“Nobody wants Copilot”: Microsoft pauses Copilot on Windows 11’s taskbar to “incorporate your feedback," as Microslop backlash continues

[u/After_Cookies]

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/10/07/nobody-wants-copilot-microsoft-pauses-copilot-on-windows-11s-taskbar-to-incorporate-your-feedback/

[u/gamerrominc]

I disabled the AI be and all ai functions via group policy and my PC runs faster now

[u/Macaron-kun → u/gamerrominc]

Copilot was just never added to my PC at all. I disabled Cortana on day 1, so I definitely wouldn't like Copilot if it found its way onto my PC.

Every now and then when I start my PC I get the "Finish setting up your PC" with the Office 365 and Copilot stuff and I just press "Later."

Still never had AI forced onto my computer and I'd like to keep it that way.

[u/gamerrominc → u/Macaron-kun]

Oh it's forced now they install it and even if you click that later button they just liecto you in a way to make u feel better

[u/Macaron-kun → u/gamerrominc]

I haven't seen Copilot anywhere on my PC. It never pops up, it's not in Word, nothing.

[u/mtnbike2 → u/Macaron-kun]

Consider yourself lucky and never update windows

[u/Macaron-kun → u/mtnbike2]

I actually update Windows plenty and it's still never forced itself onto my system.

[u/Khirsah01 → u/Macaron-kun]

I just got it this morning on my Win10 PC. I'm fucking pissed!

[u/Bludypoo → u/mtnbike2]

i update windows literally every time it asks. i don't have copilot or one drive. You people don't know how to work your computers.

[u/HomicidalRaccoon → u/Bludypoo]

Thanks, pcmasterrace seems to have a computer literacy problem as of late, along with a constant bitching problem.

[u/N7Shep1701D → u/HomicidalRaccoon]

along with a constant bitching problem.

But I thought that was the whole reason for Reddit's existence! /s

[u/IM_NOT_NOT_HORNY → u/HomicidalRaccoon]

I think it can depend on other factors like what type of pc you have... On my desktop computer I never have had the issue but on my surface laptop one drive and copilot show up after I had previously uninstalled both

My only guess is because my laptop had windows 11 installed in the factory it does it. Not sure why

[u/AlkalineBrush20 → u/IM_NOT_NOT_HORNY]

I'm guessing it's also a region thing. When I was using Windows 10, Cortana was not available at all and it was refering to the language (or region?) not being supported. Probably the same thing happens to Copilot as it didn't show itself yet for me at least. I live in Hungary.

[u/Supahvaporeon → u/Bludypoo]

I hate to break it to you, but windows is just fucky like this. If windows sees the registry is malformed, and onedrive is removed, it will just reinstall it next update. Onedrive and now Copilot have hooks all over Windows's Explorer manager, and it will cry all the way to root if you pull stuff out.

Please look into the hell that is trying to remove Edge if you want to see how bad Windows can be with removing stuff.

[u/Notorious-ly → u/Bludypoo]

Exact same sentiment here. People talk about all this bloat re-installing itself, ads, etc. Never seen any of it. Not sure if it's a regional thing, version of Windows (Home vs Pro), or just user incompetence, but my Windows experience is much different/better compared to a lot of the shit I see on Reddit.

[u/mtnbike2 → u/Bludypoo]

yOu PeOpLe

[u/Bludypoo → u/mtnbike2]

i bet you can't change the oil or brakes on your car.

[u/-s-u-n-s-e-t- → u/mtnbike2]

never update windows

I swear, the average IQ of redditors has got to be in the negatives at this point.

[u/Nubanuba → u/Macaron-kun]

Open search bar and type copilot

[u/Macaron-kun → u/Nubanuba]

I think I've done that before and it just gave me internet results. It's nowhere to be seen.

[u/Gloomy_Onion2512 → u/Macaron-kun]

Well done, I am always having to remove shit I’ve already removed after the forced updates. Linux calls my name

[u/MadHiggins → u/Nubanuba]

sigh, it's always coming back somehow. i've uninstalled it a couple of times and then occasionally see a comment like yours that reminds me to check and low and behold, it's back. says it was last updated 10-7-26.

[u/___po____ → u/gamerrominc]

I did a factory reset on my laptop and it was added with that. Edge is also now integrated or whatever into Windows for all the webview stuff.

[u/Silverr_Duck → u/Macaron-kun]

Every now and then when I start my PC I get the "Finish setting up your PC" with the Office 365 and Copilot stuff and I just press "Later."

