Microsoft is removing eight Copilot actions tied to OneDrive from the right-click menu in File Explorer, starting in mid-November 2026 and finishing by early December, according to Message Center notice MC1515940, published on October 19. It is the latest in a run of cuts to where Copilot appears in Windows, after the Ask Copilot box on the taskbar was temporarily switched off for Insiders in August.
Eight OneDrive Copilot actions leave the File Explorer context menu
The notice lists the actions being retired: Summarize, Create FAQ, Compare Files, Ask a question, Explain image, Explain images, Compare images and Extract text. The stated aim is “simplifying how people use Copilot with their OneDrive files in File Explorer.” Files open in a new Copilot conversation by reference, so their existing permissions and protections continue to apply.
Copilot is not leaving File Explorer. Users can still right-click a OneDrive file and choose Ask Copilot, or hover over a file in File Explorer Home and select the Copilot icon, and the same actions stay in the OneDrive activity center. No admin action is required. Message Center notices normally appear only inside an organization’s admin center, so the link above goes to a public copy of the text.
Ask Copilot on the taskbar has been off since August, with no return date
Microsoft explained the pause itself. The Copilot on Windows release notes for August 14, 2026, app version 152.0.4191.25, state: “As we implement these changes, we’re temporarily disabling Ask Copilot on the taskbar to update the new experience and incorporate your feedback.” Notebooks, Connectors and Vision were also made temporarily unavailable in the app. The notes give no date or form for its return.
Both moves follow a commitment Windows chief Pavan Davuluri made on March 20. In a post on the Windows Insider Blog, he wrote that Microsoft would “be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows” and was “reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets and Notepad.”
Microsoft gives simplification and feedback as its reasons
Press coverage links the cuts to the “Microslop” criticism that has followed Copilot across Windows this year. Microsoft has not said that. Its documents speak of “simplifying” the File Explorer menu and of incorporating Insider feedback, and the March post refers to months of analyzing community feedback in general terms.
How gamers can uninstall Copilot or remap its key
None of these changes touches games directly, but players who want less Copilot on a gaming PC have two options documented by Microsoft. To remove the consumer Copilot app, Microsoft’s support page gives these steps: open Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps, find Copilot, open the More options menu and choose Uninstall. On keyboards with a Copilot key, a remap sits under Settings, then Bluetooth and devices, then Keyboard, using the “Customise Copilot key on keyboard” option, as Microsoft’s accessibility guide describes. The choices there depend on the account type and installed apps, and if Copilot is turned on in Taskbar settings, that overrides the key option.