Why Does Copilot Keep Crashing?

Usually a cache, driver, or resource issue — here’s what’s causing it and how to stop it

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Microsoft Copilot crashing repeatedly — closing unexpectedly, freezing, showing an error and restarting, or just vanishing mid-conversation — is a frustrating experience that has several distinct causes.

The fix depends on whether you’re using Copilot in Windows, in Edge, in Microsoft 365 apps, or as a standalone app, but a consistent set of underlying causes covers most crash scenarios across all of them. Here’s how to work through it.

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Identify Which Copilot Is Crashing

Microsoft has deployed Copilot in several places and the fixes differ depending on which one is giving you trouble.

Copilot in Windows — the sidebar or taskbar button that opens Copilot as a Windows feature. Integrated directly into Windows 11.

Copilot in Edge — the Copilot sidebar within the Edge browser, accessed via the sidebar icon or Ctrl + Shift + period.

Copilot in Microsoft 365 — Copilot within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Requires a Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription.

Copilot standalone app — the dedicated Copilot application available from the Microsoft Store.

Identifying which one is crashing tells you where to focus the troubleshooting.

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Check Your Internet Connection

Copilot is a cloud-based AI service — every query, response, and interaction requires a live connection to Microsoft’s servers. Unlike local applications, Copilot can’t function at all without internet connectivity. When the connection drops, weakens, or becomes unstable, Copilot crashes or freezes rather than gracefully handling the interruption.

Test your connection by opening a browser and loading a few websites. If pages load slowly or not at all, the connection is the problem rather than Copilot itself.

Try switching between Wi-Fi and a wired connection if possible. A stable wired ethernet connection eliminates wireless interference as a variable. If Copilot stabilizes on a wired connection, your Wi-Fi signal or router is contributing to the crashes.

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Check Microsoft’s Service Status

If Copilot is crashing for everyone or the service is degraded, no local troubleshooting will fix it — the problem is on Microsoft’s end.

Go to status.microsoft.com or search for Microsoft Service Health to check whether Copilot or related services like Azure OpenAI are experiencing issues. Microsoft also posts service status updates at admin.microsoft.com for Microsoft 365 users.

If there’s an active incident, wait for Microsoft to resolve it and check again afterward.

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Restart the Copilot App or Feature

Before going into deeper troubleshooting, a simple restart clears temporary states that cause crashes.

For Copilot in Windows, close the Copilot panel and reopen it from the taskbar. If it’s completely unresponsive, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), find any Copilot or AIHost processes, end them, and reopen Copilot.

For Copilot in Edge, close the Copilot sidebar, close all Edge windows completely, and reopen Edge. If Edge processes persist after closing, end them in Task Manager before relaunching.

For Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps, close the specific Office application, wait 30 seconds, and reopen it. Let it fully load before trying to use Copilot again.

For the standalone Copilot app, close it completely from the system tray, end any remaining processes in Task Manager, and relaunch.

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Clear the Copilot or Edge Cache

Corrupted cached data is one of the most consistent causes of Copilot crashes. Copilot stores session data, conversation history, and temporary files locally — when this becomes corrupted or outdated, the application fails to initialize correctly and crashes.

For Copilot in Edge or the Edge-based Copilot sidebar:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete in Edge. Select Cookies and Other Site Data and Cached Images and Files. Set the time range to All Time and clear. Restart Edge and test Copilot.

For Copilot in Windows (the integrated sidebar):

Press Windows + R and type %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Copilot_cw5n1h2txyewy and press Enter. If this path exists, look for a LocalCache or TempState folder inside and delete its contents. If the path doesn’t exist, the Windows Copilot on your system may use a different package name — search for Copilot-related folders in %localappdata%\Packages.

For the standalone Copilot app:

Go to Settings → Apps → Copilot. Click Advanced Options and select Reset or Repair. Repair attempts to fix the installation without losing data. Reset clears all local data and returns the app to a fresh state.

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Update Copilot, Windows, and Office

Running outdated software is a primary cause of Copilot crashes — particularly because Copilot is a rapidly evolving service and older client versions can lose compatibility with the current backend.

Update Windows: Go to Settings → Windows Update → Check for Updates. Install all available updates including optional ones. Restart after updating.

Update Edge: Go to edge://settings/help and let Edge check for and install updates. Restart Edge after updating.

Update Microsoft 365 apps: Open any Office application, go to File → Account → Update Options → Update Now. Let the update complete and restart the application.

Update the standalone Copilot app: Open the Microsoft Store, go to Library, and check for Copilot updates. Install any available.

After all updates are installed, restart your computer before testing Copilot again.

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Check System Resources

Copilot is more resource-intensive than it appears. It runs AI inference, manages conversation context, and handles streaming responses — all of which require consistent CPU, RAM, and network resources. On systems running low on these, Copilot crashes when it can’t allocate what it needs.