I love the tactics those worms at Microsoft use of to trick people to buy their bullshit. “Finish setting up” implies there’s some essential component that’s missing from the OS. Reminds me of when apps will say “permission required” to get me to give the app unfettered access to my location.

[u/jbrunsonfan → u/Silverr_Duck]

It’s “later” instead of “no” or “decline” so they can keep asking too.

[u/ProfSnipe → u/Silverr_Duck]

Eh, I wouldn't say that's the worst one, android and iOS also have the same wording for trivial things that you didn't set up. And it will leave you alone eventually or you can ignore it.

What I really hate in Microsoft's case is the options they give you, they are like "set up" or "remind me in 3 days" or something like that. How about a fucking no and never ask me again option?

[u/StrangeCalibur → u/Macaron-kun]

Be careful. I noticed this too…. Turns out my windows 11 is stuck update wise and is about to go out of support….

[u/marcx_ → u/Macaron-kun]

Oh god, i remember just deleting files until Cortana failed to work anymore, lmao. That was like 10 years ago at this point

[u/Itchy-Ambition-1171 → u/gamerrominc]

How do I do that?

[u/Some1ToDisagreeWith → u/Itchy-Ambition-1171]

I used Win11Debloat, https://github.com/raphire/win11debloat

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

How does one verify safety of things on GitHub?

[u/Some1ToDisagreeWith → u/Andrewsarchus]

I don't have a great answer but I look at the stars, the discussion section, and the profile of the person who made it. Someone might know more than me.

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

This sounds like a very good starting point, since the other options are "read the code" and that's not really up my alley.

[u/vertigostereo → u/Andrewsarchus]

Just ask Copilot to read the code!

[u/Amazing-Heron-105 → u/Andrewsarchus]

I'll sometimes check to see if there's discussion by people using the project on Reddit too.

[u/TheOnionBro → u/[deleted]]

"I use AI to tell me if code to remove AI is safe."

-a fool

[u/AlarmedYogurtcloset3 → u/[deleted]]

If it’s the comment I’m seeing, “ask Copilot” was definitely intended as a joke

[u/TheOnionBro → u/[deleted]]

It got upvotes because it was an obvious joke.

[u/BioshockEnthusiast → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

"I look at the stars" I 100% expected a joke about horoscopes and alchemical mixtures being used to divine the future lol

[u/AnarchBeetle → u/BioshockEnthusiast]

“I look at the entrails of a pigeon to divine if my pc will shit itself and I sacrifice cattle to Windows Defender whenever I torrent something” this would still be an upgrade over how some of my friends treat their pcs

[u/iUndef → u/BioshockEnthusiast]

It sucks when you want to check the authenticity of some software but you live in a city with bad light pollution 😞

[u/N7Shep1701D → u/BioshockEnthusiast]

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first Law of Equivalent Exchange.

[u/showraniy → u/N7Shep1701D]

Comments I can hear

[u/nanotree → u/Andrewsarchus]

You could always ask Copilot 😆

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/nanotree]

Oooh that's a GREAT idea! 😂

[u/DoubleExposure → u/nanotree]

I did, it told me to install Linux.

[u/Dr-Purple → u/nanotree]

Oh man, I don’t like copilot but that is just evil.

[u/DomainFurry → u/Andrewsarchus]

You can read the script if you know PowerShell.. I use it at work it's not too crazy removes a bunch of preinstalled apps and disables telemetry and a few other bad things like fast startup.

[u/bogglingsnog → u/DomainFurry]

fast startup is such a useless feature in the era of M.2 SSD's!

[u/YouKilledApollo → u/bogglingsnog]

Or TRX50 boards that takes minutes to boot regardless of what you do, might as well stream my OS boot from Kazakhstan via modem.

[u/HistoricalFunion → u/Andrewsarchus]

Claude code is the best to do that

Hey Claude, can you check to make sure there isn't anything bad or malicious in this github source I downloaded?

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/Andrewsarchus]

VirusTotal and check the rules and virtual machine behavior.

[u/Zan_in_NZ → u/Andrewsarchus]

well just do the standard stuff you would to try to confirm anything you are downloading , use google . you tube , reddit, and AI to learn more about reputation of the program you are trying to grab from github. once you have visited enough of the regular sources you should see if they are directing you to the same link that is the correct program and that they feel its safe enough to risk a download. the link posted above looks like the correct one to me , but its always good to have a look around first to double check. e.g some one could upload ''wwin11debloat ''but use two ww's in the title to fool you etc.

