Security

Microsoft’s Potential Update: Empowering IT Admins to Remove Copilot

Published

3 months ago

January 9, 2026

Microsoft Testing New Policy to Uninstall Copilot Digital Assistant

Microsoft is currently experimenting with a new policy that allows IT administrators to remove the AI-powered Copilot digital assistant from managed devices. This new policy, known as RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp, is being rolled out to systems in the Dev and Beta Insider channels that have installed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7535 (KB5072046).

According to the Windows Insider team, Copilot will be uninstalled from endpoints managed via Microsoft Intune or the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) once the policy is enabled. This policy targets devices where both Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot are installed, the app was not installed by the user, and it has not been launched in the last 28 days.

The new policy enables administrators to uninstall Microsoft Copilot in a targeted manner, allowing users to reinstall if they choose to do so. This policy is available on Enterprise, Pro, and EDU SKUs and can be enabled in the Group Policy Editor under User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows AI -> Remove Microsoft Copilot App.

Additional Updates in the Beta Build

In addition to the new policy, the latest beta build addresses several known issues, including a File Explorer problem that causes explorer.exe to crash when accessing the desktop context menu. It also resolves a bug that could cause the Windows Update settings page to hang during loading.

The Windows Insider team is actively working to fix other issues in this preview build, such as a crash in the Settings app when interacting with audio devices and a problem where the Start menu fails to launch when clicked (although it opens with the Windows key). This issue may also affect the notification center (opened with WIN + N) and quick settings (with WIN + A).

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