Windows 11, with its array of impressive features, includes Copilot, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool. While this may be a boon for some, others might have concerns about its presence on their computer. If you're among the latter, here's a guide on what Copilot features you can turn off inside Windows 11.

Before I go any further, one question about Copilot needs to be answered: "Can Copilot be uninstalled?" The answer is no; it's built into Windows 11. But you have one option: turn off Copilot as much as possible, as it's impossible to remove it altogether.

There are now some registry hacks on the Internet for disabling Copilot. You can try them, but from everything I have read, they may or may not work. If I know Microsoft, they will fix the ability to disable Copilot in the registry in a future update. I've seen it happen before.

There is also a Group Policy hack out on the Internet that is supposed to disable Copilot. Still, the problem is that you can only edit the Group Policy in the Professional and Enterprise versions of Windows 11. Windows 11 Home users cannot modify the Group Policy.

With CPU vendors (Intel and AMD) developing processors with special areas for AI, AI is not going away. You can bet that Microsoft will take advantage of these new AI-enabled processors to run Copilot.

Microsoft introduced Copilot as an AI assistant integrated into Microsoft 365 and Windows 11, including Microsoft Edge. While this may seem helpful, some users prefer to turn it off for privacy or performance reasons.

Turning off Copilot features in Windows 11 is a straightforward process that can be completed in just a few clicks. Whether you're concerned about privacy or want to boost your PC's performance, turning off Copilot is a simple and effective solution.

If you wish to clear the data Copliot has collected, you can do so by resetting Copilot. You can even restrict what optional data Windows 11 sends back to Microsoft.

How to turn off Copilot in Microsoft Edge

1. Left-click on the Microsoft Edge (wave) icon on the Taskbar.
2. Left-click on the three (3) horizontal dots (...) in the upper right-hand corner and select Settings.
3. In the left-hand column select Sidebar.
4. In the right-hand column select Copilot.
   
5. Toggle the Show Copilot switch to the off position.

How to turn off Copilot on the Taskbar

1. Left-clicking on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. In the list of pinned apps on the Start menu, left-click on Settings.
3. In the left-hand column, left-click on Personalization.
4. In the right-hand column, left-click on Taskbar.
   
5. In the right-hand column, switch off Copilot in Windows (preview).

How to terminate, reset, or repair Copilot inside of Windows 11

1. Left-clicking on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. In the list of pinned apps on the Start menu, left-click on Settings.
3. In the left-hand column, left-click on Apps.
4. In the right-hand column, left-click on Installed apps.
5. The right-hand column displays a list of all the installed apps. Find Microsoft Copilot, left-click on the three (3) horizontal dots (...) on the right, and select Advanced options.
   
6. In the right-hand column, you will find buttons that allow you to Terminate, Repair, and Reset. You will notice that the Uninstall option is greyed out.

How to turn off optional data collection inside of Windows 11

1. Left-clicking on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. In the list of pinned apps on the Start menu, left-click on Settings.
3. In the left-hand column, left-click on Privacy & Security.
4. In the right-hand column, left-click on Diagnostics & feedback.
5. In the Diagnostics & feedback section, you'll see an option called Send optional diagnostic data.
   

Are you having problems with a username and password not working in your favorite browser? Or maybe the credentials for a network resource. Here is how to edit or remove autofill passwords in Windows and your favorite browser.

Nothing is more frustrating than having your browser or Windows autofill a form with the wrong password. And since passwords are hidden, you are lucky if there is a preview button to check it before trying to use it. And if it is a password used by Windows, you may not even get prompted for a password.

And you know what is worse? A company website uses multiple servers, and each has saved credentials. For example, say GIP runs a bank, and we have five (5) servers that handle the website traffic.

Now the servers are networked, so when a user goes to the website, the server they get to is entirely random. One day, it might be server 1, and the next day, it might be server 5. However, the credentials (username/password) are the same for all servers since they are networked.

But your browser and Windows see things differently. They know each server as a separate website and will save usernames and passwords for each server. So as you check the autofill passwords, you may find multiple servers for a domain (server1.example.com, server2.example.com, etc.).

So in this article, I will show you how to edit or remove saved autofill passwords in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Windows. Each browser and Windows saves different types of information with their autofill functions.

Note: Edit autofill properties at your own risk. Remember that once any autofill data has been changed, there is no way of getting it back.

