Microsoft has resumed automatic installation of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows devices that already run Microsoft 365 desktop apps, beginning mid-June 2026 and completing by mid-July 2026, per the latest version of message center notification MC1152323. The rollout runs outside the European Economic Area, where the auto-install is disabled, and lands on devices running Microsoft 365 Apps Version 2511 or later. The default is to install, so IT administrators, not Microsoft, decide whether each tenant gets the app. Microsoft has not described the technical issue that triggered the March 2026 pause.
What Microsoft Is Reinstalling and Where
Microsoft published the original auto-install plan in message center notification MC1152323 in September 2025, paused it on March 16, 2026, and updated the same notification on June 15, 2026, to say the rollout would resume. The current version sets a mid-June 2026 start and a mid-July 2026 completion window. The change applies to Windows devices that already have the Microsoft 365 desktop apps installed.
Starting June 2026, we will resume the automatic installation of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to eligible devices with the Microsoft 365 desktop apps.
Microsoft posted the line in the latest version of MC1152323, the same message center notification Microsoft has been editing since September 2025. The eligible pool is narrower than the full Windows installed base: per the official Microsoft Learn deployment guide, automatic installation requires Microsoft 365 Apps Version 2511, which Microsoft released on the Current Channel in early December 2025 and on the Monthly Enterprise Channel in January 2026. Devices on the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel do not auto-install the Copilot app. Tenants outside the EEA, where Digital Markets Act constraints block the rollout, are the only ones in scope.
Why the Auto-Install Was Paused in March
Microsoft’s first MC1152323 update, dated September 12, 2025, said Microsoft would begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows devices starting in October 2025, with rollout completing in mid-November 2025. The plan ran in parallel with the broader October 2025 Copilot feature rollout and was later shifted, with the deployment beginning in early December 2025 and mid-December completion outside the EEA. The early coverage of the December 2025 push and Neowin’s reporting both tracked user and enterprise pushback against the silent install, even where administrative opt-outs existed.
On March 16, 2026, Microsoft updated MC1152323 to say automatic installation had been paused. The updated message described the change as a temporary disablement. The Microsoft Learn deployment guide ties the pause to a “technical issue” Microsoft did not detail. The message center text did not name the issue either.
The March 2026 pause report included the full text Microsoft posted to the message center. Coverage that followed framed the move as a reprieve from a force-install that users and enterprise customers had criticized. Microsoft has not published a tally of how many devices received the app during the December 2025 push.
How IT Admins Can Block the Install
Microsoft gives administrators three documented ways to keep the Microsoft 365 Copilot app off managed devices. The first sits in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center, where admins can clear a single check box to disable auto-install for the entire tenant. The second is a Group Policy that removes the app after it has landed. The third is an Intune or MDM path for fleets that already use a mobile device management stack.
The deployment guide spells out the admin-center path step by step: sign in to the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center, go to Customization, then Device Configuration, then the Modern Apps settings tab, select Microsoft 365 Copilot app in the list, and clear the Enable automatic installation of Microsoft 365 Copilot app check box. The setting applies to the tenant and propagates to eligible devices on the Current Channel and Monthly Enterprise Channel. Devices on the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel are out of scope for the auto-install, so the toggle has no effect there.
- Microsoft 365 Apps admin center: Customization > Device Configuration > Modern Apps settings > Microsoft 365 Copilot app > clear the “Enable automatic installation of Microsoft 365 Copilot app” check box (tenant-wide, prevents new installs).
- Group Policy “Remove Microsoft Copilot app”: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI (uninstalls the existing app under three conditions, broadly available as of April 14, 2026).
- WindowsAI Policy CSP via Intune or other MDM: same policy as the Group Policy, deployed as part of a configuration profile.
- PowerShell: run
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name "Microsoft.Windows.Ai.Copilot.Provider" | Remove-AppxPackagein an admin shell to remove the consumer Copilot app across all users on a device.
The second lever is the Group Policy that landed in the April 2026 Windows security update, called Remove Microsoft Copilot app, and it lives under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI. The new Remove Microsoft Copilot app Group Policy is also available as a Policy CSP. It only fires under three conditions: Microsoft 365 Copilot is also installed, Copilot was not installed by the user, and Copilot was not launched in the last 28 days.
Admins running managed Windows estates through Intune can deploy the same Remove Copilot policy through the WindowsAI Policy CSP, available since the April 14, 2026 update. A PowerShell path reported by Windows Latest uses Get-AppxPackage to remove the consumer Copilot app across all users on a device. For tenants that prefer manual removals, the app appears in Settings > Apps > Installed apps and can be uninstalled without admin privileges.
The Regional Split That Splits Every Tenant
Microsoft’s message center text states plainly: the change does not apply to customers in the European Economic Area. The Microsoft Learn deployment guide goes further, saying EEA customers cannot enable the installation of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on devices with Microsoft 365 Apps. Microsoft’s deployment documentation describes the EEA exclusion as a hard block with no opt-in path. The exclusion is not framed as a delay or a configuration choice for EEA tenants.
