Microsoft is ending the Cortana application in Windows 11, which users do not prefer. It will be replaced by Copilot.
If there was a list of applications that are not preferred by users in Windows 11, the Cortana application would probably rank at the top. Fortunately, Microsoft is addressing this situation and ending the standalone Cortana app in Windows 11.
Windows Copilot to replace Cortana
Microsoft has confirmed that Cortana will not exist as a standalone app in Windows 11 later this year. Now, two months later, it’s starting to deprecate the Cortana app with an update from the Microsoft Store.
However, for now, only Windows Insider users working on Dev and Canary channels are getting this update. Still, Cortana will likely stop working on other Insider Channels as well in the coming days, finally stopping working for everyone later this month. It is unclear whether the application will still be included in the Windows 11 23H2 update, which is expected to be released in September or October this year.
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Users who open the application after the update is complete are greeted with a welcome message saying “Cortana has been discontinued as a standalone application on Windows”. There is a “More Information” button just below the message and when you click it, you will be taken to the Microsoft support page, which explains how it will affect users.
Valid for Windows only
As announced by Microsoft, this change only affects Cortana on Windows. Cortana will continue to exist in Outlook mobile, Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams screen, and Microsoft Teams Rooms. Of course, we do not know for sure whether Microsoft will decide to terminate these versions as well.
Microsoft introduced Cortana on Windows Phone 8.1 in 2014. But while the company has introduced it almost everywhere, Siri hasn’t been able to compete with rival digital assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
It hasn’t had much success on desktops either. With the announcement of Windows 11 in 2021, Microsoft announced that Cortana will no longer be included in the Windows 11 boot experience and will not be pinned to the taskbar. However, the company had to wait a few more years to completely turn off the Cortana app in Windows 11. We are now coming to the end of an era.