[Tip] How to Enable or Disable Copilot AI in Windows 11

If you are looking for ways to turn on or off the new Windows Copilot AI feature in Windows 11 operating system, you have come to the right place. This article will help you in disabling and removing the Copilot feature to completely get rid of it from your Windows 11 device. Similarly, this article will also help users in forcefully installing and adding Copilot feature in their Windows 11 device, if the feature is not enabled by default.

What is Windows Copilot Feature in Windows 11?

Windows Copilot is a new feature introduced in newer versions of Windows 11 operating system. Copilot is a built-in or native centralized AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistant which provides several AI-powered features and services to users. Since Microsoft has discontinued and ended support for Cortana digital assistant, Windows Copilot has been developed to replace Cortana in Windows 11 and later versions.

Copilot feature comes with built-in AI capabilities along with Bing Chat to help users find answers and complete tasks easily. Users can access Copilot by clicking on its icon present on the Taskbar or by using WIN+C keyboard shortcut.

Copilot appears as a sidebar pinned or docked to the right-side area of Windows 11 Desktop, so users can use other apps and programs and Windows Copilot side-by-side. Copilot uses same Microsoft Account (MSA) or Azure Active Directory (AAD) account which was used by users to sign-in to Windows 11.

Windows Copilot AI feature was under development and testing since a few months and Microsoft was regularly releasing testing builds i.e. Windows 11 Insider Preview builds to Insiders to finalize the feature. Now the final stable version of Copilot feature has been released to all Windows 11 users via automatic Windows updates.

How to Enable Windows Copilot in Windows 11?

Microsoft has released two new feature updates for Windows 11: Moment 4 Update (fourth feature drop) and Windows 11 2023 Update (version 23H2) which add and enable Copilot AI feature to all Windows 11 devices. So first of all make sure to download and install the latest updates available for your Windows 11 device. You’ll need to enable “Get the Latest Updates as Soon as They’re Available” toggle option on Settings -> Windows Update page to receive the latest Windows 11 update right now.

Following articles contain full details about the new feature updates for Windows 11:

Windows 11 Moment 4 Update (Fourth Feature Drop) Available for Download

Windows 11 2023 Update (version 23H2) Available for Download

Once you install the latest updates in your Windows 11 device, Copilot feature should be automatically activated and enabled in your device.

Please note that Microsoft is rolling out Copilot and other new features in phases to all regions and it might take some time in reaching Copilot feature on your Windows 11 device. So you should wait for a few days until Microsoft enables Copilot feature in your computer system. Keep an eye on Settings app -> Windows Update page and if a new update becomes available, immediately install it.

NOTE: Copilot feature is NOT available in European Union (EU) region due to new privacy laws.

How to Disable or Remove Windows Copilot in Windows 11?

Some users may not like the idea of a built-in AI-powered tool in their Windows 11 device. People who are concerned about privacy and data collection and don’t want to use AI features and services, may want to completely disable or remove the new Windows Copilot feature from their computer system.

Although Microsoft doesn’t provide any direct option to turn off Windows Copilot feature but we can take help of Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor tools to permanently turn off Windows Copilot feature in Windows 11.

If you also want to get rid of Copilot feature from your Windows 11 device, following methods will help you:

Disable Windows Copilot in Windows 11 Using Group Policy Editor

STEP 1: Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type gpedit.msc and press Enter. It’ll open Group Policy Editor.

STEP 2: Now go to following key:

STEP 3: In right-side pane, look for following option:

STEP 4: Double-click on the option and select Enabled option. Click on Apply and OK buttons.

That’s it. Restart your computer and it’ll permanently disable and remove all AI-powered tools and services including Windows Copilot in your Windows 11 device.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore Copilot feature in Windows 11, set the above mentioned option to Not Configured again in Group Policy Editor.

Disable Windows Copilot in Windows 11 Using Registry Editor

If you are using Home edition of Windows 11, you’ll not be able to run gpedit.msc command because this edition doesn’t come with Group Policy Editor. If you can’t use or don’t want to use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:

STEP 1: Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

STEP 2: Now go to following key:

STEP 3: Select Windows key and right-click on it and select New -> Key option. Set the new key name as WindowsCopilot

STEP 4: Now select WindowsCopilot key and in right-side pane, right-click on empty area and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

STEP 5: Set the new DWORD name as TurnOffWindowsCopilot and set its value to 1 to disable Copilot feature.

Close Registry Editor. You’ll need to restart computer to apply changes.

After restart, you’ll no longer see Copilot feature anywhere in your Windows 11 device.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore Copilot feature, delete the above mentioned DWORD from Registry Editor.

Ready-Made Registry Script to Automatically Remove Copilot from Windows 11

If you don’t want to modify registry yourself, we have created ready-made Registry script file for you to apply the required Registry tweak automatically to disable or remove Copilot feature from Windows 11.

Download following ZIP file, extract it using 7-Zip or other file archive utilities and run the extracted REG file:

The script file will ask for confirmation, accept it. After applying the Registry script, restart your computer and Windows Copilot feature will disappear from your device forever.

The ZIP file also contains UNDO file to restore Copilot feature in Windows 11.

Remove Windows Copilot Icon from Windows 11 Taskbar

If you don’t want to disable Copilot feature but want to delete or hide its icon pinned to the Taskbar, you can remove the icon using Taskbar Settings page. Just set Copilot toggle option to OFF and it’ll immediately remove the icon from the Taskbar.

Following article contains step-by-step guide to remove unwanted icons from Taskbar including the notification area (system tray):

Disable or Remove Extra Icons and Buttons from Windows 11 Taskbar

PS: A similar AI-powered feature called Bing chat or Discover was recently added to Microsoft Edge web browser to allow Edge users accessing the new AI-powered Bing chatbot functionality right from the browser. You can learn more about it in following article:

How to Disable or Remove Bing Chat Button from Microsoft Edge Toolbar

Also Check:

How to Restore or Enable Classic Taskbar in Windows 11 (All Versions)

[Tip] Enable Full Classic File Explorer in Windows 11