[u/Anarchistcowboy420 → u/Andrewsarchus]

Typically by reading the code. You can also download binaries (.Exe, .Apk) and upload them into virus total, or just paste the github link into chatgpt.

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/Anarchistcowboy420]

The last time I looked at any code was early 2000s Java, I guess CGBT is the best bet for me then. So I would just send the link to chatgpt and ask if any code is malicious? Thats crazy!

[u/Anarchistcowboy420 → u/Andrewsarchus]

Yeah ai is pretty good with code.

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/Anarchistcowboy420]

Neat! I'll try that out!

[u/Demons0fRazgriz → u/Andrewsarchus]

I hate it but they're right. Latest iterations of Claude are really good at coding. At least the version we pay for at work

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/Demons0fRazgriz]

Is Claude the butthole logo one?

[u/zerogee616 → u/Anarchistcowboy420]

therestofthefuckingowl.jpg

If you can read the code, you're not going to Reddit asking how to tell if the code is malicious.

[u/sdpr → u/Andrewsarchus]

If it's a language I don't understand or has a lot of stuff, I ask Claude if there's anything malicious written in it.

Yes, I understand the irony of saying this.

[u/LawDouble6173 → u/Andrewsarchus]

Wow, all the answers to your question are ass.

Here's what you do:

• If it's a big project...

Don't.

If you're asking these questions, just do not fuck with it. Github is a metaphorical gun and you have metaphorical toddler-brain. Don't fuck with the gun until you grow up and can handle it safely.

• If it's a small project...

You can often search for website URL prefixes.

ctrl+f -> "http"

ctrl+f -> "://"

---

For a tool like "windows debloat" it should be pretty intuitive* that... if there's a single URL in the entire thing... you shouldn't trust it.

*Why the fuck would "Remove shit from my PC" need the internet?

[u/Andrewsarchus → u/LawDouble6173]

I like to think of my brain as geriatric and addled rather than toddleresque, as only the latter has room for growth and maturity

Ctrl+F "virus install"

[u/LawDouble6173 → u/Andrewsarchus]

...yea, can relate.

The never ending treadmill of "new shit I need to know" is becoming less treadmill, and more belt sander.

[u/mynotell → u/Andrewsarchus]

read through the code

[u/beanmosheen → u/Andrewsarchus]

At this point, I am seriously pushing to my manager that Lifecycle Management may actually be a negative at this point. My argument is that in the past, for the most part, an OS upgrade was to get the latest patches, features, and functionalities in a modern scope.

These days, it's just "buy our new shit full of revenue stream based SaaS, or you don't get patches loser!" Fuck that noise. We're starting to move over to LXCs as much as possible now. I am weary of "random scripts", but also, I don't trust MS as far as I can fucking throw them these days. They flat out suck ass as a software company.

[u/Nubanuba → u/Andrewsarchus]

Fork the code to yourself and ask Claude to look for possible malicious lines, there aren't any but if you wanna test it yourself, do it

[u/zomgieee → u/Andrewsarchus]

verify it with AI

(im kidding. I just enjoy circular arguments..)

[u/PrivilegeCheckmate → u/Andrewsarchus]

Install it in a virtual machine for a few sessions first.

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

I wonder how many game functions this breaks. I tried a debloated version of windows and it completely broke alt-tabbing.

[u/Some1ToDisagreeWith → u/NapsterKnowHow]

I've been using it for a little bit, I haven't had an issue. But it does make a restore point if things get weird.

[u/D0TC → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

Just get your hands on a copy of Windows 11 NE.

[u/amarx93 → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

Commenting to grab that for use later TYVM.

[u/flyby2412 → u/Some1ToDisagreeWith]

Any chance did you ever use one for windows 10?

[u/Some1ToDisagreeWith → u/flyby2412]

I have not.

[u/gamerrominc → u/Itchy-Ambition-1171]

I used ntlite to make it a.policy but I also used Tiny11 as a base to make edits so. I can add 26H2 and disabled the.ai via in it that what I do so when I install windows all that stuff can't get enabled even through updates, you can create group policies for your PC already but I find using ntlite to do it is much easier

[u/Disastrous_Olive_920 → u/Itchy-Ambition-1171]

you can use this too: O&O ShutUp10, very easy to make tweaks with to disable whichever unnecessary components you don't like (with recommendations and warnings and such)

[u/gamerrominc → u/Disastrous_Olive_920]

That's a good tool.i used it at some point but if not careful you can accidentally disable something that can break updates or important functionality you may use often for me I disabled something in the past the disabled the clip board functionality it edge

[u/aVarangian → u/Itchy-Ambition-1171]

Group Policy Editor

[u/whatThePleb → u/Itchy-Ambition-1171]

install Linux

[u/Business-Bad-1546 → u/gamerrominc]

Amaze amaze amaze

[u/arex333 → u/Business-Bad-1546]

👎

[u/asodfhgiqowgrq2piwhy → u/gamerrominc]

I installed the IoT LTSC version of Win11 so I don't have to do any of this in the first place.

