Windows 11's AI Agent in Settings: How to Enable, Use, or Turn It Off

Type "my screen is too dim" into the Windows 11 Settings search box and, on a Copilot+ PC, you no longer get a list of links to dig through. You get an answer, and a button that fixes it for you. That is the agent in Windows Settings, and whether you find it brilliant or intrusive, you should know it is entirely optional.

Key takeaways

• The Settings agent uses an on-device model to understand plain-language questions and can change settings on your behalf after you confirm.
• It first shipped on Snapdragon Copilot+ PCs and now also runs on AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ machines via KB5062660 and later.
• It supports 10 languages, including English, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.
• You can disable it through Group Policy (or the registry on Home) without removing any other Settings functionality.
• It runs locally, so your queries are processed on the device rather than sent to the cloud.

What the Settings agent actually does

The agent lives inside the existing Settings search box. Instead of matching keywords, it interprets intent. Ask it "how do I make text bigger" and it explains the relevant accessibility options, then offers to apply them. Ask it to troubleshoot Bluetooth and it can walk through fixes and automate some of the steps.

The practical difference from old Settings search is worth spelling out. Traditional search is a keyword index: type "brightness" and you get links to pages that contain the word "brightness," and it is on you to know the right term and dig through the results. The agent works the other way around. You describe a problem in the words you would actually use, "the screen keeps dimming on its own" or "everything is too small to read," and it maps that complaint to the relevant setting, explains what the setting does, and offers a button to flip it. For people who do not know Windows terminology, that is a genuine accessibility win, not just a gimmick. The flip side is that an AI interpreting intent can occasionally over-reach, surfacing a confident answer to a question you did not quite ask, which is part of why Microsoft kept it optional and gated behind a confirmation step.

This is a Copilot+ PC feature, meaning it requires a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of the performance Microsoft mandates for that branding (40+ TOPS). On a standard PC without a qualifying NPU, the search box behaves the way it always has.

Will your PC even have it?

The agent only appears on hardware that meets the Copilot+ bar. Here is the quick check.

Your hardware	Gets the Settings agent?	Notes
Snapdragon Copilot+ PC	Yes	First to receive it
AMD Ryzen AI Copilot+ PC	Yes	Via KB5062660 and later
Intel Core Ultra Copilot+ PC	Yes	Via KB5062660 and later
Standard PC, no qualifying NPU	No	Classic keyword search stays
Older laptop or desktop	No	Not Copilot+ eligible

How to use it

1. Open Settings (Win + I) on a Copilot+ PC running a build that includes the agent.

2. Click the search box at the top of the Settings window.

3. Type a question in plain language, for example, "turn on dark mode" or "why is my mouse pointer so small."

4. Read the agent's response. Where it can act for you, an Apply or action button appears.

5. Click the action button to let the agent make the change, or follow the manual steps it lists.

How to turn the agent off

Some people would rather keep Settings search literal and predictable. You can disable the agentic experience through the Group Policy Editor on Pro and Enterprise editions.

1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.

2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI.

3. Double-click Disable Settings agentic search experience.

4. Set it to Enabled (enabling the policy disables the feature), then click OK.

5. Restart, or sign out and back in, for the change to take effect.

On Home edition, which lacks the Group Policy Editor, the equivalent control is a registry value under the Windows AI policy key. Group Policy changes are simply a friendlier front end for these registry keys, so the effect is identical. Back up the registry (or create a restore point) before editing it, since a mistyped key under a policy path can cause odd behavior that is harder to trace than a single toggle. After setting the value, sign out and back in for it to apply.

A reasonable question is whether you should bother turning it off at all. For most individual users, the answer is no: the agent only acts after you confirm, runs locally, and reverts the search box to normal if you never use it. The case for disabling it is stronger in managed environments, on shared or kiosk machines, or anywhere you want Settings search to behave identically across a fleet of PCs so support staff are not troubleshooting AI-suggested changes they did not expect.

Privacy posture

Because the model runs on the NPU, your typed questions are handled on-device rather than transmitted to Microsoft's servers. That is a meaningful distinction from cloud-based assistants. Still, if you administer machines where any AI surface is unwanted, the policy above removes the feature cleanly. For broader privacy housekeeping, our guide to removing the Recommended section from the Start menu covers another commonly disabled surface.

How it fits with Click To Do and the rest of Copilot+

The Settings agent is one piece of a larger push. The same servicing wave expanded Click To Do, which lets you highlight 10-plus words of text and trigger AI actions like Summarize or Rewrite with Win + Click. If you are weighing the broader 24H2 servicing story, see our explainer on the Windows 11 26H2 enablement package and the related feature drop coverage for how vendors stagger these rollouts. If you would rather strip back other AI surfaces too, our Windows 11 Recall management guide covers the most debated one.

What to do right now

• Check whether you have a Copilot+ PC (Settings then System then About, look for a qualifying NPU). If not, you do not have the agent and nothing here applies.
• To try it, open Settings (Win + I), click the search box, and type a plain-language request like "make text bigger."
• If you want it gone, open gpedit.msc, navigate to Windows Components then Windows AI, and set "Disable Settings agentic search experience" to Enabled, then restart.
• On Home edition, back up the registry first, then set the equivalent Windows AI policy value.
• Re-enable any time by reverting the policy to Not Configured and restarting.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Copilot+ PC to get the Settings agent?

Yes. The agent requires a qualifying NPU. Standard PCs keep the traditional keyword-based Settings search.

Does the agent send my questions to the cloud?

No. It runs an on-device model, so queries are processed locally on the NPU.

Will disabling the agent break Settings search?

No. Disabling the policy reverts the search box to its conventional behavior; everything else in Settings is untouched.

Which languages are supported?

English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese at launch, with more expected over time.

Can I re-enable it later?

Yes. Set the Group Policy back to Not Configured or Disabled, then restart.