How to rip out Copilot from Windows 11

• Uninstall Copilot in Settings > Apps, or run PowerShell to remove it for all users and from provisioned packages.

• Disable Copilot from Startup (Task Manager) and in Edge via Settings > Appearance > Copilot and Sidebar.

• Preventing auto-reinstall: set TurnOffWindowsCopilot and disable SilentInstalledApps in Registry; back up first.

Typically, you can remove Windows features with one click. Copilot is a different story, however. There's no simple switch to remove Copilot from the entire interface. However, it is possible to rip out Copilot entirely from your Windows.

Uninstall Copilot

Copilot doesn't show up in the usual Control Panel "Uninstall Programs" menu. Open the settings app and go to Apps > Installed Apps. Look for Copilot, click the three dots next to it, and uninstall the app. It should remove the Copilot app right away.

If your computer has multiple users set up, and you don't want to remove Copilot for each user, you can run a simple PowerShell command to uninstall copilot for all users.

Open PowerShell as an administrator and enter the following command:

To keep Windows from reinstalling Copilot when you create a new user, run this command.

Even with the Copilot app gone from the app list, you might still see Copilot buttons scattered around the Windows 11 interface. For example, the Paint app or the Notepad app might still show the Copilot button. The same goes for Microsoft 365 apps .

Disable Copilot's startup sequence

Sometimes, uninstalling Copilot doesn't take it off the list of startup apps, so when you reboot your computer, it may come back. To take the app off the startup sequence , right-click on the taskbar and click on Task Manager. Alternatively, you can look up "task manager" in the search bar. Switch to the Startup Apps tab on Task Manager. Select Copilot, right-click on it, and disable it.

Disable it in Microsoft Edge

You'll still see Copilot in Microsoft Edge . The shortcut shows up in the Windows search menu too. There's no easy way to hide this icon unless you use a script. However, you can disable it and make it non-functional. Open Microsoft Edge and click the three dots to open settings. Go to Appearance > Copilot and Sidebar. Switch off "Show sidebar button." Then click "Copilot" under App-specific settings and disable that too. The Copilot shortcut will be removed from the toolbar and the sidebar.

Edit the Registry

Unless you explicitly disable it, Microsoft will reinstall Copilot with the next Windows update. You need to edit the Windows Registry to make that change.

Messing with the Registry can break your system, so be extremely cautious when making Registry edits. It's a good idea to create a system restore point before proceeding with the Registry changes.

Start by searching for "registry editor" in Windows search and "Run it as Administrator." Alternatively, you can launch it with Windows Run.

Press Windows key+R, type in "regedit" and hit Enter.

With the Registry Editor open, either navigate to this directory or paste it in the address bar to jump directly to it.

We'll create a new key here called "WindowsCopilot." Right-click on the Windows folder, select "New" and click "Key." Give it the name "WindowsCopilot." If this key already exists, you can skip this step.

Next, right-click on the new WindowsCopilot key and select "D-WORD 32-bit Value." Give it the label "TurnOffWindowsCopilot" and then right-click on it. Select "Modify" and change the hexadecimal value to "1."

Microsoft has yet another tactic for installing Copilot without permission. You need to disable "silent installs" to prevent that. Navigate to this directory or copy-paste it in the address bar.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\ContentDeliveryManager

Look for a value labeled "SilentInstalledAppsEnabled" and right-click on it. Select "Modify" and change the hexadecimal value to "0."

Rip out AI features and Copilot entirely with a script

To get rid of Copilot from Windows entirely, you can also run a script built to remove Copilot and all its components. GitHub has a few.

Make sure you check the script and you know exactly what it's doing. It's not at all safe to run scripts that make system changes from unverified sources. If you choose to run a script for this job, it'll be at your own risk. It's also a good idea to create a system restore point before running the script.

I'm running this script from GitHub , which lets you remove all AI and Copilot components from Windows with a single command. Open the PowerShell terminal as an administrator and paste in the following command.

It'll launch a menu where you can select which components to remove. It's a good idea to toggle on the "backup" switch to make sure you can restore the services later, if needed. Then click "Apply." It'll take a while for the script to remove everything, at which point, it'll ask to reboot your computer.

When you reboot, all traces of Copilot should be gone, including the integrations in system apps like Notepad or Paint.

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Uninstalling the Copilot app is easy enough, but Microsoft keeps reinstalling it without permissions. However, you can edit the Windows Registry to prevent that. If you want to conveniently remove every trace of Copilot, running a script is the simplest way (remember the caveats, however.)