De-Enshittify Windows 11: Microsoft Copilot and AI ⭐

Note: This is an early peek at a chapter from my next book, De-Enshittify Windows 11. This book will be available for purchase soon. –Paul

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Windows 11 was born in enshittification, but the rise of Copilot and Microsoft’s AI ambitions has only made matters worse.

The problems here are many, but key among them are the speed at which AI moves, in this case driving constant change in Windows 11, and how we as users and customers can separate the good from the bad. Though many have a visceral reaction to AI for whatever reasons, there are truly useful AI-based features in Windows 11. And some that are not so useful, of course.

? The problems with Copilot and AI in Windows 11

When Microsoft first announced Windows 11 in mid-2021, it seemed that the company was going to reverse one of the more controversial examples of enshittification in Windows 10 by switching from a biannual feature update—that is, a major version upgrade—schedule to releasing just one feature update each year. Windows 11 would also continue to receive monthly security updates, which seemed reasonable.

But it was lie. Yes, Microsoft would technically only issue one feature update each year, but it would also deliver new features to Windows 11 every single month via a rebranding of Windows as a Service (WaaS) as “continuous innovation”. This allowed Microsoft to escalate the introduction of new features dramatically while eroding the quality of the platform and leading to monthly chaos.

And then it got worse.

In early 2023, Microsoft triggered the AI era when it announced what would later be called Copilot in a special event that February. This was a major new strategy for the company and a fundamental shift from its previous focus on cloud computing. Windows, like the rest of Microsoft, would need to get on board. Among other things, it planned to integrate a Copilot app in Windows 11 that would debut in that year’s feature update, called Windows 11 version 23H2.

Microsoft needed to get Copilot deeply embedded across its ecosystem as quickly as possible, but it faced one major logistical hurdle: The enterprise customers who represent the majority of the Windows userbase demand and are given more lenient upgrade policies which allow them, among other things, to delay or even skip feature updates. And it was clear that these customers would simply skip Windows 11 version 23H2, delaying the deployment of Copilot in Windows 11 for most customers for at least a year.

Given the speed at which AI moves and the rapid gains made by the competition, Microsoft couldn’t afford that delay. And so it did something unprecedented in the history of Windows: It shipped almost all the new features in Windows 11 version 23H2 in a normal monthly security update for Windows 11 versions 21H2 and 22H2 one month ahead of the release of that feature update. This meant that all customers, including those in the enterprise that would delay or skip 23H2, got the integrated Copilot app and related features whether they wanted them or not. This is a textbook example of enshittification in which Microsoft’s needs usurped its business customers’ needs.

Microsoft’s strategy shift marked two other important changes that persist to this day.

First, the quality of these monthly “security” updates declined yet again, with Microsoft rushing to put more and more AI-based features in Windows 11 every single month. Microsoft briefly marketed them as “Moments,” as if this was a positive development customers would want. But when those moments became overly negative because of the lack of quality and all too frequent because of the monthly cadence, that came to a close.

Second, Microsoft slyly overcame another blocker tied to the desires of its enterprise customers to delay feature and security updates as long as possible. With this shift, it began making each supported Windows 11 version functionally identical. So enterprises could stick to whatever version of Windows 11 they preferred, but it wouldn’t matter because they would still get the same new features every single month that Microsoft was delivering to a newer version of Windows 11 too. On paper, Microsoft was doing what its enterprise customers asked for—fewer updates—but in reality, it was the reverse: They could stay on an older Windows 11 version, but they were getting new features every month. What’s in a name?

And then, incredibly, it got even worse.

In mid-2024, Microsoft announced its Copilot+ PC initiative. This represented another new escalation of feature delivery via a new type of computer. Copilot+ PCs would get exclusive AI-based features that were artificially constrained to work on the NPU, or neural processing unit, that they contained. These also tend to be premium PCs with higher than average price tags, and this was an attempt to revive PC sales during the post-pandemic sales lull. But this created yet another strange and artificial bifurcation of features: In addition to Windows 11 Pro, which offers some features not found in Windows 11 Home, PC makers were now offering Copilot+ PCs that offer some features not found in other PCs running Windows 11 Home or Pro.

If that was Microsoft’s only sin with Copilot+ PC, it would barely warrant a mention here. But Copilot+ PC triggered the most controversial episode of Microsoft’s AI era so far: It would ship with a feature called Recall that critics believed would be a privacy and security nightmare despite the impressive protections built in to the platform. The resulting outcry from customers and so-called security experts, none of whom even owned a Copilot+ PC, was over the top, wrong-headed, and simply wrong. But it was enough to delay the release of Recall by several months.

