Microsoft is developing a new feature to allow users to change Copilot for another chatbot on Windows 11. According to a recent post by @thebookisclosed and @phantomofearth on X, the company may introduce a new “Chat Providers” option, enabling users to choose their chat service providers available on Windows 11.
The new feature appears in the latest preview of the operating system available through the Beta Channel, including the upcoming “Copilot in Windows” settings page, and for devices set to a European Economic Area region.
The page showcases two settings. The first is “Open Copilot when Windows starts,” a feature that has been available for some time, and it allows to launch the chatbot automatically on startup. Microsoft has been testing a behavior where Copilot starts automatically on devices with 27-inch or larger monitors.
The second is the new “Chat Providers” option, which displays the “Choose which chat providers you have access to” message. While it’s currently not configurable, it includes an option to open a Microsoft Store page to find and download other chat providers.
In addition, there’s an option to direct users to the “Installed apps” settings page to uninstall chat providers.
Although the feature hasn’t been officially announced, the “Chat Providers” settings indicate that users will be able to install other chatbots, such as ChatGPT, and uninstall or disable Copilot on Windows 11.
However, since the setting only appears for devices set to one of the European Economic Area countries, it indicates that this is another change to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union (EU). The DMA mandates certain alterations to the operating system, such as enabling users to uninstall Microsoft Edge and change the default search provider for Windows Search.
Since the new settings are still hidden in the operating system, it’s unclear when the company will roll them out to users. However, we may likely see the ability to change chatbots with the Windows 11 24H2 rollout, which is expected to happen during the second half of 2024.
If you want to enable this feature, you will need the latest version of Windows 11 through the Beta Channel. The device needs to be set to one of the countries from the European Union, and then you have to use the ViveTool and run the vivetool /enable /id:45690501 command to enable the “Copilot for Windows” settings page and the vivetool /enable /id:47229774 to enable the setting.
Update March 11, 2024: This content has been updated to ensure accuracy and include additional information.
