Microsoft Copilot is (once again) being installed automatically, but not on all Windows 11 PCs

After years of criticism from Windows users regarding the Microsoft 365 Copilot AI chatbot, which has become increasingly integrated into the system, Microsoft has responded: Since the April 2026 update, it has been possible to remove Copilot. This about-face was apparently short-lived, as Microsoft has now confirmed that the Microsoft 365 Copilot app will be automatically installed between mid-June and mid-July on systems running the Microsoft 365 desktop apps. At least for now, users in the EU are exempt.

As Windows Latest reports, Microsoft is not using the Microsoft Store’s auto-install feature for this, but rather the Office suite’s update feature, which makes it more difficult to prevent the automatic installation. Organizations can prevent the Copilot app from being installed by having an administrator disable it in a timely manner. However, Microsoft is making it unnecessarily difficult for users to remove the AI chatbot from Windows and Microsoft 365, as the relevant settings are now scattered across the Admin Center and individual apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

According to Microsoft, this automatic installation would “simplify” access to Copilot. It’s not surprising that Microsoft shows no consideration for users who don’t want to use the AI features, especially after a leaked internal document showed that Microsoft wants to make Windows users addicted to its in-house AI chatbots. Using older versions of Office will become impossible in some cases; for example, Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac will become practically useless on July 13.