I COULD switch to Linux, but I don't want to.

[u/Jivsy → u/asodfhgiqowgrq2piwhy]

People will jump through all kinda hoops to get Windows in an acceptable state but not wanting to switch/learn to Linux.

[u/asodfhgiqowgrq2piwhy → u/Jivsy]

I run Linux on multiple laptops.

I have zero desire to use Linux as a daily driver.

[u/IHateFACSCantos → u/Jivsy]

I gave Linux a shot for the same reason, I was impressed with it but there are just reasons why it's not right for my use case. I arrived at IoT LTSC like comment OP did too and it is pretty reliable. To date there is no trace of Copilot whatsoever.

[u/Notorious-ly → u/Jivsy]

People jump through hoops to use the operating system they've always used but I can't believe they won't jump through hoops to learn something completely new

[u/gamerrominc → u/asodfhgiqowgrq2piwhy]

LTSC is nice but you also run a HIGH RISK of Windows update bricking itself because LTSC is like the testing branch of their OS most issues on windows are reported by users are users on LTSC versions

[u/EdKaval → u/gamerrominc]

LTSC is literally the opposite of what you just described. It's the most stable release of Windows.

[u/NvidiaFuckboy → u/gamerrominc]

try reading https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/ltsc/overview

[u/IHateFACSCantos → u/gamerrominc]

I think you may have confused it with Insider Preview

[u/TheSadman13 → u/gamerrominc]

is this a W11-slop thing or do you have to be worried on W10 and older too?

I'm only asking because these "features" don't ask for permission/opt-in, so no way of knowing who's affected

[u/Novotus_Ketevor → u/gamerrominc]

I have a Copilot+PC because I wanted an ultralight PC with 5G and all day battery life. They wanted me to get a Copilot+PC to use AI.

Jokes on them because I stripped out all their telemetry and AI. Now the device is basically just a Moonlight client to access my gaming PC and workstations.

[u/DoctorWaluigiTime → u/gamerrominc]

Me too, but this article is clickbait garbage.

Microsoft hasn’t shared what that feedback was but going by how people react every time Copilot shows up somewhere new in Windows 11, I can make a guess.

So the title of the article isn't factual or sourced (most, who just read titles, will assume it because it's in quotes). Is it true? Maybe! But it's just one person's guess and hot take, and they spend paragraphs iterating the same single point over and over.

The actual announcement contains no such reporting of user feedback. Just a few bullet points. The only one salient to this "Microsoft Bad" clickbait is:

As we implement these changes, we're temporarily disabling Ask Copilot on the taskbar to update the new experience and incorporate your feedback.

[u/GrafDracul → u/gamerrominc]

I disabled Windows and moved to Macos for work and Linux for gaming. I see Apple is also slowly starting to push AI slop but not at the rate as Microslop did it and not so obnoxious.

[u/AppropriateTouching → u/gamerrominc]

Same, it takes a little bit of work to root it out but man is it worth the time.

[u/i_rate_slop → u/gamerrominc]

Can you quantify that?

[u/LordBrandon → u/gamerrominc]

Something that should be a simple setting in the control panel.

[u/Kos_al_Ghul → u/gamerrominc]

How can I do this on my home system? W11 enterprise.

[u/burninmedia → u/gamerrominc]

I changed to a Mac after the no local admin only account and copilot being forced on me. I wanted to use OpenClaw on my 15 year old laptop when it updated window and forced CoPilot. I was like WTF and immediately installed Ubuntu. And I've been a long time Apple hater so that one surprised me too.

[u/Jaz1140 → u/gamerrominc]

I did it with Rufus windows install and yeh it's noticeably faster

[u/frostN0VA → u/gamerrominc]

and my PC runs faster now

And... do you have some actual benchmark numbers for that?

I'm not trying to single you out but whenever someone "debloats" their Windows installation or Nvidia drivers and claims that their PC/games now run faster, they never provide any before and after benchmarks.

[u/Penakoto → u/frostN0VA]

Nobody does it because nobody wants to do it, they just want their PC to run better.

It's extra work added to an already annoying/frustrating process.

