Microsoft Copilot app getting installed on Windows devices
Last week, Microsoft revealed that it started to push its AI Microsoft Copilot to more Windows 10 and 11 devices. The feature, still in preview at the time of writing, shows up as an icon on the Windows taskbar.
The tool is enabled on Windows 11 version 23H2 devices by default and disabled on Windows 11 version 22H2 devices.
Eagle-eyed users over at Deskmodder discovered that Microsoft is also pushing the Microsoft Copilot application on Windows 11 devices. This new app does not power the actual Copilot functionality at this point, apparently.
A quick check on a test system did not reveal the app initially. It did appear, however, after Microsoft Edge was updated to the latest version on the system.
Microsoft Copilot app
The best way to check if the app is installed is the following one:
- Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps.
- Change the sort order to "Date installed" or type Copilot into the search field.
- If you see Microsoft Copilot listed, it is installed.
Note that you may use the uninstall option to remove it again from the system. A click on "advanced options" reveals some details. The app's version is 1.0.3.0 and the site is 0 bytes at the time.
This suggests that it is a placeholder app that has no functionality of its own at the time. Deskmodder dug even deeper and discovered that a few files were associated with the app, including app icons. It is unclear if the state depends on the user's region or if Microsoft is rolling out the placeholder app to all devices to update it at a later point in time.
Deskmodder also discovered that the application's AppxManifest.xml included another interesting tidbit. The manifest sets compatibility for the app among other things. The minimum version is listed Windows 10, but the maximum version is Windows 12.0.0.0.
Whether that is another indicator that Microsoft continues to work on Windows 12, or a leftover from a time when it considered releasing Windows 12, or something else entirely, is up for debate.
Closing Words
Microsoft did not announce the release of the Microsoft Copilot app. It made no mention of it. This means that we do not know anything about its functionality at the time.
It appears linked to Microsoft Edge, but this has not been confirmed either. This is not the first time that Microsoft is pushing new apps onto user devices without prior information.
The company installed the Google Docs Offline extension in Edge automatically in July 2023.
In September 2023, Microsoft installed the Backup app on Windows 10 Enterprise devices. In November of the same year, Microsoft installed the HP Smart app erroneously on user devices.
Meanwhile, work on improving Copilot's Windows management functionality continues. These allow users to interact with the AI to change or control certain Windows features. Problem is that this functionality does not run local. All requests go through Microsoft servers, where they are processed, before the answer is pushed to the user's device.
Now you: do you have the Microsoft Copilot app installed on your device?
Installed on second new PC I just setup with W11 on 3.29.24.
This time the unisntall button was greyed out.
I was able to uninstall it using powershell (Admin) to remove the package.
How to stop this malware push?
Copilot is a malware application that is of the Corporate Espionage variety. What it does is collect data on your computer and activities and reports that data to person or persons unknown. It is extremely dangerous from a computer security viewpoint, particularly if your company does any kind of Patent filings or anything else that competes in the marketplace with Microsoft.
I don’t understand the negativity. You’re getting GPT-4 for free. If you don’t like it; don’t use it.
This isn’t scammy. Why the technophobia?
Your right, you do not understand.
Too late, first I disabled Windows 10 updates and stayed with no updates for months, now I’ve moved to Linux.
@Allwynd
Good move Allwynd, hopefully you didn’t move to Ubuntu with the Canonical’s malware Snap repository.
https://popey.com/blog/2024/02/exodus-bitcoin-wallet-490k-swindle/
I moved to Mint Cinnamon.
NO ONE WANT THIS CRAP AI OR Microsoft Copilot no likes it they all HATE so bad that a lot of us have gone back to windows 10 and turned off the crap danger updates from danger microsoft hacked company that can’t keep it’s own stuff save windows core has been stole that to microsoft and ai now microsoft is a clear danger now DANGER DANGER DANGER
So far I am avoiding Copilot by disabling Windows Updates. Is there any website where I can download only critical Windows 11 updates?
@boris
“Is there any website where I can download only critical Windows 11 updates?”
I use this program and can choose what updates I need and can hide updates that I don’t need:
https://github.com/DavidXanatos/wumgr
I kind of disabled Windows Updates permanently and not quite sure how to reverse it. So any programs that rely on Windows Updates will not work. That’s why I am asking for websites what host links to critical updates that can can be downloaded as files and installed as regular program patches do.
To my surprise, the Copilot placeholder app was installed on my desktop without any notification to me. I deleted it as I have the quaint idea that programs should only be installed on my hard drive with my consent, but I’m sure I have not seen the last of it.
Installed 3.22.24. Uninstalled 3.24.24.
M$ win 11 23H2 pro is also ignoring the ‘configure automatic updates’ group policy settings “Enable” #2 “notify for download and install” when ever it feels like it.
There’s also “Microsoft Bing (bingchatinstaller.exe)” trying to access the internet in the background.
I also noticed “Bing Chat Installer” appear out of nowhere and try to connect to the internet last week after opening Microsoft Edge once to look at something. This was the file path:
C:\windows\temp\mubstemp\bingchatinstaller.exe
It reminded me why I stopped using Edge. It seems they’re still at it – glad I’ve moved on.
This pointless app also appears on DMA compliant devices in European Economic Area. I hope Microsoft gets fined $1 billion by the EU for their foolishness. They’ll make an effort to dismiss it as a bug.