Copilot App will install automatically on Windows for many users, but there are exceptions

Microsoft's Copilot AI push continued in the past couple of months. Just last month, it started to roll out Copilot in Excel and told users that they should not be using the AI for any serious tasks just yet.

The next step in Microsoft's plans for world domination is the rollout of the Copilot app for many Windows users. Microsoft confirmed plans to start the rollout this Fall, which means in the coming months.

According to Microsoft, the application will install itself in the background autoamatically, if another Microsoft 365 app is installed on the system. In other words, if you have installed a Microsoft 365 version of Word, Excel, or any of the other Office apps on a Windows machine, you will get the Copilot app installed automatically.

However, if you are from the European Economic Area, then you won't have the application installed automatically according to Microsoft.

Microsoft writes: "Windows devices with the Microsoft 365 desktop client apps will automatically install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. This app installation takes place in the background and would not disrupt the user. This app installation will start in Fall 2025."

The company published instructions to prevent the automatic installation of the Copilot app on Windows PCs that meet the requirements.

Here they are:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center with an admin account.
2. Go to Customization > Device Configuration > Modern App Settings.
3. Select Microsoft 365 Copilot app, then clear the Enable automatic installation of Microsoft 365 Copilot app check box.

REgular users may disable Copilot via the Group Policy Editor or the Registry

Note: the following options disable Copilot on the Windows system. It needs to be seen whether these will also prevent the installation of the app.

Windows 11 home users who run the Pro edition of the operating system may also block the installation via the Group Policy Editor:

• Open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc). 
• Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Copilot. 
• Enable the "Turn off Windows Copilot" policy

All Windows users may add the following option to the Registry

• Open the Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot. 
• Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it TurnOffWindowsCopilot. 
• Set its value data to 1

In any event, you may uninstall the Copilot application if it was installed automatically on your system via the Apps section of the Settings app.

Now you: what is your take on the auto-installation? Good move by Microsoft or yet another overreach?

Source

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Posted Tuesday 16 September 2025 at 3:00 am AEST (my time).

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