Best you'll get from the vast majority of people is the steps they took to get to better performance, which you're free to replicate yourself if the hard numbers matter so much to you.

[u/frostN0VA → u/Penakoto]

I've tried installing "debloated" Nvidia drivers once for a test - I saw zero difference in performance.

I also haven't seen any actual comparisons from credible tech channels on this topic. I'm not talking about the edge cases of specific slimmed down version of Windows that are meant to be run on low RAM machines, but like normal debloating like what OP says with disabling AI features, or people who use OOShutUp and similar utilities.

Any time a debloating conversation comes up it's always "it runs better now" without any actual and factual before and after numbers. And honestly "nobody wants to do it" sounds like a cop out to me. Like what, not a single person ever did a factual before and after comparison?

All you're really getting from debloating drivers or Windows is less telemetry and that's it.

[u/Penakoto → u/frostN0VA]

I've tried installing "debloated" Nvidia drivers once for a test - I saw zero difference in performance.

Do you have benchmark numbers for this? Or did you just do it, feel the (lack of difference) and go "I guess it doesn't work", like most people do when they're trying to improve general PC performance.

[u/frostN0VA → u/Penakoto]

I did this over a year ago so no, I don't have them anymore. And yes, I did a before and after benches to compare, that was the whole reason why I tested the debloated drivers.

[u/artificialpolymer → u/frostN0VA]

I think people too often go into a craze about "optimizing their system". Like, if you think about it for longer than 2 seconds, the whole thing makes zero sense.

Do people genuinely think NVIDIA has some super evil toggle that's like, "Actually, we'll lower the performance by 20 fps, just because"? Or some insanely well-hidden Windows toggle that magically gives you life-changing performance? It's just nonsense. The software and drivers are generally written to get the most performance possible already.

It's the same thing with games and those stupid modder optimization config files that do nothing. There's no magical config file that improves performance without a single downside. If there was, the game developers or the engine developers would've already made it the default. The funniest case was probably 5-6 years back, when some config optimization mod for some game came out, and everyone was praising it. Then it turns out the game didn't even take the config file into account, so nothing changed.

It's just overall some bonkers conspiracy, as if the companies would purposefully want to hamper their products and not make a massive marketing deal about how they're much faster than their competitors. I've also recently seen "PC optimization services", where somebody connects over a call and "optimizes your PC". It's all just such nonsense and plays into people's lack of knowledge. Blind leading the blind, basically.

[u/Penakoto → u/artificialpolymer]

Do people genuinely think NVIDIA has some super evil toggle that's like, "Actually, we'll lower the performance by 20 fps, just because"?

Nobody thinks this.

What people think is that it's negligence, or incompetence, or the company being out of touch.

People think that Nvidia (and Microsoft, Intel, AMD, etc.) are either careless with their implementation of new features/updates/drivers, or they're implementing features that they think people will want, but don't (see: everything AI related, or "the cloud"), and sometimes it's both like with new overlays, or everyone adding their own video capturing feature, or again anything to do with AI.

And in my experience, they're right, half of my issues with game performance these days are fixed by turning off some new feature, rolling back to old drivers, or uninstalling something Microsoft quietly added in an update.

edit:

And yes I acknowledge that there's plenty of "Snake Oil" solutions out there, but I personally had a stuttering problem with my PC that only went away after I went through a list of things to turn off for potentially better performance; The stutter was bad enough that it was impossible to be just my imagination, and it was effecting every game I played, so it wasn't an isolated thing either.

[u/frostN0VA → u/artificialpolymer]

Exactly. You'd think a subreddit called PC MASTERRACE would have some common sense on snake oil topics but look at this conversation branch - no benchmarks and just downvotes.

Like I said, I get that there are edge cases where your PC is a literal potato so disabling a couple of services will free up a bit of RAM. Or that you get less telemetry phoning home. But for majority of people these debloaters are just that - snake oil, unless we're speaking telemetry.

And yeah as you said about this "PC optimization services", it's the funniest thing ever. Very popular in competitive shooters/esports communities for whatever reason. Well I guess the reason is that professional esports players only know how to click heads and don't even know how to enable XMP in BIOS.

[u/Carvj94 → u/frostN0VA]

If we're talking about the "AI" specifically it would be 0% Improvement to disable it because the "AI" doesn't do anything if you don't use. So at best they're freeing up megabytes of low priority memory and megabytes of hard drive space.

[u/Capable-Sky-8995 → u/gamerrominc]

Joke's on you: but you're still using Windows.

Once you're using it, you're inside their ecosystem and they own your ass.