Microsoft is testing a new policy that allows IT administrators to uninstall the AI-powered Copilot digital assistant on managed devices.
The new RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp policy began rolling out today to systems in the Dev and Beta Insider channels that have installed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7535 (KB5072046).
As the Windows Insider team explained in a blog post today, Copilot will be uninstalled after the policy is enabled on endpoints managed via Microsoft Intune or the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
The new policy will apply to devices where the Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot are both installed, the Microsoft Copilot app was not installed by the user, and the Microsoft Copilot app was not launched in the last 28 days.
“Admins can now uninstall Microsoft Copilot for a user in a targeted way by enabling a new policy titled RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp,” the Windows Insider team said.
“If this policy is enabled, the Microsoft Copilot app will be uninstalled, once. Users can still re-install if they choose to. This policy is available on Enterprise, Pro, and EDU SKUs.
“To enable this policy, open the Group policy editor and go to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows AI -> Remove Microsoft Copilot App.”
Today’s beta build also fixes a known File Explorer issue that causes the explorer.exe process to crash when invoking the desktop context menu, and a bug that could cause the Windows Update settings page to hang during loading.
The Windows Insider team is also working to address several issues in this preview build, including a crash in the Settings app when interacting with audio devices and a problem where the Start menu won’t launch when clicked (although it opens with the Windows key), which may also affect the notification center (which opens with WIN + N) and quick settings (with WIN + A).
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