If you have Microsoft Copilot on your Windows PC and you find it more annoying than useful, it's very easy to disable. Microsoft hasn't quite integrated Copilot into the broader PC experience just yet (although that may change with Windows 12) so we haven't seen its full manifestation. But if you don't like it, you can turn it off in just a few simple steps.

Microsoft Copilot banner
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How to use Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is quite similar to ChatGPT, but it has a few key differences. Here's how to use it!

Hide it from your taskbar

Disabling Copilot on Windows is pretty straightforward and requires only a few steps:

  1. Click the Windows Start button on the taskbar.
  2. Type Settings to open the Settings app.
  3. Go to Personalization and then Taskbar.
  4. Toggle off the Copilot item.
  5. Restart your computer

That's it! Copilot is now disabled...sort of. This method removes Copilot from the taskbar, but the Windows key + C key combination will still work because the program is still running in the background. There are some additional steps to take if you want Copilot completely removed from your PC.

Disable Copilot with Group Policy

If you'd rather disable Copilot across your whole computer, you can use your Group Policy settings to do this. This requires a Windows 11 Pro or Windows 11 Enterprise subscription. If you don't have either of those (i.e., if you have Windows 11 Home), scroll down to the "Disable Copilot using the Windows Registry" section instead.

To use Group Policy settings:

  1. Click the Windows Start button on the taskbar.
  2. Type Group Policy Editor and open the program.
    Group Policy editor in Windows 11
  3. Go to User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, and then Windows Copilot.
    Group policy editor "Turn off Windows Copilot" option
  4. Right click Turn-off Windows Copilot, then select Edit.
  5. Set this function to Enabled.
  6. Click Apply, then Ok.
  7. Restart your computer.
    Disabled Copilot enabled Group Policy

Once you've rebooted, Copilot should be completely disabled. You won't even be able to use it through the keyboard shortcut.

Disable Copilot using the Windows Registry

If you want to totally disable Copilot and are using Windows 11 Home Edition, the Windows registry is the only way to do that. Be warned, though, that mistaken edits to the registry can cause irreversible damage to your Windows installation. If that happens, you may need to reinstall your operating system, so be very careful.

With that warning, follow these steps:

  1. Press Windows key + R.
  2. Type "regedit" and then hit the Enter key.
  3. If a window pops up asking if you are OK with Registry Editor making changes, click Yes.
  4. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows.
  5. Right-click Windows on the left and select New, then pick Key.
  1. Name the key WindowsCopilot.
  2. Right-click the WindowsCopilot key.
  3. Hover over New and select DWORD (32-bit) value.
    Disable Copilot and create a new key by right clicking in Regedit
  4. Name it TurnOffWindowsCopilot.
  5. Double-click the TurnOffWindowsCopilot value, and then set it to 1.
  6. Set the Base to Hexadecimal.
    Setting TurnOffWindowsCopilot to a value of 1

Once you've done this, reboot your PC. Copilot is now disabled on your current user account.

All of these steps are viable options for disabling Copilot. However, we recommend just hiding it from your taskbar. If you really want Copilot gone, use the Group Policy editor; as mentioned above, be very careful when mucking around in the Windows registry, since it is a vital and fragile location, and a wrong move can leave your computer unusable.