Microsoft has just released Windows 11 build 26H2 to the general public . Most of the artificial intelligence (AI) features in Windows 11 were introduced before the last version, and Microsoft is touting them as one of the reasons for upgrading the operating system.
Beyond official announcements, however, user opinions regarding the growing number of AI features are divided.
A significant portion of users don't need that many AI features and want to disable them completely. This wouldn't be a problem if Microsoft allowed all users to disable all AI features in Windows.
However, the reality is different. Depending on the Windows 11 feature and edition you're using, you may be forced to have Microsoft's local AI, as there's no officially supported way to disable it.
Now let's see who has access to the newest AI features in Windows 11. Many of the new AI features that run locally on the device (on-device AI) are limited to Copilot+ class computers. To qualify as a Copilot+ computer, Microsoft requires a compatible processor with an NPU capable of at least 40 TOPS of performance, 16GB of RAM (DDR5 or LPDDR5 type), and at least 256GB of SSD or UFS storage.
Currently, Microsoft includes AMD Ryzen AI 300 and 400 series chips, Intel Core Ultra 200V and 300V series processors, and Snapdragon X series chips as supported platforms. This means that simply having a powerful CPU or GPU is not enough. A PC can be perfectly capable of running AI tasks on its GPU but still not qualify as a “Copilot+ PC” if it doesn’t have a supported NPU with a performance of more than 40 TOPS. Microsoft also says that a PC with a sufficiently powerful NPU may not receive the Copilot+ designation if it doesn’t meet the memory or storage requirements.
This hardware requirement limits who can use many of these features from the start. However, access is only one side of the story. Once these AI features are available on your computer, the next question is whether Microsoft actually allows you to turn them off.
Microsoft is touting the AI agent in the Settings app as one of the main features of the 26H2 update, even though it was added to the operating system earlier. What does it do? It completely replaces the classic Settings search with its own, localized version of “AI overviews,” allowing you to ask about specific settings or request changes. However, if you don’t want it and prefer the traditional Settings search, you can’t disable it.
Microsoft has a policy called “DisableSettingsAgent.” When enabled, this policy removes the AI agent search experience and limits results to statically indexed and semantic searches. The problem is that Microsoft explicitly defines Windows 11 Pro as unsupported. What does this mean? The policy is currently available for Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions.
This also means that having the Group Policy Editor is not enough.
Windows 11 Pro has the gpedit.msc tool , but Microsoft still doesn’t officially support the “Settings Agent” policy in this version. Additionally, manually creating the corresponding “DisableSettingsAgent” registry value does not bypass the restriction. Unless another way is found, the majority of Windows 11 users with Copilot+ computers will not be able to disable the AI agent via Settings.
Of course, Microsoft doesn't treat all AI features the same. It allows you to disable different features depending on the version of Windows 11. For example, features like Recall and Click to Do have their own off switches for regular users. Other features can be disabled via Group Policy in Windows 11 Pro. However, disabling some features, like the AI agent in Settings, requires a version of Windows 11 that regular users don't use.
Of course, if users didn't have the option to disable Recall , there would likely be strong reactions, as it's one of the most controversial features of Windows 11.
Recall that this feature was heavily criticized because its initial version was set to constantly take screenshots of almost every activity on the computer. Later, Microsoft limited the Recall feature, making it optional (requiring explicit activation by the user), enforcing authentication via Windows Hello, and adding filters for sensitive data.
It should be noted that some of the policies are still tied to Insider builds, so Microsoft could change the supported builds at any time before the features become generally available. For now, though, the pattern is hard to ignore: the more Microsoft ties its AI agents to Windows, the more it seems to limit control to the end user.
Home users are in an even more difficult position. The Windows 11 Home edition does not include the Local Group Policy Editor at all, which means that users are largely dependent on the options that Microsoft decides to make available directly through “Settings” or individual applications.
Of course, home users can try to manually create some of the “hidden” registry entries. However, this does not mean that Windows will recognize them and apply them to an unsupported version.
The issue here isn't whether Windows 11 should have so many AI features. It already has them, and it looks like more will come in the future. Plus, there are users who find them particularly useful.
Thus, the aim is to give users greater freedom of choice, so that they can adapt the user experience to their own preferences.
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