Before proceeding, you may need two (2) pieces of information, your current username and password / PIN, to log on to your computer. Some browsers require you to input your computer credentials before allowing you to edit the autofill passwords. Let's start with the browsers.

Edit or remove autofill passwords in Google Chrome

1. Open Google Chrome and left-click on the three (3) vertical dots in the upper right-hand corner.
   
2. From the menu that appears, left-click on Settings.
   
3. On the Settings page, left-click on the Autofill and passwords category in the left-hand column.

The Autofill and passwords page is divided into Passwords, Payment methods, and Addresses and more. You can add, edit or remove any or all autofill data stored inside Chrome. If you left-click on Google Password Manager, you will find all of the autofill passwords that have been saved.

It is here that you can configure Chrome to offer to save passwords and automatically sign in to a website or app. If autofill has saved any passwords, they will be listed below, and left-clicking on the Show password button (which looks like an eye) will reveal that password. Depending on your computer's security, you may be prompted for your username and password/PIN.

You will find the Copy Password button to the right of the Show password button. Directly below the Password field you will find Edit and Delete buttons.

Edit or remove autofill passwords in Microsoft Edge

1. Open Microsoft Edge and left-click on the three (3) horizontal dots in the upper right-hand corner.
   
2. From the menu that appears, left-click on Settings.
   
3. On the Settings page, left-click on the Profiles category in the left-hand column.

In the right-hand column, there are several sections, but the only ones that contain autofill data are the ones listed under Microsoft Wallet. If you left-click on Open Wallet, a new page will open, and you will have five categories listed in the left-hand column.

Payment methods, Passwords, and Personal info are the three categories you want to check for stored data. Left-click on the Passwords section, and you will find all autofill passwords that have been saved.

It is here that you can configure Edge to offer to save passwords and automatically sign in to a website or app. If autofill has saved any passwords, they will be listed below, and left-clicking on the Show password button (which looks like an eye) will reveal that password. Depending on your computer's security, you may be prompted for your username and password/PIN.

You will find the Copy Password button to the right of the Show password button. Directly below the Site field you will find Edit and Delete buttons.

Edit or remove autofill passwords in Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Firefox and left-click on the three horizontal bars in the upper-right hand corner.
   
2. From the menu that appears, left-click on Settings.
   
3. From the Settings page, left-click on the Privacy & Security category.

Scroll down the right-hand column, and you will find two (2) sections; Passwords and Autofill. Passwords contain, you guessed it, user credentials. And Autofill includes addresses and credit cards.

Under Passwords, you will find a button labeled Saved passwords. Left-click on it, and you will find a list in the left-hand column of all the autofill logins that Firefox has saved. Highlight a login in the left-hand column, and the details appear in the right-hand column.

Along the top of the login details are two (2) options; Edit and Remove. Below you will find the username and password. To the right of the password is a view button (which looks like an eye).

Edit or remove autofill passwords in Windows 10 or Windows 11

To edit saved autofill credentials in Windows 10 or Windows 11, you will need to use Credential Manager. It is pretty well hidden, and that is for a reason, as it contains all of your Windows and web credentials. So what are your Windows credentials? Let me explain.

Let's say you have two (2) computers on the same network and set up shared folders. When you set up the network share, Windows prompts you for the username and password for a user of that computer.

If you choose to have Windows save the network credentials, guess where they will get stored: the Credential Manager. This is also where login credentials are stored for accessing FTP sites with File Explorer.

Credential Manager is located in the Control Panel under User Accounts but can be quickly accessed by performing a search.

1. Left-click on the magnifying glass to the right of the Start button to bring up the Search dialog box.
2. In the Search dialog box, type Credential Manager.
3. Left-click on Credential Manager (Control Panel) in the search results.

You can also access Credential Manager from the Control Panel.

How to get to the Control Panel in Windows 10

How to get to the Control Panel in Windows 11

Once the Credential Manager is open, you will find two (2) types of data that are stored: Web Credentials and Windows Credentials. Before proceeding, it is recommended that you create a backup of your Windows credentials using the Back up Credentials link on that page. Remember that there will be some entries you do not recognize, so only edit the credentials you are having problems with.

We all want to keep our computers running smoothly, but to do that, we need to perform maintenance periodically. So here are five (5) things you can do to keep your Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer running smoothly.

If you are anything like me, you expect your computer always to be running at 100%, ready to work at a moment's notice. And it is possible to get that level of performance, but it does require regular maintenance.

