Microsoft Edge is quietly adding a Copilot app to Windows machines, including Windows Server 2022. Previously, a full-fledged Copilot was added to Windows Server 2025 preview builds, but Microsoft pulled the AI feature. Now, folks on Windows Server 2022 have noticed a new “Microsoft Copilot” app quietly installed on their devices.
So what’s going on? In our tests, Windows Latest observed that Microsoft Edge 123 adds “Microsoft Copilot” to all installations and editions of Windows, including “Windows Server 2022”. Microsoft isn’t adding the full-fledged Copilot to Windows Server 2022, but it has added one of the web-based shortcuts responsible for some upcoming features.
The upcoming features could be “chat provider” and new AI skills, such as opening Windows Settings or moving files using AI. These features are not intended for Windows Server, but you’ll still find a new app called “Microsoft Copilot” under the Apps & Features page of Windows 10 and “installed apps” in Windows 11.
You can remove the app if you’re in Europe, but the option is greyed out in other regions. It is only 8 KB in size, while the same app on consumer editions (Windows 11 and 10) is 16 KB.
Many users wondered what an app like Copilot was doing on a Windows Server PC. It is of absolutely no use to anyone on a Windows Server machine. It doesn’t appear on the taskbar, Windows Search, or Start menu. You’ll only find it in the installed apps section of Windows.
Microsoft told Windows Latest that the Copilot app is added using Microsoft Edge, so if the app is installed on your device, it’s likely you’ve updated Edge to v123 or newer. Windows Latest was told that the Copilot app showing up on the Windows Server is a mistake, not an intended behaviour.
Edge 123.0.2420.65 installs an MSIX package called “Chat provider for Copilot in Windows” on Windows. The package is listed as the “Microsoft Copilot” app in the Installed Apps page of Settings.
Microsoft has been working on a “Chat provider” setting for a while now. It will let you switch between the other AI models or search engines in Europe, and it was created as part of the company’s efforts to meet the EU’s DMA guidelines.
However, the package isn’t intended for Windows Server or some other editions, and Edge accidentally added it.
“This package is intended to prepare some Windows devices for future Windows Copilot enablement and is 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,” Microsoft told us.
How to disable the “Microsoft Copilot” app on Windows Server
Fortunately, you can disable the newest entry of bloatware from Microsoft by configuring a Group Policy in Windows Server 2022.
To disable it, navigate to the User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Copilot > Turn off Windows Copilot policy.
In our tests, we observed that the package does nothing on Windows Server or other devices, and it seems to have been added by mistake.
Windows Latest previously reported about this tiny Copilot app “sneaking” into the operating system. On consumer editions, Microsoft doesn’t recommend removing it because it will enable some AI features in the future. However, you can remove the app on Windows Server if you have the option.
A future update for Edge will automatically remove the package.
2024 will be the year of AI PCs
Copilot could become a moneymaker in the long run, and Microsoft is now all in on the AI trend. After integrating AI into Bing and Windows, it wants to create a new breed of AI PCs.
Copilot is omnipresent in Windows 11, the Edge browser, and the Taskbar. But Microsoft wants to take it a step further!
Apart from the usual software-based AI features like changing settings and analyzing and summarising data and images, more features will work natively. Upcoming Windows features like AI Explorer will need an NPU, the USP of the forthcoming AI PCs.
Microsoft even added a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard to make the AI PCs stand out.
