the User-Agent header as msnbot.
Does msnbot train AI models?
No. It feeds the classic search index, which is counted separately from AI training and AI traffic.
How do I block msnbot in robots.txt?
Add a group with User-agent: msnbot and Disallow: / to robots.txt, then re-test the live file. robots.txt matches the token, not the full User-Agent string, and blocking this token does not block the vendor's other crawlers.
How do I verify a msnbot hit?
Match the user agent, then compare the request IP with the ranges or endpoints listed on this page and check that the hostname ends with search.msn.com. A matching user agent alone is not proof — any client can send the string.
Testing a block? Run the live file through the robots.txt tester or check the whole AI crawler access group.
See when msnbot hits your site
Page scripts never see AI crawlers because they do not run JavaScript. Install the server probe and each hit lands in the Crawlers block with its path and status.