Mar 18, 2025 13:00:00

Microsoft's AI 'Copilot' accidentally deleted in Windows 11 update

The monthly

Windows Update took place on March 11, 2025. Microsoft's support document reports that Copilot , Microsoft's AI assistant, was removed from some PCs when updating to Windows 11.

March 11, 2025—KB5053598 (OS Build 26100.3476) - Microsoft Support
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/march-11-2025-kb5053598-os-build-26100-3476-a248e951-daef-43ad-aa10-0b99f551cec2

Windows 11 updates are accidentally getting rid of Copilot, at least for now - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/this-months-windows-updates-are-removing-the-copilot-app-accidentally/

Copilot is a search engine chatbot developed by Microsoft using OpenAI's GPT, and was called '

Bing Chat ' until November 2023. Copilot will be installed as standard on new installations of Windows 11 from mid-2023 onwards, and in January 2024, a new key, the 'Copilot key,' will appear on standard PC keyboards for the first time in 30 years.

Microsoft to add new key to standard PC keyboard for the first time in 30 years, 'Copilot' key to access generative AI tool appears - GIGAZINE

The actual keyboard looks like this. Below is the ' VAIO SX14-R ' released by VAIO in November 2024.

Copilot is so important to Microsoft that it even changes the physical keys, but it has been reported that it has been uninstalled from some PCs following the Windows Update in March 2025. On the affected PCs, even if Copilot was pinned to the taskbar, it is unpinned and cannot be accessed.

At the time of writing, Microsoft stated in a support document that 'Microsoft is working on a solution to address this issue.' According to Microsoft, if you are unable to use Copilot due to an update, you can reinstall Copilot from the Microsoft Store and use it without any problems.