How to turn off Copilot in Microsoft Edge
Edge has no single off switch for Copilot. Four settings and two policies get you most of the way, and one gap remains: the web pages themselves.
To turn off Copilot in Edge, hide its toolbar button, switch off its access to page content, and remove it from the new tab page. On a computer you manage, a Group Policy or registry setting can hide the sidebar that holds it. Edge has no single switch that removes Copilot entirely, and menu names move between versions, so if a label below doesn't match yours, type "Copilot" into the search box at the top of Edge's settings.
How do I remove the Copilot button from Edge's toolbar?
The quickest way: right-click the Copilot button in the toolbar and choose Hide Copilot.
Or through settings:
- Open
edge://settings/appearance/copilotAndSidebar, or go to Settings → Appearance → Copilot and sidebar. - Under App specific settings, select Copilot.
- Turn off Show Copilot button on the toolbar, and any other Copilot switches on that page you don't want.
Microsoft documents this page and switch in its troubleshooting article on the Copilot icon (written for people trying to bring it back). The shortcut and the full toggle list come from a Guiding Tech walkthrough updated in April 2026.
How do I stop Copilot reading the pages I visit?
Copilot in the Edge side pane can read the current page to summarise it or answer questions about it. To stop that, search Edge's settings for "Copilot", open the Copilot settings, and turn off the switches under Privacy. The same panel has a Delete data option for what Copilot has already stored, per the Guiding Tech guide above.
For work profiles signed in with Microsoft Entra ID, administrators can enforce this with the CopilotPageContext policy. Microsoft notes it does not apply to personal Microsoft account profiles, and that page access is off by default in EU regions.
How do I remove Copilot from the new tab page?
Go to Settings → Start, home, and new tabs (the exact name varies), open the new tab page options and turn off Copilot new tab page. New tabs then open to Edge's regular page.
Can I hide Copilot with Group Policy or the registry?
Yes, on a computer you manage. Two policies matter:
| Policy | What disabling it does | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
HubsSidebarEnabled | The sidebar is never shown. Microsoft's troubleshooting article says that with it disabled "the entire sidebar is hidden, including Copilot." | Edge 99 and later, Windows and macOS |
Microsoft365CopilotChatIconEnabled | Copilot doesn't appear in the toolbar | Entra ID profiles in Edge for Business, Edge 139 and later |
On Windows, both live under SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge as REG_DWORD values; 0 means disabled. For one PC you can set them in the Registry Editor under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge (create the Edge key if it's missing), then restart Edge. Edge will then say it is managed by your organization; that is expected. Back up the registry before editing it, and on a work computer ask your IT team first: their policies take precedence.
Does this turn off Copilot in Bing too?
No. Bing's AI answers are part of the search page, not the browser, and we found no Microsoft page that documents a setting to turn them off. Which search engines do have a switch is covered in how to turn off AI answers in search engines. Google's AI Overviews have their own workaround, covered in how to turn off AI Overviews in Google.
What stays after you turn Copilot off?
- Other Edge AI features. Writing assistance, image tools and shopping features have their own switches; search settings for each. Firefox and Chrome have their own controls, covered in how to turn off AI features in Firefox and Chrome.
- Updates that add things back. New Edge versions sometimes add Copilot entry points. Recheck after major updates.
- The web itself. Turning off the browser's assistant doesn't change the pages you visit. Many results now lead to sites generated by AI app builders or to mass-produced filler, and Edge shows them like any other.
Is there a browser without Copilot that filters AI sites?
That last gap is the one Kitsuvo is for. It is a free browser for Windows and Mac. On Windows it renders pages with WebView2, the same engine as Edge, but it has no Copilot, and it turns off Edge-specific services such as SmartScreen, Microsoft account sign-in and form autofill. What it adds is filtering: it scores every page for signs it was built with an AI app builder, hides likely AI-built results from Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo, and holds likely AI-built pages behind a notice with the evidence and a Show this site anyway button. Scores are estimates, not proof.
Kitsuvo does have optional AI explanations of a score, which use an installed local model or a provider you connect yourself. The difference between a browser with no AI features and one that keeps AI-built sites out of your way is explained in what is a no-AI web browser? To clean up the results themselves, see how to hide AI-generated sites from search results.
Questions people ask
Can you uninstall Copilot from Edge?
Not as a separate app. You can hide its button, turn off its page access and new tab page, and on a managed PC hide the sidebar with the HubsSidebarEnabled policy, which Microsoft says hides Copilot too.
Why did the Copilot button come back?
Edge updates sometimes reset or add Copilot entry points, and work computers may have policies that turn it on. Check Copilot and sidebar settings again after an update, or ask your IT team if the switch is greyed out.
Does turning off Copilot make Edge more private?
It stops Copilot reading pages and storing chats, which helps. Edge still has other services that contact Microsoft, such as SmartScreen, which you can review in its privacy settings.
Does Kitsuvo use Edge?
On Windows, Kitsuvo uses Microsoft's WebView2 engine, which is what Edge is built on, but not Edge itself. It has no Copilot and switches off SmartScreen, Microsoft account sign-in and autofill in its engine.