Remember the weird Copilot app that was quietly installed on some Windows 11 PCs earlier this year? Well, Microsoft has announced that the mysterious and tiny app – which was just 8KB in size and did nothing save to cause some users to worry about exactly what it was – has now been removed from these systems.
As Neowin reports, Microsoft stated that the program – which was visible on the ‘Installed apps’ list in Windows 11 – was harmless and did not run any background code. Microsoft has now marked the issue as resolved, and the app will no longer be seen in your list of installed applications.
While this whole affair was rather odd, it is reassuring to know that nothing was amiss with this random bit of software that suddenly appeared. However, with the Copilot app being first spotted in March 2024, it has taken Microsoft quite some time to deal with the issue, and we’ve got to admit, we’re curious as to why the process of fixing the glitch moved so slowly.
Microsoft wrote in a post on its release health dashboard: “This package was intended to prepare some Windows devices for future Windows Copilot enablement and was not intended for all devices. Although the component installed as part of this issue can cause the Microsoft Copilot app to be shown as part of the Installed apps, this component does not fully install or enable Microsoft Copilot.”
The app was introduced via an Edge browser update and has been removed in the same way. Microsoft notes that you need to update to Edge stable version 126.0.2592.56 and restart your browser once you’ve done so – then you’ll be good to go!
It seems like a turbulent time for Windows 11 currently, with Microsoft dropping the Recall feature from Copilot+ PCs (at least for now), a move that doesn’t speak well in terms of the confidence behind the product, but seems to be the best course of action given all the controversy around the AI feature.
Evidently, Microsoft has a fair few loose ends to tie up right now and needs to be careful not to rush so that mistakes are made. This misfiring Copilot app installation triggered by an Edge update may have been harmless in the end, but perhaps the next misstep might not be so benign.