How do I remove Copilot for good so that it never ever comes back?

Question

How do I remove Copilot for good so that it never ever comes back?

KH 75

I really dislike privacy invasive software such as Copilot (and Recall). I would like to disable Copilot and never ever want to see it again. How do I achieve this in Windows 11 Home 24H2?

Yes I've searched this forum. But most useful articles are for Windows 11 Pro, not Home.

PS. Windows has become pure spyware (telemetry and such), guess that's why it's a free and a brute-forced upgrade. I hate it, if there was a viable alternative that handled the software I ACTUALLY use, then I would switch in an instant. Linux is not quite there yet though.

Answer accepted by question author

3 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Haien-L 6,610 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear KH

Thanks for reaching out! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. I'm Haien from Microsoft Q&A.

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Support with your concern about permanently disabling Copilot on Windows 11 Home 24H2. I understand your frustration with privacy-invasive features and your desire to remove Copilot completely.

Solution 1: Disable Copilot using the Registry Editor

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
Type regedit and press Enter. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
Navigate to the following path in the Registry Editor: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Right-click on the Windows folder (key) in the left-hand pane.
Select New > Key and name it WindowsCopilot.
Now, right-click on the new WindowsCopilot key you just created.
Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it TurnOffWindowsCopilot.
Double-click on TurnOffWindowsCopilot and change its Value data from 0 to 1.
Click OK and close the Registry Editor.
Restart your PC for the changes to take effect. The Copilot icon should no longer appear on the taskbar, and the shortcut (Windows key + C) will be disabled.

Solution 2: Uninstall the Copilot App (Windows 11 24H2 and newer)

Open Settings by pressing the Windows key + I.
Go to Apps > Installed apps.
Scroll down or use the search box to find Copilot.
Click the three-dot menu next to it and select Uninstall.
Confirm by clicking Uninstall again.

Please keep me updated with anything new that you were try to each option.

To assist others who might have similar questions and to help us improve our support system, we kindly encourage you to "Accept the answer" if it successfully addressed your concern. Accepting an answer lets other users know that this solution worked for you, and it also helps us track the effectiveness of our support efforts.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to resolving this quickly for you.

Warm regards

KH 75 Reputation points

2025-09-06T09:58:30.64+00:00

I'll accept this answer, for now! Because I'm guessing it will be reactivated in a future Windows Update without Microsoft telling me about it, and then I'll probably be back here.

The solution somewhat works, but not to the full extent that I had hoped for. Copilot still seems to be displayed at different places, for example in the Notepad application, it does have a switch in the settings though. But I do not like that it's there at all, I have serious trust issues with software technology, more people should! As Windows isn't an open source project and probably never will be.

My wish is that real developers (not the AI staff, untrustworthy), that actually cares about the user experience, in the future make these kinds of things optional instead of brute-forcing us to install things we do not want or care about.

Thank you for the help!
Haien-L 6,610 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-11T16:56:22.67+00:00

Dear KH
Thank you for your candid feedback. We truly value such honest evaluations and sincere feedback. We will strive to improve in the future. All suggestions will be heard, and we hope you can take the time to provide feedback through Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app

Your satisfaction is Microsoft's top priority.

Sincerely
James LaBarre 5 Reputation points

2025-10-21T13:50:15.3766667+00:00

Is this ACTUALLY removing CoPilot, is is it more outright lying from Microsoft as usual? We don't actually believe anything Microsoft says.
Jay Ragsdale 0 Reputation points

2025-12-04T16:41:49.44+00:00

As this answer suggested, just uninstall it like you would any other app. Done.

Is Microsoft still spying on you? Of course, they always have been. But at least you don't have to keep 2025 Clippy in your face all day.
KH 75 Reputation points

2025-12-04T20:30:01.5833333+00:00

...somebody asked if they are lying, yeah I think so. Seems more like disabling, not really removing. The trust is gone.

Answer 2

I've found a number of suggestions on the web to disable and delete copilot. None of them worked. I did uninstall Copilot and it no longer shows up in my list of apps but the icon is still there and it will still run. How can an uninstalled app still work? What else is it doing on my computer that I don't want it to do.

I also went to learn earlier today and got a totally different answer from Microsoft than what you give above. I tried that and it DIDN'T work. All MS employees need to get on the same page for something this major.

I do not want to waste any more time mucking around in the registry with the fear I will really screw something up. So I'll stop for now but I have written my employer about getting rid of this app that can cause problems for an organization that doesn't dare get caught using AI to do their work (think research findings for medicine). I see a big law suit in your future should this run amuck.

Microsoft needs to make a clear, easy to use solution to this problem. No one I know wants copilot permanently on. Fix it before folks get to their senators and force you into something you don't want.

James LaBarre 5 Reputation points

2025-11-14T13:25:10.23+00:00

I did uninstall Copilot and it no longer shows up in my list of apps but the icon is still there and it will still run. How can an uninstalled app still work?

Because they aren't uninstalling it, they're just hiding the icon. Microsoft, as always, is LYING to you.

Answer 3

Angel Cox 5

copilot is the most obnoxious thing ever created all of ms crap is very FORCEFUL!!!!!and all of is garbage "startpage is a good option

doesnt force anything on you whats amazing is MS admits their stuff is invasive and forceful but continue to pedal it just like cow poop if it is so good why are they recreating everyday?

James LaBarre 5 Reputation points

2025-12-05T15:01:19.41+00:00

Except that cow poop helps useful things grow...

Answer 4

KH 75

I've actually installed a Linux OS on a separate disk and activated dual boot, hopefully Microsoft won't touch the bootloader (zero trust for this here though). Microsoft software is full of shit nobody wants or asked for... and if I start transferring more of my computer usage over to Linux eventually I can kill the Windows installation completely, IT WILL BE DONE.

James LaBarre 5 Reputation points

2025-12-05T15:03:47.8666667+00:00

I'm thinking if I knew which EXE or DLLs were running Copilot I could just delete them from a Linux boot session, then use CCleaner to clean up the residual registry entries afterwards.I mean, breaking the MSWin install? MSWindows is already broken.

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How do I remove Copilot for good so that it never ever comes back?

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