Last week, Microsoft revealed that it started to push its AI Microsoft Copilot to more Windows 10 and 11 devices. The feature, still in preview at the time of writing, shows up as an icon on the Windows taskbar.
The tool is enabled on Windows 11 version 23H2 devices by default and disabled on Windows 11 version 22H2 devices.
Eagle-eyed users over at Deskmodder discovered that Microsoft is also pushing the Microsoft Copilot application on Windows 11 devices. This new app does not power the actual Copilot functionality at this point, apparently.
A quick check on a test system did not reveal the app initially. It did appear, however, after Microsoft Edge was updated to the latest version on the system.
Microsoft Copilot app
The best way to check if the app is installed is the following one:
- Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps.
- Change the sort order to "Date installed" or type Copilot into the search field.
- If you see Microsoft Copilot listed, it is installed.
Note that you may use the uninstall option to remove it again from the system. A click on "advanced options" reveals some details. The app's version is 1.0.3.0 and the site is 0 bytes at the time.
This suggests that it is a placeholder app that has no functionality of its own at the time. Deskmodder dug even deeper and discovered that a few files were associated with the app, including app icons. It is unclear if the state depends on the user's region or if Microsoft is rolling out the placeholder app to all devices to update it at a later point in time.
Deskmodder also discovered that the application's AppxManifest.xml included another interesting tidbit. The manifest sets compatibility for the app among other things. The minimum version is listed Windows 10, but the maximum version is Windows 12.0.0.0.
Whether that is another indicator that Microsoft continues to work on Windows 12, or a leftover from a time when it considered releasing Windows 12, or something else entirely, is up for debate.
Closing Words
Microsoft did not announce the release of the Microsoft Copilot app. It made no mention of it. This means that we do not know anything about its functionality at the time.
It appears linked to Microsoft Edge, but this has not been confirmed either. This is not the first time that Microsoft is pushing new apps onto user devices without prior information.
The company installed the Google Docs Offline extension in Edge automatically in July 2023.
In September 2023, Microsoft installed the Backup app on Windows 10 Enterprise devices. In November of the same year, Microsoft installed the HP Smart app erroneously on user devices.
Meanwhile, work on improving Copilot's Windows management functionality continues. These allow users to interact with the AI to change or control certain Windows features. Problem is that this functionality does not run local. All requests go through Microsoft servers, where they are processed, before the answer is pushed to the user's device.
Now you: do you have the Microsoft Copilot app installed on your device?
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