Microsoft 365 Copilot App Will Auto-Install – How to Opt Out (www.ghacks.net)

Microsoft will begin auto-installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app in the background on Windows devices that have any Microsoft 365 desktop client (Word, Excel, etc.), with the rollout starting Fall 2025; devices in the European Economic Area are excluded from automatic installation. Administrators can block the install from the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center (Customization > Device Configuration > Modern App Settings — clear “Enable automatic installation of Microsoft 365 Copilot app”). Individual or local controls include Group Policy (Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Copilot — enable “Turn off Windows Copilot”) or a Registry entry: create a DWORD TurnOffWindowsCopilot = 1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot. Users can also uninstall the app from Settings > Apps if it appears. This move accelerates Copilot’s distribution and matters for the AI/ML community because it both broadens real-world exposure to generative assistance and raises governance, privacy and consent questions. For enterprises, the admin opt-out is crucial for compliance and staged deployments, but Microsoft’s note that disabling policies may not prevent installation leaves ambiguity about residual telemetry or binaries. The rollout underscores tensions between platform-driven AI distribution and user control — a useful testbed for adoption and feedback, but also a reminder that organizations should proactively configure policies if they want to limit Copilot’s presence or functionality.