CoPilot removed by recent Windows update

[isladogs]

Just in case anyone else experiences this issue, the latest Windows 10 update March 11, 2025—KB5053606 (OS Builds 19044.5608 and 19045.5608) - Microsoft Support removed CoPilot from my desktop PC. taskbar, start menu & from Settings

It seems that I’m not the only person affected – see this thread at MS Answers: Copilot has disappeared today from taskbar and settings. - Microsoft Community

Reinstalling from the MS Store Microsoft Copilot - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store fixed the issue (at least until the next update)

 

[arnelgp]

Copilot is already part of the Edge browser?

 

[isladogs]

Yes I know. The standalone version is more useful

 

[The_Doc_Man]

To each his/her own, of course. If it helps you, great! As for me...

I did my best to disable CoPilot as soon as I saw it was available on my machine that I bought a few months ago. I don't need any help in making mistakes. Shucks, SpellCheck is incredibly stupid and uses very few resources - yet manages to be totally annoying at the same time. The last thing I need is an AI to lead me down a garden path at breakneck speed. But that's just me. If the latest Windows Update did away with CoPilot on my machine - which certainly has the resources to run CoPilot - I won't shed a tear over its passing.

On another note, though, it is CoPilot that manages the Recall feature where Windows takes snapshots of your screen as a way to build a "preferences" database. I turned off Recall emphatically as well. Had to do a web search but found articles on setting the correct registry key you need to block Recall. Yet ANOTHER Microsoft time- and disk-space waster.

There is another "gotcha" with Win11 having to do with using BitLocker to secure your disk. Encryption hackers exploit your own copy of BitLocker to extort you. But you can block BitLocker with a registry fix as well. That way you don't have to depend on having a Microsoft account to act as a repository of decryption keys.

Microsoft these days makes me feel like I'm being harangued by an oily salesman selling timeshare condo contracts. All they want to do is HELP me enjoy their idea of Heaven, never realizing that some of us don't believe that way.

 

[GPGeorge]

I have come to believe that AI, or more accurately LLMs, can be valuable tools for many development-related tasks.

On the other hand, like any tool, they can be misused.

To be useful, therefore, they have to be employed with discretion and common sense.

There's an old saying which retains relevance because of its fundamental truth: To the person with a hammer, every problem comes to resemble a nail.

In that regard, I see the imposition of CoPilot on all users as a form of misuse. It stems from the misunderstanding on the part of Microsoft that every problem is actually a nail, and CoPilot is the best hammer available.

I like having a tool available if I need or want it. I don't like being told that I need it everywhere, all of the time.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

@GPGeorge - many people here know that I like to use the "tools in the tool box" comment about how this or that ability is just another tool to be used when appropriate. And like all tools, you sometimes MIGHT have to learn how to use the particular tool to better effect.

 

[Mark_]

Now if Microsoft could realize not all computers need to have a "Game Bar" loaded....

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I believe you can tell it to turn off the game bar. Don't remember how I did it, but I did. (Win 11)

 

[Mark_]

I've uninstalled it... the hard way... and had it reinstall with the following update. Just doesn't make sense to have something like that ALWAYS on the machine though.

 

[Pat Hartman]

I've uninstalled it... the hard way... and had it reinstall with the following update. Just doesn't make sense to have something like that ALWAYS on the machine though.

The children are running the asylum as MS and they love their games so they assume we all do. That's why they keep trying to make our desktops work like a phone - to ensure we can't do any work.

 

[Gasman]

I have never ever seen mine?
I had to search for it.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I have never ever seen mine?
I had to search for it.

I can only say that personally I envy your luck. However, who knows? You might even have liked it. I kind of doubt it, but that's just me.

 

[Gasman]

I can only say that personally I envy your luck. However, who knows? You might even have liked it. I kind of doubt it, but that's just me.

Nope, no need for it. Closed it immediately.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I have never experienced Copilot, nor Cortana. I have been using Windows 7 Ultimate and x86 Office 2010 Pro msi since year 2010. Everything has always worked, Access included, and will keep using them until the wheels fall off!

 

[DickyP]

Everything about Copilot where it has intruded on me has been an absolute nuisance: it certainly doesn't write good English and tries to improve what has already been written (and altering it's meaning in the process).

Doc-man's toolbox analogy works but my real tool box is organised by having the things I use often easily available and the more rarely used tools at the bottom. Copilot is the equivalent of a toll box which has everything just chucked in, plus inappropriate things like kitchen utensils added.

 

[Jason Lee Hayes]

I must be the odd one out - CoPilot has helped me in many ways...

 

[isladogs]

I also find CoPilot intrusive in Office apps and largely ignore it in Word etc much as I used to ignore Clippy back in the day….

However, I find the standalone CoPilot app very useful. More for factual content than assistance with coding. It’s about as powerful as ChatGPT but I prefer the CoPilot interface.

 

[LarryE]

I received an update last night and this morning I still have CoPilot.

 

[jdraw]

Regarding "tools and toolboxes":

If the only tool you have in your toolbox is a hammer (insert your AI tool du jour here), it's strange how every problem seems to be a nail.

I remember this when those who knew Fortran, everything was a Fortran problem, same with Cobol, PL1, BAL.....

I have found Copilot and chatgpt helpful for outline and some direction, but hallucinatory and forgetful at times.

 

[Cotswold]

I thought CoPilot was basically spy and information gathering software. Same as CAPTCHA & others.
Problem I see is that the next version of Windows will be the first totally AI OS. It is bad enough that browsers are using AI for searches, which often appear to be far slower than they were. As well as less helpful.