The privacy and security issues with Recall were imaginary, making those complaints ridiculous. But this episode clearly demonstrated that customers were tired of Microsoft jamming Copilot and other AI features down their collective throats via forced monthly updates—sorry, “continuous innovation”—and that Microsoft’s hubris was a big part of the problem. Somehow, incredibly, the software giant never saw the tsunami of hate coming despite everything it had done to enshittify Windows 11.

The Recall incident did have one positive outcome, thankfully. Originally, Recall was going to be auto-enabled for customers who bought a new Copilot+ PC and customers who didn’t want it could later opt-out. But thanks to the outcry, Microsoft made Recall opt-in. This is clearly the right approach for any powerful AI feature that works with your personal data, and at the time of this writing, it appears that Microsoft finally got the message: It appears that future similar AI-based features in Windows 11, Copilot+ PC or not, will likewise be opt-in and not opt-out.

No one can predict the future, but hopefully Microsoft will now take a kinder, gentler approach to introducing Copilot and other AI features in Windows 11. But for now, you have this chapter so you can learn what you can do with the Copilot and AI features in Windows 11 that we’re stuck with today.

? Automate the removal of the AI features in Windows 11?

Ideally, I could recommend a single utility that would present a list of AI apps and features built into Windows 11 and allow you to bulk uninstall those you don’t want. But that utility does not exist. Yes, there are many utilities that can clean or “debloat” Windows 11 and, yes, some of them specifically target AI. But none are complete. Indeed, none come even close.

Part of the problem, I suspect, is that AI—and Microsoft’s rollout of AI functionality in Windows 11—is simply moving too quickly for utility writers to keep up. But whatever the reason, it’s only a matter of time before one or more utilities rise to this challenge.

For now, I can recommend Win11Debloat as a partial solution for those who wish to bulk remove Copilot and several other AI features.

➡️ Learn more: Win11Debloat is central to the clean installation process discussed in De-Enshittify an Existing Install of Windows 11.

To use Win11Debloat to automate the removal of some AI features in Windows 11, visit its home page on GitHub, where you will find the following URL for its underlying PowerShell script. Open a Terminal window with administrator privileges and enter the following:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm “https://debloat.raphi.re/”)))

When the Win11Debloat app runs, choose “Custom Setup.” Then, you can do the following:

App Removal. In this view, you can uninstall the Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot apps, though the latter is identified as “Office Hub.”

System Tweaks. In this view, you can remove Microsoft Copilot, Recall (Copilot+ PC only), Click to Do and the underlying text and image manipulation services (Copilot+ PC only), the AI features in Microsoft Edge, (some) AI features in Paint, and the AI features in Notepad.

This is a partial accounting of the AI features in Windows 11. In the sections to follow, you will learn how to remove these and other Windows 11 AI features using the tools and interfaces built in to the system itself.

? Remove Microsoft Copilot and other AI features in Windows 11

When it comes to uninstalling or disabling Copilot and the other AI features in Windows 11 I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that most of it can be removed, some of it quite easily. The bad news is that doing so requires some time and work on your part, especially if the goal is a full exorcism.

In the following sections, the phrase “uninstall normally” refers to the traditional way of uninstalling any app in Windows 11. That is, you can:

• Right-click it in Start and choose “Uninstall.”
• Open the Settings app, navigate to Apps > Installed apps, locate the app in the list, choose its “More options” (“…”) link, and then click “Uninstall.”

Remove Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft bundles a Copilot app in Windows 11 to drive adoption of its AI chatbot and related services.

? The enshittification: Most users prefer a third-party AI chat like Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, or OpenAI ChatGPT, so Copilot is superfluous and unnecessary.

? The solution: You can uninstall Copilot normally.

Remove Microsoft 365 Copilot

On business-class PCs, Microsoft sometimes bundles a Microsoft 365 Copilot app instead of the consumer-focused consumer app in Windows 11, and for the same reasons.

? The enshittification: Few individuals would ever want or need this app.

? The solution: You can uninstall Microsoft 365 Copilot normally.

Remove Recall

Recall triggered a lot of controversy when it was introduced as the key new feature exclusive to Copilot+ PCs in mid-2024, but there’s nothing controversial about it. When enabled, Recall records snapshots—i.e. screenshots—of your activities on the PC and then lets you navigate back in time later to find something you did. These snapshots are stored locally on your PC in a secure enclave separated from the rest of the system and are protected by the unique security capabilities in Copilot+ PCs.