I use all of the procedures outlined in this article on average of once a month, and I will usually perform these tasks at the end of the workday or on the weekend. That way, I minimize the loss of production time.

Check for corrupt system files

This is the first thing I do when I notice a system not running normally. If fact, this is one of the first things we do when a Windows-based computer comes into the shop. With the number of system files Windows uses, file corruption is quite common.

Check Windows 10 system files with System File Checker

How to check and repair system files in Windows 11

Check for drive errors

The next thing I do is check for errors in the file system. Just like scanning for corrupt system files, checking the rest of the files and folders on the drive is essential. A quick check every month is excellent preventative maintenance.

How to check your drive for errors in Windows 10

How to check your drive for errors in Windows 11

Clean up unnecessary Windows folders and files

Now that we have checked for system/file errors on the drive, let's start cleaning up the unnecessary files that accumulate. A couple of different programs built into Windows can do a great job of cleaning up Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Clean up Windows 10 with Disk Cleanup

Clean up your Windows 10 computer using the Storage feature

Clean up Windows 11 with Storage Sense and Disk Cleanup

Clear out your browser cache

Once we clean up all of the miscellaneous Windows files, we need to clean up our browser(s). Internet browsers, like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, use a cache of websites they have visited to speed up browsing.

But the problem is the browsers do not empty the cache automatically, so left unattended, a browser cache can become extremely large. Periodic clearing of your browser cache is highly recommended.

There is a benefit to cleaning out your browser cache; you will be removing any old website data. This can help if you have difficulty logging into a website, as any saved website data will be purged.

How to clean up and reset Google Chrome

How to clean up and reset Mozilla Firefox

How to clean up and reset Microsoft Edge

Defragment and optimize your drive

And finally, after checking for errors and cleaning up files, we need to ensure that the files and folders are in their correct location. If you use the advanced way of running Defrag, you can optimize the boot performance.

How to defragment and optimize your drive in Windows 10

How to defragment and optimize your drive in Windows 11

Keeping your web browser clean and free of adware and junk can be daunting. With malicious extensions and corrupt website ads, maintaining your browser's safety can be tough. So here is how to clean up and reset Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft recently decided to revamp its Edge browser and start all over completely. Well, kind of. The original Edge browser was poorly received and did not get much support from third-party developers. It had problems all the way around.

Everyone has heard the phrase "If you can't beat them, join them". Microsoft did just that with Edge. Since Google uses the open-source browser project Chromium as a base for Chrome, Microsoft decided to do the same thing with Edge.

Cleaning up and resetting Edge

Some of the settings inside Edge are the same as those in Chrome. You can even use extensions from the Chrome Web Store (more about this later in this article). However, there are some differences between the two browsers.

All settings for cleaning up and resetting Edge are in the Settings and more pull-down menu in the upper-right hand corner (three horizontal dots).

The first place we want to go to is Settings. You will find seventeen (17) categories: Profiles - Privacy, search, and services - Appearance - Copilot and sidebar - Start, home, and new tab page - Share, copy, and paste - Cookies and site permissions - Default browser - Languages - Downloads - Accessibility - System and performance - Family safety - Printers - Phone and other devices - Reset settings - About Microsoft Edge.

Profiles

The first category is Profiles, which is where you set up synchronizing your data across devices. As with other browsers, you can sync your data like passwords, payment information, address, etc. You can also import data from another browser here.

Privacy, search, and services

The second category is Privacy, search, and services, and it has several essential sections. These include Tracking prevention, Delete browsing data, Privacy, Required diagnostic data, Optional diagnostic data, Personalization & advertising, Security, and Search and connected experiences. Let's take a look at each separately.

Tracking prevention. This is how Edge handles cookies, and the default settings are recommended. You can turn off tracking prevention or completely block all cookies; it is your choice. You can also view the sites you block/allow tracking and turn tracking prevention on or off when using InPrivate mode.

Delete browsing data. As the name implies, this is where you clear the data from Edge. Like other browsers, you can choose what to delete when you close Edge.

On the right-hand side of Clear browsing data now is a button labeled Choose what to clear. When you click on it, a dialog box with several choices will appear.

I go here when a customer calls and tells me that they are having issues with a website not displaying correctly.

On top is the Time range, and below it are all of the different options. I usually set the time range to All time and leave the default selections checked. That often gets a website to work correctly again. Remember that if you clear any passwords or autofill data, it is gone for good, so be careful.

