How to Enable or Disable Windows Copilot in Windows 11

Method 1Hiding the Copilot Icon (Easiest Way)

This is the quickest method and it works on every edition, Home included. Hiding the Copilot icon removes the button from the taskbar 🖥️ without turning off the underlying service. Use it when you only want the icon out of your way.

1. Right-click an empty space on your Taskbar. A small menu appears with a single entry for the taskbar 🖥️ settings.
2. Select Taskbar settings. The Settings app ⚙️ opens on the taskbar 🖥️ page (Settings › Personalization › Taskbar). You can also reach it by going there yourself.
3. Locate the Copilot (preview) toggle. It sits in the list of taskbar items at the top of the page, near Search and Task view. On newer builds the label may read Copilot without “(preview)”.
4. Switch it to Off. The Copilot button disappears from the taskbar 🖥️ right away. You do not need to restart.

This hides the button but does not uninstall the feature. To bring the icon back, return to the same page and switch the toggle to On.

If you cannot find the toggle, your build probably has no Copilot taskbar item. That happens when Windows is not fully updated, or when a policy has already turned Copilot off. Run Windows Update 🔃 and look again.

Method 2Using Group Policy (🪟 Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise)

You can enable or disable Windows Copilot on Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise editions by using the Local Group Policy Editor. This built-in configuration tool lets you turn off the AI assistant across your system by adjusting the Turn off Windows Copilot policy setting under the Windows Components folder.

The Group Policy Editor is not included in Windows 11 Home. If you press Win+R, run the command below, and Windows says it cannot find the file, you are on Home. Skip to the Registry Editor method.

You need to be signed in with an administrator account. Because this setting lives under User Configuration, it applies to the account that is signed in, not to every user on the PC.

1. Press Win+R, type gpedit.msc, and hit Enter. The Local Group Policy Editor window opens.
2. In the left pane, navigate to: User Configuration › Administrative Templates › Windows Components › Windows Copilot When you select the Windows Copilot folder, its policies appear in the right pane.
3. Double-click Turn off Windows Copilot. A settings window opens with the options Not Configured, Enabled and Disabled.
4. Select Enabled to turn the feature off. The wording is confusing, but it is correct: you are enabling the policy that turns Copilot off.
5. Click Apply and OK. The Copilot button should leave the taskbar 🖥️. If it is still there, sign out and back in, or restart the 🔄 PC, so the policy is reapplied. To undo the change, open the same policy and select Not Configured, then click Apply and OK. On recent builds with the newer Copilot app, this policy may not affect it.

Method 3Using the Registry Editor (🪟 Windows 11 Home)

You can enable or disable Windows Copilot on Windows 11 Home editions by editing the system registry. Since the Home edition lacks the policy editor, creating a specific DWORD value inside the Registry Editor lets you turn off the AI feature manually. This does the same job as the Group Policy method, because the policy simply writes this value for you.

Be careful in the registry. A wrong change can cause problems, and there is no undo button. Before you begin, create a restore point, or in Registry Editor choose File › Export to save a backup of the registry. You also need an administrator account.

The steps below work on Pro and Enterprise too, if you prefer them to Group Policy. Follow them in order and check each name for typos. The key and value names must match exactly or Windows will ignore them.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission. The Registry Editor opens.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot. You can expand the folders in the left pane one by one, or paste the path into the address bar at the top of the window.
3. If the key does not exist, right-click the Windows folder, select New › Key, and name it WindowsCopilot. The new folder appears under Windows. Select it so the right pane shows its contents.
4. Right-click in the right pane, select New › DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it TurnOffWindowsCopilot. The new entry appears in the list with a value of 0.
5. Double-click TurnOffWindowsCopilot, set the Value data to 1 to disable it, and click OK. Then sign out and back in, or restart the PC, so Windows reads the new value. The Copilot button should be gone afterward. To undo the change, set the value back to 0 or delete the TurnOffWindowsCopilot entry. As with Group Policy, a build with the newer Copilot app may ignore this value.

Privacy and Data Security

Copilot relies on data processing to generate relevant answers. Disabling the service stops your local activity from going to Microsoft for AI analysis. Hiding the icon alone does not do this, so use the Group Policy or registry method if privacy is your reason.

Reviewing the Privacy & security settings inside the Windows Settings app (Settings › Privacy & security) helps control what data reaches Microsoft. Look at the permission pages there and turn off what you do not need.

Summary

The taskbar settings are the quickest way to hide Windows Copilot, but they only remove the button. Pro and Enterprise editions can use the Group Policy Editor for a lasting fix, whereas Windows 11 Home requires the Registry Editor. Each change can be reversed, so you can turn Copilot back on whenever you want. These methods let you tailor the AI feature to your own workflow.