Microsoft is testing a new policy setting that allows IT administrators to remove the Copilot app from managed Windows devices.
The new setting to allow IT administrators to remove Copilot, RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp, will be rolled out to systems in the Dev and Beta channels of the Windows Insider Program starting this week. This concerns devices with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7535 (KB5072046).
When the policy is enabled, Windows automatically removes the Copilot app on devices managed through Microsoft Intune or System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
Targeted removal of Copilot
According to Microsoft, the policy is intended for targeted deployment. The Copilot app will only be removed if the following conditions are met:
- both Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot are installed;
- the Copilot app was not installed by the user;
- the app has not been started in the past 28 days.
Users will retain the ability to reinstall Copilot later, if desired.
Other Changes
In addition to the new Copilot policy, the preview build also includes some bug fixes. For example, a problem has been resolved where File Explorer could crash when opening the context menu on the desktop. A bug has also been fixed that could cause the Windows Update settings to freeze during loading. Microsoft is still working on known issues in this build, such as crashes in the Settings app with audio devices and a bug where the Start menu does not open via a mouse click, but does via the Windows key.
The new policy is currently in the testing phase. It is not yet known when Microsoft will make this option more widely available outside the Insider program.