When you click on Choose what to clear every time you close the browser, you bring up a page with several selections. These are personal preferences, but I like clearing the cookies and cache when I close a browser. It is your choice.

Privacy. There are two (2) selections here: Send "Do Not Track" requests and Allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved. Again, these are personal preferences, but I would turn on the Do Not Track requests and disable the saved payment feature.

The following three (3) sections, Required diagnostic data, Optional diagnostic data, and Personalization & advertising are personal preferences, so the choice is yours.

The next section is Security. The default settings are completely acceptable. There is a button that you can use to Clear all previously allowed sites and you can provide an alternate DNS service provider if you would like.

Next is Search and connected experiences. The default settings for all of these sections should be perfectly fine. The only one I would look at is the Address bar. Malicious websites and extensions will try to change the default search engine used by a browser. If you do not recognize the search engine being used or want to change it, go into the Manage search engines section and make the changes.

Appearance

The third category is Appearance and is mainly for personal preference. The only area I would look at is the URL under the Home button in the Customize toolbar section. If there is a web page you do not recognize, Edge may have been hijacked. Go ahead and remove any unwanted URL's.

Copilot and sidebar

The next section is Copilot and sidebar. Again, personal preferences are applied here.

Start, home, and new tab page

The next category is Start, home, and new tab page. Here we have some more personal preferences. The one place I would look at for browser hijacking is the When Edge starts and the Home button categories. Again, if you do not recognize or remember adding a page listed here, delete it.

Share, copy, and paste

The next section is Share, copy, and paste. Again, personal preferences are applied here.

Cookies and site permissions

The next category is Cookies and site permissions. This where you set the default actions for different media (JavaScript, images, pop-ups, etc.), hardware (camera, microphone, etc.), and other miscellaneous settings. The default settings are recommended.

Default browser

The next category is Default browser. As the name implies, you can set Edge as your default browser here. Two settings might be of interest if you still use Internet Explorer (IE); Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer (IE mode) and Internet Explorer mode pages. A lot of people still use IE because a website they go to requires ActiveX and since Edge has an IE mode built-in, you just have to enable it.

Languages

The next section is Languages. Again, personal preferences are applied here.

Downloads

The next section is Downloads. Again, personal preferences are applied here.

Accessibility

The following section is Accessibility. Again, personal preferences are applied here.

System and performance

The next category is System and performance, and there is one significant setting here. As with Google Chrome, Edge can continue to run in the background even after you close it. It can also run background apps when Windows starts up. I have seen adware/malware use this setting to run the browser when Windows starts.

I recommend you turn off the Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed feature until you get prompted by an app to enable it.

Family safety

The next category is Family safety. This is part of the Microsoft Family Safety program. You can learn more about it in my blog: How to setup Family Safety for Windows using Microsoft accounts.

Printers

The next category is Printers. The link inside opens the Printers & scanners section inside of the Settings app.

Phone and other devices

The next category is Phone and other devices. This just elaborates on the synchronizing feature discussed in the Profiles category.

Reset settings

The second to the last category is Reset settings. With a couple of clicks, you can reset Edge back to its original default settings. Everything but your favorites, history, and saved passwords will be deleted. Remember, if you reset the settings, you will have to go back and do all of the customization again.

About Microsoft Edge

The last category is About Microsoft Edge. When you open this category, Edge will check for updates. Other than what version of Edge you are running, that is all in this category.

Extensions

The last place we want to check for browser corruption is the Extensions. Go back to the Settings and more pull-down menu, select Extensions, then select Manage extensions. This will open a new tab. Extensions extend the functionality of Edge and usually are perfectly safe. You can install extensions from either the Microsoft Store or the Chrome Web Store.

But there are malicious extensions that want to use your browser for other things, like crypto-mining, for example, behind your back. If there are any extensions listed in the Installed extensions that you do not recognize or do not remember installing, go ahead and disable them. If you do not need or want them, click the Remove link under the extension name.

Repair Edge

When it comes to Edge, the only option you have is repairing it. Since it is built into Windows, you do not have the option of uninstalling it, only repairing it. To repair Edge go to System > Apps > Installed apps (Windows 11) or Apps & features (Windows 10) and scroll down until you find Microsoft Edge. Then click on the three (3) horizontal dots to the right and select Modify.