How to Turn Off Copilot in Windows 11 (2026)

• The short answer
• What Copilot is and where it shows up
• Hide the Copilot icon from your taskbar
• Remove Copilot with Group Policy (Pro, Enterprise, Education)
• Remove Copilot with the Registry (Windows 11 Home)
• Uninstall the Copilot app directly
• Turning off Copilot in Word, Excel, and Outlook
• What to know before you turn it off
• Turning off AI on other devices
• The bottom line
• FAQ

The short answer

The fastest way to turn off Copilot in Windows 11 is to hide its icon: open Settings, go to Personalization, then Taskbar, and toggle Copilot off. That removes the button most people actually want gone.

If Copilot keeps reappearing after updates, or you want it fully uninstalled rather than just hidden, Microsoft added an official removal policy to Windows 11 in its April 2026 update. Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education users can apply it through Group Policy; Windows 11 Home users use an equivalent Registry key. Both are covered below.

What Copilot is and where it shows up

Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant, built into Windows 11's taskbar and Search, and bundled separately into Word, Excel, Outlook, and the rest of Microsoft 365. It is not one single feature — it is several related apps and panels that share a name, which is part of why "turning it off" takes more than one setting.

Since its 2023 launch, Copilot has expanded from a sidebar you could open with a keyboard shortcut into a taskbar icon that ships on by default, a Search-bar prompt box, and (on newer PCs) a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard. Each of those has its own on/off switch, not one master toggle.

Hide the Copilot icon from your taskbar

This is the quickest fix and the one most people are actually looking for.

1. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar and choose Taskbar settings (or open Settings, then Personalization, then Taskbar).
2. Find Copilot under "Taskbar items."
3. Toggle it off.
4. Restart your PC so the change fully applies.

This removes the icon from your taskbar and system tray. It does not always stop Copilot from being reachable elsewhere — the Win+C shortcut, a Copilot key on your keyboard, or a search-bar prompt can still open it on some builds, which is why the steps below exist for people who want it gone more completely.

Remove Copilot with Group Policy (Pro, Enterprise, Education)

If you are on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, Education, or IoT Enterprise and have installed the April 2026 Windows update, Microsoft added a dedicated policy that removes the Copilot app itself, not just its icon.

1. Press Win+R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to User Configuration, then Administrative Templates, then Windows Components, then Windows AI.
3. Open the policy named "Remove Microsoft Copilot app."
4. Set it to Enabled, then click OK.
5. Restart, or run gpupdate /force in Command Prompt to apply it immediately.

This also removes Microsoft 365 Copilot, which normally ships bundled with the Office apps, per reporting on the update from Windows Latest. If your PC has not yet received the April 2026 update, you may instead see an older policy called "Turn off Windows Copilot" under Windows Components, then Windows Copilot — that version hides the app but does not fully remove it the way the newer policy does.

Remove Copilot with the Registry (Windows 11 Home)

Windows 11 Home does not include the Group Policy Editor, so the equivalent fix is a Registry key.

1. Press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI. Create the WindowsAI key if it does not already exist.
3. Inside it, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value named RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp.
4. Set its value to 1.
5. Restart Windows, or run gpupdate /force and restart File Explorer, for the change to take effect.

Back up the Registry, or at least note the key path, before editing it. Deleting the DWORD value later restores Copilot to its default state.

Uninstall the Copilot app directly

On builds where Copilot installs as a normal app, you can remove it the same way as any other app.

1. Open the Start menu and search for Copilot.
2. Right-click the Copilot result.
3. Choose Uninstall, if the option appears.

Not every build offers an uninstall option this way — on some systems Copilot is treated as a system component and the Group Policy or Registry route above is the only way to remove it.

Turning off Copilot in Word, Excel, and Outlook

The taskbar and Windows AI settings above do not touch Copilot inside Microsoft 365 apps — that is a separate integration. Individual users can usually turn off the Copilot button in the Word, Excel, or Outlook ribbon from that app's own Options menu, but on a work or school account, Copilot in Microsoft 365 is often controlled centrally by an IT administrator through the Microsoft 365 admin center rather than a per-user toggle, so the option may be greyed out.

What to know before you turn it off

Because Copilot spans several separate features, a few things trip people up:

• Hiding the taskbar icon does not remove the underlying app or stop Win+C and the Copilot key from launching it on every build.
• The Group Policy and Registry removal is new as of the April 2026 update. If your removal reverts after a later Windows update, reapply the same policy or key — Windows updates occasionally reset feature toggles.
• If Copilot was manually installed from the Microsoft Store rather than shipped by default, the removal policy may behave differently — uninstalling it directly through Settings, then Apps is the more reliable route in that case.

Turning off AI on other devices

If you are trying to get AI assistants off every device you own, not just your Windows PC, we cover the others too: how to turn off Gemini on Android, how to turn off Galaxy AI on Samsung phones, and how to turn off Apple Intelligence on iPhone. If you would rather compare tools than disable Microsoft's own, our Copilot alternatives page covers other options.

The bottom line

For most people, the taskbar toggle is enough — it takes thirty seconds and removes the icon you actually see every day. If Copilot keeps resurfacing, or you want it uninstalled rather than hidden, the Group Policy route (Pro, Enterprise, Education) or the matching Registry key (Home) that Microsoft added in April 2026 is the more permanent fix. Office-embedded Copilot in Word, Excel, and Outlook is a separate switch from all of the above.

FAQ

Does hiding the Copilot taskbar icon fully disable it?

Not always. It removes the icon, but Win+C, a physical Copilot key, or a Search-bar prompt can still open the app on some builds. For a more complete removal, use the Group Policy or Registry method above.

Can Windows 11 Home users remove Copilot with Group Policy?

No — the Group Policy Editor is not included in Windows 11 Home. Use the Registry key method instead, which applies the same underlying policy.

Will a Windows update turn Copilot back on?

It can. Feature toggles occasionally reset after major updates, so it is worth checking your taskbar and the policy setting again after installing one.

Does removing Copilot from Windows also remove it from Word and Excel?

The April 2026 Group Policy removal does also remove Microsoft 365 Copilot when it is bundled with Office, according to reporting on the update. If Copilot still appears in an individual Office app afterward, check that app's own Options menu, or your organization's Microsoft 365 admin settings if you're on a work or school account.

Is there a single setting that turns off all Microsoft AI at once?

No. Windows Copilot (taskbar/Search), Microsoft 365 Copilot (Office apps), and Edge's built-in AI features are controlled separately, so there is no one master switch.