Install Microsoft Dragon Copilot desktop

Prerequisites

Make sure your system fulfills the general prerequisites in addition to the following desktop-specific requirements.

Hardware requirements

Your workstation must meet the following hardware requirements for running the Dragon Copilot desktop app:

• Processor speed:

  • Minimum: 1.7 GHz
  • Recommended: 2.8 GHz

• Memory:

  • Minimum: 4 GB RAM
  • Recommended: 8 GB RAM

• Disk space:

  • Minimum: 500 MB of available storage
  • Recommended: 1 GB of available storage

Software requirements

• Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015
• Microsoft .NET 4.8
• Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0.x (x64)
• If you intend to dictate in 32-bit apps: Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0.x (x86) and Microsoft .NET Runtime 8.0.x (x86)
• ASP.NET Core 8.x.x (x64)

Dragon Copilot desktop supports the following operating systems:

• Windows 11
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025

For a list of edit controls that Dragon Copilot desktop fully supports, see: Supported edit controls

Microphone access requirements

To ensure that Dragon Copilot can access any connected microphones, open Windows Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone and turn on Microphone access.

Alternatively, add the following key to the registry: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\microphone] "Value"="Allow"

Important

If your policies are configured to revert any changes made in HKEY_CURRENT_USER when the session ends, you must update them to make sure these registry changes are permanent.

Group Policy settings

In the Local Group Policy Editor:

• Confirm that the following setting is disabled or not configured: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Internet Communication Management > Internet Communication settings > Turn off Automatic Root Certificates Update
• Confirm that the following settings are enabled: Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Public Key Policies > Certificate Path Validation Settings > Network Retrieval > Allow issuer certificate (AIA) retrieval during path validation and Automatically update certificates in the Microsoft Root Certificate Program

Step 1: Install the desktop app

After you make sure that your system fulfills all the requirements, you're ready to install Dragon Copilot desktop. The following options are available:

• Deploy the XCOPY package.
• Install via the Windows Installer (MSI).

Download the desktop app

1. Open your web browser and go to Microsoft Download Center.
2. On the Dragon Copilot desktop download page, select the language from the dropdown list that corresponds to the data center region you're licensed for.
3. Select Download.
4. Select the file you want to download (ZIP file for XCOPY deployment or MSI file for installing via the Windows Installer).
5. Select Download.

Alternatively, open the Overview page of the Dragon Copilot capability you want to download in Dragon admin center and select an installation file for download.

Deploy the XCOPY package

Tip

Make sure your system fulfills all requirements and all dependencies are installed before you proceed.

1. Open Windows Explorer and go to the location where you saved the ZIP file.
2. Make sure the ZIP file isn't marked as unsafe: Select and hold (or right-click) it, select the General tab, and if necessary, select Unblock > Apply.
3. Extract all package contents to a new directory.
4. Open the application file: Microsoft.DragonCopilot.Desktop.exe

Tip

Pin the app icon to your start menu for fast and easy access.

Install via the Windows Installer (MSI)

Important

This operation requires administrator rights.

Tip

Make sure your system fulfills all requirements before installation. The Windows Installer doesn't check if all prerequisites are met, and the MSI package doesn't contain any infrastructure-related files.

By default, the installation places application binaries in the following location: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Microsoft Dragon Copilot. You can specify a different target directory through the command line:

msiexec /i <Dragon Copilot MSI path> INSTALLDIR=<target path>

The installation automatically creates a desktop shortcut named Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Command-line options

Option	Description
/i	Installs the specified package.
/f	Repairs the installation.
/x	Uninstalls the specified app. Alternatively, you can uninstall the app through the Control Panel > Programs and Features window. To specify the app to uninstall, provide either the path to the MSI file or the product GUID. To find the product GUID (or product code), open the MSI file in any MSI editor, go to the Property table, and look up the value for the ProductCode property. Example: msiexec /x <msi_path> or msiexec /x <{Product GUID}>.
/qn	Executes the specified command silently, without displaying any messages. Example: msiexec /i <msi_path> INSTALLDIR=<target_path> /qn

Step 2: Enable microphone buttons and WebView2 text controls

You only need to perform this step once per deployment or if you change the deployment location.

Important

You must complete this step before you start the Dragon Copilot desktop app.

Command-line prompts

This operation requires administrator rights on the machine. Dragon Copilot tries to elevate rights. If it can't elevate rights, you can't proceed.

Note

This operation invokes regsvr32.exe.

To enable microphone buttons only, run the following command:

Microsoft.DragonCopilot.Desktop.exe -enableMicButtons

To enable microphone buttons and support for WebView2 text controls and web-based EHRs, run one of the following commands:

Microsoft.DragonCopilot.Desktop.exe -enableHub -enableMicButtons

Microsoft.DragonCopilot.Desktop.exe -silent -enableHub -enableMicButtons

You need to register the Dragon Copilot hub launcher module by using the enableHub parameter if:

• You want to use the full range of dictation functionality in your web-based EHR.

• You want to dictate at the cursor in apps such as Cerner PowerChart that contain text controls hosted on Microsoft Edge WebView2.

For WebView2 support, after you execute the command, start both Dragon Copilot and your EHR to establish communication between the two apps.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
enableMicButtons	Yes	Updates the WebHidAllowDevicesForUrls registry key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to enable microphone button support.
enableHub	No	Registers the Dragon Copilot hub launcher module.
silent	No	Suppresses all messages during command execution.

Step 3: Install the Dragon Copilot Web Extension

Note

The Dragon Copilot Web Extension is currently only available in the US and Canada.

To use the full range of dictation functionality in your web-based EHR, you need to install the Dragon Copilot Web Extension. You must install the extension on each machine and operating system user that uses Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

Install the Dragon Copilot Web Extension for Google Chrome

To install the extension from the Chrome Web Store:

1. In your Chrome browser, go to the Microsoft Dragon Copilot Web Extension.
2. Select Add to Chrome.
3. In Chrome, open the Settings menu and select Extensions.
4. Search for "Microsoft Dragon Copilot Web Extension" and make sure that the extension is enabled.
5. Select Details > Site access > On all sites.
6. Restart your browser or reload your tabs.

Install the Dragon Copilot Web Extension for Microsoft Edge

To install the extension from the Edge add-ons store:

1. In your Edge browser, go to the Microsoft Dragon Copilot Web Extension.
2. Select Get > Add extension.
3. On the Edge toolbar, select the extension icon > Manage extensions.
4. Search for "Microsoft Dragon Copilot Web Extension" and make sure that the extension is enabled.
5. Select Details > Site access > On all sites.
6. Restart your browser or reload your tabs.

Note

This extension might cause problems when interacting with some websites. If you experience problems such as performance degradation, you can temporarily disable the extension for that specific website: In the browser toolbar, select the Dragon Copilot icon next to the extension icon , and turn off Extension enabled.

Update Dragon Copilot desktop

To update to a new version of the desktop app, follow these steps: Install the desktop app. You don't need to uninstall the currently installed version first.