Admins finally get the power to uninstall Microsoft Copilot on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and EDU versions — devices must meet specific conditions to allow the removal of the AI app

(Image credit: Future)

Microsoft just released a new feature to Windows Insiders that some people are going to love. According to the Windows Insider Blog, administrators who install Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7535 (KB5072046) from the Dev & Beta Channels can now uninstall the Microsoft Copilot App on managed devices. This policy, called RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp, would uninstall the Microsoft Copilot app for users.

However, the device to which this is applied must meet the following criteria: it must have both Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot installed on the system; the Microsoft Copilot app wasn’t installed by the user; and the Microsoft Copilot app wasn’t launched in the past 28 days. This means that even though admins can now remove the Microsoft Copilot app, users would still have the Microsoft 365 Copilot app installed on their system. The former is the free app preinstalled on Windows 11, while the latter is a paid service included with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Aside from that, the last condition — not having launched the Microsoft Copilot app in the past 28 days — might be a bit difficult for the average user to meet. That’s because the Microsoft Copilot app has “Auto start on log in” turned on by default. And even if you were able to turn that off and disable the app on Task Manager’s list of Startup Apps, it’s easy to accidentally launch the app with its Windows + C, Alt + Space, or the Copilot shortcut keys.

Nevertheless, administrators can still try removing the Microsoft Copilot app in the Group Policy Editor. To do so, you need to go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows AI > Remove Microsoft Copilot App. But if you want to explore Microsoft Copilot and its AI capabilities, and your administrator uninstalled it on your PC, you can easily reinstall it — no need to ask your administrator to reverse what they did.

Nevertheless, this might be a welcome change for those who do not use AI tools, and even those who prefer using competing AI models. After all, even though AI is a great tool when used with intention, we really don’t need it everywhere — and Intel has shown this in its keynote at CES 2026. Even Dell has admitted that consumers don’t really care about AI PCs, which is something that Microsoft pushed with the launch of Copilot+ PCs in 2024.

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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

30 Comments Comment from the forums

daworstplaya

Now just give everyone the option to uninstall Copilot.
Reply
Gururu

Just got the update last night. Soon as I learn why Copilot is bad I will uninstall it.
Reply
abufrejoval

Regulation is overdue, when the market can't just shift to another vendor like in DR-DOS days, ReactOS won't catch up very likely.

M$' notion to treat Windows like a MetaVerse along Fruity Cult lines needs to be made illegal much more plainly, with a threat of company breakup if they don't renounce their current approach completely.

Any AI that isn't loyal to the owner of the device alone and completely, is sabotage or a foreign agent, its creator be made liable for criminal and civil prosecution. Not having one included from the start is fundamental.

Of course the same goes for an InternetOS aka browser.
Reply
Neilbob

For crying out loud. The ability to disable or uninstall it on that level of OS should have been available from the very beginning, without any restrictions at all.

Back when I was a network administrator (as we emerged from the ice age), the last OS I worked with was Windows Server 2012 (R2), and there were almost no features that couldn't be disabled in the policy. Especially ones that could pose a potential security risk. Not quite the same versions described here, but still.

And people wonder why power user level Windows has been falling well and truly under the shadow of Linux.
Reply
psyconz

abufrejoval said:

Any AI that isn't loyal to the owner of the device alone and completely, is sabotage or a foreign agent, its creator be made liable for criminal and civil prosecution. Not having one included from the start is fundamental.

AI isn't 'loyal' to anyone or anything. That's part of the problem. But you're correct - it's better to have a self-hosted version than upload yet more personal data for them to train the next AI with.

abufrejoval said:
Of course the same goes for an InternetOS aka browser.

I couldn't agree more - sadly, that kind of practical, simple reality is FAR from even on the radar, let alone ever going to happen if it was. There is a lot of money to be made from our content. Personally I've been using Linux for a couple of years on my home PC, and I haven't missed Winblow$ in the slightest (In fact, my PC has become far easier to maintain and use.) I also know most people, heck, even most of my tech-savvy friends, are light years away from uninstalling MS products.
Reply
hotaru251

if you don't have full control of your system....why are you using said system?
Reply
-Fran-

Gururu said:
Just got the update last night. Soon as I learn why Copilot is bad I will uninstall it.
Do you like receiving unwanted mail at home? Or perhaps being forced to buy something you don't want with something you need?

The action Microsoft has taken in shoving software that is not necessary or integral to the core experience is antagonistic.

In the early days, at least they left a link on your desktop to download InternetExplorer as it wasn't pre-installed. Then came the EU anti-trust because obviously.

Thinking about it in another way, they're following the same playbook: forcing you to use their implementation of an AI that no other vendor could provide to you.

There's a few other reasons why this is baseline scum behaviour, but it's Microsoft. This is their MO. You can't get angry at your old dog for having contingency issues on the carpet. That's what they do.

Regards.
Reply
USAFRet

hotaru251 said:
if you don't have full control of your system....why are you using said system?
Please inform us of what hardware and its software ecosystem you have "full control" of.

Computer, tablet, phone, TV, whatever....
Reply
psyconz

I also am trying to think of which 'system' anyone has full control over 🤪
Technology lest of all. Nobody's PC, dog, wife, or heck, even their own body or mind, is in their full control. And the way things are at the moment, reality isn't as influential or important as whoever has the biggest mouthpiece. But I do know I don't want less control over something as powerful as tech, if I can help it.
Reply
palladin9479

USAFRet said:
Please inform us of what hardware and its software ecosystem you have "full control" of.

Computer, tablet, phone, TV, whatever....

Microsoft OS's prior to Windows 11 and all Android phones. I don't use Apple too much so can't speak about IOS.

Windows 10 and prior you can do these things if you know how. A third party tool called OOSU10 exists that makes it really easy.

https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
The existence of those tools is precisely why Microsoft went insane with locking in Windows 11 spyware. The data mined and advertisements displayed to a user is worth a lot more to Microsoft then selling the Operating System, and people using those tools to shut down Microsoft's data mining and advertisements caused them to lose revenue per user. Remember OEM's pay only a few dollars per license, and as such MS relies on selling that data to data brokers for it's real revenue stream.

Android is a different situation as it's just a vanilla OS that phone manufacturers then use when building their phones. So while google does get data from google apps, it's leaves open the switches and API's for the phone manufacturer, or the user, to change this via something called Android Device Bridge (ADB).

https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-2025-how-to-root-a-phone-a-complete-truthful-up-to-date-crap-free-and-no-bs-guide.4710038/
You go into the phone and on the developers settings you enable "Debug mode" or "Diagnostic mode", then plug it into a computer that has the android SDK installed.

https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
Then on the connected computer you start up ADB and click accept on the phone and bam you are now on the linux command line as root. You can add / remove packages, change config files, reload boot firmware, you name it. Most users would never do this, but it is possible to those that want to.
Reply

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