⛔ The problem: You don’t want to use Recall.

? A workaround: When you bring up a Copilot+ PC for the first time, Windows Setup will prompt you to enable Recall. But, as noted, this feature is optional, and you can simply choose “No, don’t save” and skip right by this step.

? A workaround: If you enabled Recall and wish to now disable this feature, doing so is easy enough: Open the Settings app, navigate to Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots, and configure “Save snapshots” to “Off.” Then, expand “Delete snapshots” and click “Delete all” if you want to remove all the saved snapshots from your PC.

? The solution: Windows 11 lets you fully remove Recall, but not via the normal methods. Instead, you open the Windows Features app (use Start search to find it), locate and uncheck “Recall,” and then click “OK” and reboot the PC.

Remove Click to Do, AI text and image analysis

Click to Do has emerged as the single best feature unique to Copilot+ PCs: It uses visual intelligence to analyze the text and graphics you see on-screen in Windows 11 and in any apps.

Given its usefulness, I don’t recommend removing Click to Do.

⛔ The problem: You don’t want to use Click to Do.

? A workaround: Windows 11 lets you disable Click to Do, but not via the normal methods. Instead, open the Settings app, navigate to Privacy & security > Click to Do (under Windows permissions), and configure Click to Do to “Off.”

Remove Copilot and other AI features in Microsoft Edge

It shouldn’t be surprising that Microsoft is building extensive AI capabilities into its Microsoft Edge web browser. Equally unsurprising, many people don’t want that.

? The enshittification: For the same reasons noted above with Microsoft Copilot in Windows 11, most people prefer and use other AI chatbots, making the built-in AI functionality in Microsoft Edge more of a distraction than useful.

? A workaround: You can remove Copilot and other AI features from Microsoft Edge manually, it’s just a bit tedious: In Edge settings, you will basically disable every relevant option in Appearance > Copilot and sidebar, Appearance > Copilot and sidebar > App specific settings > Copilot, and in AI innovations.

✅ Tip: A better approach? Use Win11Debloat to uninstall Microsoft Edge.

Remove (none of) the AI features in Photos

Microsoft has predictably added several AI-based photo editing features to the Photos app that comes with Windows 11, including a few that are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. To my mind, these features are mostly useful and I can see no reason to try to remove them.

⛔ The problem: Some people do not want AI-powered photo editing features in the Photos app.

? A workaround: There is no way to remove the AI-powered features in Photos. So your only recourse is to use a different app for editing photos. Or just ignore them. Better yet, give them a try, most of them are of high quality.

Remove (some of) the AI features in Paint

Microsoft has been building out new features in the in-box Paint app for the past few years, some based on AI and some not, and while some of them are stinkers, most of them are quite useful. Because this is all or nothing configuration, I do not recommend disabling any AI features in Paint.

Confusing matters, the AI features you see in Paint will vary by PC. All PCs will see features like Image Creator, Generative erase, and Remove background, and those with a Copilot+ PC will also see additional features powered by local AI, like Cocreator, Object Select, and Sticker Generator.

⛔ The problem: Some people don’t want the AI features in Microsoft Edge, which can be found under the Copilot item in the app’s ribbon-like toolbar.

? A workaround: There is no way to remove any of the AI features in Paint user the app or Windows 11. Instead, you will need to use a third-party utility, like Win11Debloat, which will only remove some of these features. Or you can edit the Registry if you feel you’re up to that; this will also work for only some of the features.

Remove the AI features in Notepad

As with Paint, Microsoft has dramatically improved Notepad in recent years by modernizing the user interface and adding support for tabs and multiple documents, Markdown “light formatting,” and, of course, AI-based writing tools. I do not recommend removing the AI features from Notepad.

⛔ The problem: Some people don’t want the Copilot-based writing assistance tools in Notepad.

? A workaround: You can easily disable all the AI features in Notepad by opening the app’s settings interface, scrolling down to AI Features and configuring “Copilot” to “Off.”

Remove AI actions

Microsoft is integrating AI capabilities in individual apps directly into the system so that you can access them by right-clicking a document or other file in File Explorer and choosing from the options in an AI actions context menu.

⛔ The problem: Some people don’t want AI actions integrated into File Explorer.

? A workaround: You can disable individual AI actions in the Settings app, and this will remove those items from that context menu: Navigate to Apps > Actions and uncheck the apps whose actions you would like removed. Note, however, that the AI actions menu will remain but appear empty if you disable all available AI actions. Microsoft will fix this problem in a future update to Windows 11.