How to remove the Copilot icon from the Windows 11 taskbar
Windows 11 pins Microsoft's Copilot assistant to the taskbar, and a Windows update can put it back after you've taken it off. On current versions Copilot is an ordinary app, so the icon comes off the same way as any other pinned app. This guide covers that, what to do if your PC shows a settings switch instead, and how to uninstall the app if you'd rather it wasn't there at all.
What you'll need: A PC running Windows 11. Unpinning doesn't need an administrator account. Uninstalling the app, covered under Variations, may ask for one.
Find the Copilot icon on the taskbar
Look along the taskbar at the bottom of the screen for the Copilot icon: a small multicoloured ribbon shape, usually sitting next to the other pinned apps. Rest the mouse pointer on it and a label reading Copilot appears, so you can be sure you have the right one.
Right-click the icon
Right-click the Copilot icon. A short menu appears above it. On a laptop with no right mouse button, tap the touchpad with two fingers instead.
Click Unpin from taskbar
Click Unpin from taskbar. The icon disappears straight away and the other icons close up to fill the gap.
Copilot is still installed. It's gone from the taskbar, but you can still open it from the Start menu or by typing Copilot into the search box, and a Copilot key on the keyboard still opens it. To take it off the PC altogether, see Uninstall the Copilot app under Variations.
Variations
Hold down the Windows key and press I to open Settings. Click Apps, then Installed apps. Type Copilot into the search box at the top of the list. Click the three dots to the right of the Copilot entry, click Uninstall, then click Uninstall again to confirm.
This removes the app, its taskbar icon and its Start menu entry. It doesn't remove Copilot from other Microsoft products that have their own built-in version, such as Edge, Notepad, Paint or the Microsoft 365 apps. Each of those has its own setting. The Copilot app itself can be reinstalled from the Microsoft Store if you change your mind.
Many laptops sold since 2024 have a dedicated Copilot key where the right-hand Ctrl or Menu key used to be. Unpinning the icon doesn't change the key. To repurpose it, open Settings, click Personalisation, then Text input, and find Customise Copilot key on keyboard. The drop-down offers Search, Copilot and Custom, where Custom lets you pick one of a limited set of installed apps.
The setting is only shown on PCs whose keyboard has the key, and there's no option to make it do nothing.
Click Start, type Copilot, right-click the Copilot result and click Pin to taskbar. If the app was uninstalled, install it again from the Microsoft Store first.
Troubleshooting
Earlier Windows 11 releases treated Copilot as a built-in taskbar button rather than a pinned app. Hold down the Windows key and press I, click Personalisation, then Taskbar. Under Taskbar items, if there is a Copilot switch, click it so it reads Off. If there's no switch there either, check whether Windows is up to date, as the current version uses the pinned-app method in the steps above.
Microsoft has pinned Copilot again as part of feature updates more than once, and it may happen again. Unpin it the same way. If it keeps returning and you don't use Copilot, uninstalling the app (see Variations) is the more lasting fix, although an update can also reinstall the app.
Unpinning only affects the taskbar. Copilot's own entry in the Start menu, and the Ask Copilot prompt some versions show in Windows search, stay until the app is uninstalled. Copilot built into Edge, Notepad, Paint and Office apps is separate again and isn't touched by any of this.
On a work or school PC, the organisation may have blocked removing the app, or removed it already. Settings usually shows a line saying some settings are managed by your organisation. Ask whoever manages the device rather than looking for a workaround.
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