Welcome to the Alteryx Knowledge Base

Troubleshooting: Copilot Not Loading or Using the Wrong Version in Designer 25.2

If a Public Preview version of Copilot was installed for all users (as admin) and a user later installs non-admin Designer 25.2 with Copilot packaged, the system will continue loading the older, admin-installed Copilot instead of the newer one packaged with the non-admin Designer.

This issue occurs because Designer prioritizes admin-installed extensions over user-installed ones, regardless of version compatibility. Because Copilot is packaged with Designer 25.2+, when a Non-Admin version of Designer is installed, copilot is installed into the non-admin Extensions folder (AppData/Roaming).

Designer loads extensions in a specific order: 

1. Admin-installed extensions located in C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Extensions
2. User-installed extensions located in C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Alteryx\Extensions

In addition, installing or updating Copilot in the wrong order can cause the Designer-installed version to be overwritten or ignored. For example:

• If a Preview version was installed as an admin before installing Designer 25.2, Designer may continue using the older version.
• If a Preview was installed as an admin after installing Designer 25.2, it may overwrite the Copilot version installed with Designer.
• If only a non-admin version of Designer 25.2 is installed and a Preview version of Copilot was later installed for the single user, the user extension folder will contain the incompatible version.

When this situation occurs, Designer 25.2 displays the following message:

You are using a invalid version of Copilot. You are likely using a Public Preview version of Copilot on 25.2 Designer, which is not allowed.

Applies to:

• Alteryx Non-Admin Designer 25.2 and later
• Copilot (installed as admin from yxi version)

Before troubleshooting or applying the workaround:

• Verify Copilot exists in C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Extensions.
• Ensure the user has permission to delete or modify the extension directory.

This issue occurs because Designer prioritizes admin-installed extensions over user-installed ones, regardless of version compatibility. When Copilot is bundled with Designer 25.2+, the non-admin installation cannot override the admin-installed Copilot, leading to version conflicts.

Important: You need to have hidden files visible in Windows to see these paths. To enable this option, refer to the Show hidden files section at the bottom of this page. 

To ensure Designer loads the correct Copilot version:

Option 1: Install Designer as an admin

1. Download the latest Designer 25.2+ installer.
2. Run the installer as an administrator.
3. This ensures the Copilot extension installed matches the Designer version.

Option 2: Remove the admin-installed extension

1. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Extensions.
2. Delete the Extensions directory or remove the AyxCopilotExt folder only.
3. Relaunch Alteryx Designer.

It will now load the user-installed version located in:
C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Alteryx\Extensions.

• Designer 25.2 and later automatically include the GA version of Copilot.
• Installing or retaining older preview versions of Copilot (Public or Private Preview) may cause conflicts if both admin and user installations exist.
• Designer does not currently fall back to a different extension folder if an incompatible version is detected.

If you continue seeing the error message or Copilot does not load after following these steps, contact Alteryx Support. Include the following information:

• Your Designer version number
• Whether Designer is installed as admin or non-admin
• The contents of both extension folders:
  • C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Extensions
  • C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Alteryx\Extensions

If you need assistance with these steps or verifying your installation setup, contact Alteryx Support or your IT administrator.