Microsoft shoots itself in the foot: Windows update uninstalls Copilot

Last week’s March update for Windows 11 24H2 was already causing problems for users, but now it appears to be a headache for Microsoft itself… because it’s inadvertently uninstalling the Copilot AI assistant that the company has been pushing over the past few years.

According to Windows Latest, an unexpected bug has crept into the update that causes the Copilot app to be uninstalled on some devices and unpinned from the taskbar. The problem occurs with updates KB5053598 (Windows 11 24H2) and KB5053602 (Windows 11 23H2) as well as KB5053606 (Windows 10 22H2).

Microsoft has confirmed the bug, updated the respective release notes accordingly, and is already working on a solution.

What can you do?

Until Microsoft fixes the issue, you can manually reinstall the Copilot app from the Microsoft Store and pin it to the taskbar again. Incidentally, Copilot for Microsoft 365 isn’t affected by the bug.

Other problems with the update

It was previously reported that the March update for Windows 11 24H2 PCs is riddled with issues, with users getting unexpected BSOD errors (Blue Screen of Death), crashing SSDs, and errors with Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). See more in our coverage of that problematic update.

Problems with Remote Desktop were previously reported back in October 2024 when Microsoft first released Windows 11 24H2. According to Windows Latest, this month’s recent update has probably made those problems worse. Microsoft is currently investigating.

Further reading: How to roll back a problematic Windows update