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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