Windows 11 updates are accidentally getting rid of Copilot, at least for now

Microsoft’s Windows updates over the last couple of years have mostly been focused on adding generative AI features to the operating system, including multiple versions of the Copilot assistant. Copilot has made it into Windows 11 (and even, to a more limited extent, the aging Windows 10) as a native app, and then a wrapper around a web app, and soon as a native app again.

But this month’s Windows updates are removing the Copilot app from some Windows 11 PCs and unpinning it from the taskbar, according to this Microsoft support document. This bug obviously won’t affect systems where Copilot had already been uninstalled, but it has already led to confusion among some Windows users.

Microsoft says it is “working on a resolution to address the issue” but that users who want to get Copilot back can reinstall the app from the Microsoft Store and repin it to the taskbar, the same process you use to install Copilot on PCs where it has been removed.

Though some version of Copilot has been included in fresh Windows 11 installs since mid-2023, and Microsoft even added a Copilot key into the standard Windows keyboard in early 2024, Copilot’s appearance and capabilities have shifted multiple times since then.