Microsoft removes Cortana app from Windows 11 – Microsoft

If you try to turn on Cortana in Windows 11, you’ll be greeted with a notification telling you the app has been removed and providing a link to a support article about the change. Microsoft also plans to end support for Cortana in both the Teams mobile app/service as well as Microsoft Teams Display and Microsoft Teams Rooms “in fall 2023”. Surprisingly, Cortana in the Outlook mobile app will “still be available,” according to Microsoft.

Cortana became the digital assistant for Windows Phone users (2014) and a year or so later it was added to Windows 10. Microsoft integrated Cortana into the Windows 10 taskbar and supported voice commands, reminders, and the ability to open apps. With Windows 11, Microsoft removed Cortana from the taskbar but kept it as a standalone app until this week.

Cortana has clearly struggled to compete with strong competitors like Alexa and Google Assistant despite its major redesign for iOS and Android. Apparently, Cortana’s fate was firmly tied to the failure of Windows Phone while in 2019, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admitted that Cortana had fallen behind the competition.

Microsoft is currently working on Windows Copilot, a new sidebar for Windows 11. The new sidebar will be powered by Bing Chat and will be able to control Windows settings, answer questions, and do many other things. Windows Copilot is expected to be available this fall as part of the Windows 11 update that will also include native RAR and 7-Zip support.