Microsoft ties the EEA exclusion to its broader Digital Markets Act work. A June 2, 2025 post on the Windows Insider Blog outlined changes to Windows 10, Windows 11, and Microsoft apps specific to the EEA, including default browser behavior, Windows Search, and Microsoft Store uninstall rights. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app auto-install sits inside that same regional envelope.
For multinational IT teams, the split is more than a checkbox. A U.S.-based tenant with European users, and an EEA-based tenant with devices elsewhere, can land on different sides of the same rollout because Microsoft’s documentation keys the auto-install to tenant attributes, not to a device’s physical location. Admins running mixed fleets have to verify tenant-level settings before assuming the auto-install will or will not fire. The result is two Microsoft 365 estates in one: a Copilot-app-default experience for most of the world, and a Copilot-app-suppressed experience for the EEA.
What the App Does on a Device
The Microsoft 365 Copilot app is an app shell that points to the licensed Copilot service; the license itself is separate. The app is a desktop entry point for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, search, agents, Notebooks, and related Microsoft 365 experiences, with the feature set depending on licensing and tenant configuration.
The app installs in the background alongside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, per the deployment guide, and appears in the Windows Start menu as a new entry. On devices where Microsoft 365 Copilot is already installed, no visible change occurs. On devices where the user holds no Copilot license, the app shows a prompt to contact an administrator and does not enable the paid features.
The branding alone is enough to create help desk tickets. Microsoft Copilot is the consumer assistant, Microsoft 365 Copilot is the paid work assistant, Copilot Chat is the chat surface, Copilot+ PCs are a hardware class, and Copilot experiences live inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Edge, Windows, and the Microsoft 365 app. A user who sees Microsoft 365 Copilot installed often assumes the licensed features are active. Most of the time, the app is present but the license is not, and the user is bounced to the admin. The Copilot name has become so widely applied that Microsoft has had to walk back other Copilot decisions, including letting Windows 11 users remap the Copilot key on new laptops.
Once installed, the app updates itself. The Microsoft Learn deployment guide says the Microsoft 365 Copilot app can update through the Microsoft Store and through its own built-in updater. For tenants that opt out before the app lands, the updater is not a concern. For tenants that opt out after a single device pulls the app, the auto-update path means administrators need to revisit the policy periodically.
The Default That Survives the Pause
The June 15, 2026 update to MC1152323 is the same notification Microsoft has been editing since September 2025, and the body of the message is short on explanation. Microsoft says it “will resume” the auto-install and that the change “simplifies access to Copilot.” Microsoft does not describe the technical issue that triggered the March pause. Microsoft also does not name a tenant-level completion date for the rollout, leaving admins to read the mid-July window as a fleet-wide estimate.
Microsoft’s next move, per the message center, will be another update to MC1152323 once the rollout finishes. For IT teams, the work between now and mid-July is the same as it was in December 2025: verify the admin-center toggle, push the Remove Copilot policy to managed devices, and check the tenant attributes that decide whether the EEA exemption applies. Microsoft’s broader Copilot push, including the 2030 Vision for an AI-led Windows overhaul, runs on the same default-on distribution pattern.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Microsoft 365 Copilot auto-install finish?
Per the June 15, 2026 version of message center notification MC1152323, rollout runs from mid-June 2026 through mid-July 2026. Microsoft has not committed to a per-tenant completion date, so the mid-July endpoint is a fleet-wide estimate rather than a guarantee for any individual organization.
How can IT admins block the install?
The Microsoft 365 Apps admin center lets admins clear a single check box under Customization, Device Configuration, and Modern Apps settings to disable auto-install tenant-wide. Admins can also push the Remove Microsoft Copilot app Group Policy, which has been broadly available since the April 14, 2026 Windows security update, or deploy the same policy through Intune using the WindowsAI Policy CSP for managed endpoints.
Why is the European Economic Area exempt?
Microsoft’s deployment guide states EEA customers cannot enable the installation of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on devices with Microsoft 365 Apps. The exclusion sits inside Microsoft’s broader Digital Markets Act work, which the company documented in a June 2, 2025 Windows Insider Blog post covering Windows 10, Windows 11, and Microsoft apps in the EEA, with no opt-in path for EEA tenants.
What does the Microsoft 365 Copilot app actually do on a device?
It is an app shell that points to the licensed Copilot service; the license itself is separate. It is a desktop entry point for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, search, agents, Notebooks, and related Microsoft 365 experiences, with the feature set depending on licensing and tenant configuration. Once installed, the app can update itself through the Microsoft Store or its own built-in updater.
Why did Microsoft pause the rollout in March 2026?
Microsoft’s March 16, 2026 update to MC1152323 said automatic installation had been temporarily disabled. The Microsoft Learn deployment guide attributes the pause to a technical issue Microsoft did not detail, and the message center text did not name the issue at all, which is why IT admins are still waiting on a fuller explanation.
