Windows 11 update accidentally erases Copilot for some users – here's how to get it back

Those of you who ran Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 update last week may have noticed at least one change. Copilot has vanished.

Rolled out on March 11 for this month’s Patch Tuesday, KB5053598 was designed to squash several outstanding bugs and add a few new features for Windows 11. But along with those changes comes the new bug affecting Microsoft’s favorite AI app.

Also: 7 quick ways to make Windows 11 less annoying right now

In a notice following the update’s release, Microsoft revealed that the Copilot app is unintentionally uninstalled and unpinned from the taskbar on some devices. The glitch affects only the regular Copilot app and not the Microsoft 365 Copilot app available through a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Microsoft said that it’s working on a resolution to resolve the problem. But if Copilot has disappeared on your PC and you want it back, here’s what to do:

Head to the Microsoft Store page for Copilot, download the app, and then run the downloaded exe file.

To put Copilot back on the Taskbar, click the Start button and look for Copilot in the Start menu or All screen. Right-click its shortcut, move to the More menu, and click Pin to Taskbar. You can then launch and use Copilot as you normally would.

Windows 11 has been plagued by a host of glitches, most of the latest ones centered on the 24H2 version. Microsoft is still trying to catch up with some outstanding bugs, including those accidentally introduced by certain updates.

Also: 6 things I always do after setting up Windows 11 – and why you should too

In the overall scheme of issues, this snafu with Copilot is relatively minor since it’s easy to fix by just reinstalling the app. But this shows that Microsoft continues to grapple with obstacles that affect the stability and reliability of Windows 11 24H2. And that’s an overall problem that the company must resolve before it cuts off support for Windows 10 this coming October.