How to Disable Copilot and Windows Recall on Windows 11 (2026)

Windows 11’s Copilot button and Recall (AI snapshots on eligible PCs) are useful for some people and unwelcome for others. If you care about privacy, shared PCs, or RAM, turning them down is reasonable — and safer than random “AI remover” scripts from forums.

Create a restore point before policy/registry edits. For performance elsewhere see speed up Windows 11. Network privacy pairing: VPN setup.

What you are actually disabling

Feature	What it does	Independent of…
Copilot (taskbar/app)	Windows assistant entry points	Edge sidebar Copilot, Bing Chat on the web
Recall	Stores snapshots for search on eligible hardware	Copilot chat
Microsoft 365 Copilot	Work AI with licence	Consumer Windows toggles

Disabling the taskbar icon does not cancel a work Copilot licence in Office.

1. Remove Copilot from the taskbar (everyone)

1. Right-click the taskbar → Taskbar settings
2. Turn Copilot off (wording may be Copilot / Chat depending on build)
3. Settings → Personalisation → Taskbar — confirm the toggle stays off

Also check Settings → Apps → Installed apps for Copilot → Advanced options → the reset/terminate controls if it misbehaves.

Keyboard: on many builds Win + C launched Copilot — after disabling, that shortcut should stop opening it (varies by 2026 cumulative updates).

2. Settings pages for AI experiences

Browse:

• Settings → Privacy & security — speech, inking, diagnostic data you can minimise
• Settings → System → AI components / Copilot (presence varies by 24H2/25H2 packaging)
• Turn off optional experiences you do not use

After 25H2 feature churn, labels move — search Settings for Copilot and Recall. See also 25H2 problems if Settings crashes.

3. Group Policy (Windows 11 Pro)

1. gpedit.msc
2. User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Copilot
3. Enable Turn off Windows Copilot
4. gpupdate /force and sign out

Exact folder names can shift as Microsoft renames templates — use Policy search for Copilot.

4. Registry method (Home, careful)

Wrong registry edits break logins. Restore point first. Prefer Settings/Policy when available.

A commonly used policy mirror:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot

Create DWORD TurnOffWindowsCopilot = 1

Sign out/in. If Microsoft changes enforcement in a later build, revisit Settings.

Avoid downloading .reg packs from SEO blogs — they often bundle unrelated “tweaks.”

5. Disable Recall and delete snapshots

On PCs where Recall exists:

1. Search Settings for Recall
2. Turn Save snapshots / Recall Off
3. Use Delete snapshots / clear history
4. Confirm BitLocker/Windows Hello requirements messaging — do not bypass security to “make Recall work” on a PC you intended to harden

If Recall never appears, your hardware/region may be ineligible — nothing to disable.

6. Edge and web Copilot leftovers

• Edge sidebar: hide Copilot / Bing chat if you do not want it
• Unpin Copilot from Start
• Enterprise admins should use Edge policies separately

A privacy-oriented browser + VPN habit (tool card) complements OS toggles on public networks.

7. Performance and notifications

Fewer AI hooks can mean:

• Slightly less background indexing
• Fewer surprise taskbar buttons after updates
• Cleaner notification traffic — also trim spam in silence notifications

If the PC is still slow, AI is probably not the main villain — check startup apps and disk health.

8. Sign-in and Copilot oddities

When Microsoft account tokens break, Copilot/Teams/OneDrive fail together with “no internet” while Chrome works. Fix the account stack: MSA sign-in. Disabling Copilot will not repair broken tokens — and turning it off is fine afterward.

Verify

1. Restart
2. Copilot icon gone from taskbar
3. Win + C does not summon it (if applicable)
4. Recall shows off / no new snapshots
5. Task Manager shows no unwanted Recall indexing after a work session

What not to do

• “Debloat” scripts that remove half of Windows Store
• Disable Windows Security to kill AI
• Random GitHub one-click Removers without reading the code

Sensible privacy stack

1. Copilot hidden/off
2. Recall off + snapshots deleted
3. Diagnostic data to the minimum you accept
4. Password manager + 2FA
5. Optional VPN on untrusted networks

You can always re-enable Copilot later from the same toggles. Privacy defaults should be practical, reversible, and free of sketchy optimizers.

Shared PCs, kids’ accounts, and work-adjacent laptops

On a family PC, disable Recall snapshots and hide Copilot on each Windows account you use — settings are often per-user. For a work laptop that also holds personal files, prefer the strongest available policy controls (Pro Group Policy or company MDM). Do not disable Windows Hello or BitLocker to “make AI features easier”; that trades real disk encryption for convenience.

If your employer requires Copilot in Microsoft 365, turning off the Windows taskbar button still leaves web/Office Copilot available under their licence — that is expected. Conversely, removing Edge’s sidebar Copilot does not remove Windows Copilot. Treat each surface separately.

Updates that bring the button back

Feature updates and some cumulatives re-enable taskbar items. After 25H2-class upgrades, re-check Taskbar settings and Recall pages. Keep a short personal checklist: taskbar toggle, Recall off, snapshot delete, optional Group Policy still applied (gpresult /r on Pro). If Copilot cannot sign in while Chrome works, fix tokens first (MSA sign-in) instead of assuming the disable failed.

Performance expectations

Turning these features off rarely doubles FPS in games. Gains show up as fewer background tasks on 8 GB machines and less surprise CPU during idle snapshot indexing. Pair privacy toggles with ordinary speed hygiene — startup apps, free disk space, and vendor GPU drivers (speed up Windows 11).

Document your preferred toggles in a short note so you can reapply them in under two minutes after the next feature update.