Microsoft is getting rid of the Copilot keyboard shortcut on Windows 11
What you need to know
The Copilot app on Windows will soon act more like a traditional app.
Microsoft began testing the ability to resize, move, and snap the Copilot Window in the latest Beta Channel Insider build of Windows 11.
Windows 11 Build 22635.3785 first shipped to the Beta Channel on June 14, 2024 but Microsoft has since added the changes to the Copilot experience.
Microsoft Copilot now integrates with Windows 11, allowing you to summon the AI-powered tool with a keyboard shortcut or the push of a button (though the keyboard shortcut is going away). Copilot sits in the taskbar currently, opening on the side of your desktop. Right now, there are only a few customization options when it comes to moving Copilot around your screen, but that's about to change.
A recent update to an Insider build of Windows 11 adds the ability to resize, move, and snap the Copilot experience in the same way you'd rearrange a traditional app. Copilot can be dragged to expand already and you can choose to have it appear over or next to open apps, but it is still stuck to the side of your screen.
Microsoft added the following changes to Build 22635.3785 on June 19, 2024:
As part of this update, we’re also evolving the Copilot** experience on Windows as an app that will be pinned to the taskbar. This enables users to get the benefits of a traditional app experience, including the ability to resize, move, and snap the window – feedback we’ve heard from users throughout the preview of Copilot in Windows. This model also allows Microsoft to more agilely develop and optimize the experience based on user feedback. PLEASE NOTE: Managed commercial devices will not receive this new experience. This includes devices not running Windows 11 Home and are managed by an IT administrator.
As part of the Copilot experience’s evolution on Windows to become an app that is pinned to the taskbar, we are retiring the WIN + C keyboard shortcut.
The changes were outlined in the Windows Insider Blog post about the build.
Since Copilot is evolving into an app experience, Microsoft will retire the WIN + C shortcut to summon the tool. That change goes into effect with the recent update to Build 22635.3785 as well.
Microsoft has made several changes to Copilot since we initially went hands-on with the tool, but our video by Senior Editor Zac Bowden shows the basics of Copilot. The tool started as essentially a shortcut to the Copilot web experience but has since gained more features that allow it to integrate with your PC.