Open Task Manager and check the Performance tab while Copilot is running. Look at:

RAM usage — if you’re consistently above 85-90% of available memory, Copilot doesn’t have enough headroom. Close other applications before using Copilot, or consider upgrading system memory.

CPU usage — sustained high CPU usage from other processes leaves little for Copilot. Identify and close resource-heavy background applications.

Disk usage — if disk usage is consistently at 100%, even brief spikes during Copilot operations can cause crashes. Check for disk-heavy background processes and address them.

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Update GPU Drivers

Copilot uses hardware acceleration for rendering its interface, and outdated or corrupted GPU drivers cause crashes in hardware-accelerated applications including Copilot and Edge.

Open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start button. Expand Display Adapters and right-click your GPU. Select Update Driver → Search Automatically for Drivers. Alternatively download the latest driver directly from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel depending on your hardware.

After installing updated drivers, restart your computer and test Copilot.

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Disable Hardware Acceleration (Edge-Based Copilot)

If Copilot in Edge specifically keeps crashing, hardware acceleration may be conflicting with your GPU configuration — particularly on older hardware or systems with driver issues.

Go to Edge Settings → System and Performance and toggle off Use Hardware Acceleration When Available. Restart Edge and test Copilot. If crashes stop, the GPU driver is the underlying cause — update it and then try re-enabling hardware acceleration.

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Check for Conflicting Extensions (Edge Copilot)

Browser extensions can interfere with Copilot in Edge — particularly privacy tools, script blockers, and ad blockers that intercept the requests Copilot makes to Microsoft’s servers.

Test by opening Edge in InPrivate mode (Ctrl + Shift + N) where most extensions are disabled. If Copilot runs without crashing in InPrivate, an extension is causing the crashes in your regular window.

Go to edge://extensions and disable all extensions. Test Copilot. Re-enable extensions one at a time to identify the culprit.

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Repair or Reset the Copilot App

For the standalone Windows Copilot app, the built-in repair and reset tools fix many crash issues without requiring a full reinstall.

Go to Settings → Apps → Installed Apps and find Copilot. Click the three dots next to it and select Advanced Options. Try Repair first — this fixes installation issues without clearing your data. If Repair doesn’t resolve the crashes, use Reset to clear all local data and return the app to its default state.

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Reinstall the Copilot App

If repair and reset don’t work, a clean reinstall removes any corrupted installation files.

Go to Settings → Apps → Installed Apps, find Copilot, and uninstall it. Open the Microsoft Store, search for Copilot, and reinstall it fresh. Sign back in with your Microsoft account after installation.

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Check Microsoft Account and Subscription

For Microsoft 365 Copilot, the feature requires an active Copilot for Microsoft 365 license. If the license has expired, failed to renew, or isn’t properly assigned to your account, Copilot crashes or becomes unavailable rather than showing a clear error message.

Go to account.microsoft.com and check your active subscriptions. Confirm your Microsoft 365 subscription is active and that the Copilot add-on is included and assigned to your account.

For work or school accounts, the license is managed by your organization’s IT administrator — contact them if you suspect a licensing issue.

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Check Windows Event Viewer for Crash Details

If Copilot keeps crashing and nothing above has identified the cause, Event Viewer records the technical details of application crashes and often points directly at the failing component.

Press Windows + R, type eventvwr.msc, and press Enter. Go to Windows Logs → Application. Sort by time and look for Error entries that appeared when Copilot crashed. The Faulting Module Name in the error details identifies the specific component causing the crash — a Copilot module, an Edge component, a GPU driver file, or something else — which tells you where to direct further troubleshooting.

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A Quick Checklist

Work through these in order:

• Check internet connection — switch between Wi-Fi and wired
• Check status.microsoft.com for active Copilot service issues
• Restart the crashing Copilot component and all related processes
• Clear cache — Edge cache for browser-based Copilot, app cache for standalone
• Update Windows, Edge, Office, and the Copilot app to latest versions
• Check system resources in Task Manager — RAM, CPU, and disk
• Update GPU drivers from manufacturer website
• Disable hardware acceleration in Edge if Copilot in Edge is crashing
• Test in InPrivate mode to rule out extension conflicts
• Repair or reset the standalone Copilot app in Settings → Apps
• Reinstall the Copilot app from the Microsoft Store
• Check Microsoft 365 subscription status for enterprise Copilot crashes
• Check Event Viewer for specific crash module details

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The Bottom Line

Copilot crashing repeatedly is almost always caused by a cache issue, an outdated application or driver, insufficient system resources, or a service-side problem on Microsoft’s end. The cache clear and update check together resolve the majority of cases — particularly crashes that started appearing after an update or after a period of normal operation.

For Copilot in Edge specifically, the hardware acceleration toggle and extension audit cover most remaining cases. For the standalone app, repair and reset handle most installation-related crashes without needing a full reinstall.

Copilot is a cloud service running on local hardware — when either side has a problem, it crashes. Fix the local side first, then check whether Microsoft’s side is the issue.