Microsoft Revamps Copilot Key Experience: A Less Intrusive Approach to AI Integration

Microsoft is making the Copilot key experience less intrusive

Summary Microsoft is adjusting the Copilot key on Windows hardware to provide a less intrusive experience. Tapping the key will no longer open the full experience, just a small prompt for interaction. The updated UX will roll out on Windows 11 PCs starting in May 2025, with a tutorial for customers to adjust to the change. For the past few months, Microsoft has been asking Windows hardware OEMs to include a Copilot key on the keyboard of upcoming "AI PCs", which also serves as a way to promote the Copilot+ brand. While some customers abhor the idea of having a dedicated key for Copilot, others have figured out multiple ways to replicate the experience without buying new hardware. That said, the general perception appears to be negative and while Microsoft isn't completely getting rid of this concept, it's making the Copilot key experience less intrusive for commercial customers moving forward. A less intrusive Copilot may be the way to go In a blog post, Microsoft has stated that from next month, tapping the Copilot key on your keyboard won't open the full-fledged Microsoft 365 Copilot app experience. Instead, you'll get a small prompt box that allows you to interact with the AI agent without the need to switch context. You'll still be able to expand this to the full app experience, but at least it won't be the default behavior. People with older hardware who don't have the Copilot key but still utilize the AI companion through the Win + C shortcut will see the same minimal experience. The Redmond firm claims that this UX change has been made in accordance with customer feedback. What does the rollout schedule look like? Microsoft says that it will begin rolling out the updated experience on Windows 11 PCs from May 2025. This will also function the same way on managed Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise PCs, provided that the associated user is signed in with their Microsoft Entra account and has the Microsoft 365 Copilot app installed. Interestingly, the UX modification for keyboards with hardware keys is dependent on an upcoming Microsoft 365 update, while those who utilize the shortcut will have to wait for a Windows Update. Customers will also get a first-run tutorial of sorts that will introduce them to the new experience. It is important to note that following this rollout, it won't be possible to map the full Microsoft 365 Copilot app experience to this key or shortcut. Furthermore, if you have mapped your key or shortcut to some other functionality, you won't be affected by this change at all. Finally, Microsoft has encouraged all organizations and customers to pin the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to their PC's taskbar in order to enable easier access. The firm also recommended IT admins to use policies which can be leveraged to configure the applications pinned to the taskbar.

Windows Copilot promises to chill out when you tap the key

Business customers, at least, will be moved to a less obtrusive "chat" experience when they use the Copilot shortcut on Windows. Remember when Microsoft promised that the Copilot key would be the next big thing? Since then Microsoft has begun backing away from its Copilot app, and this week the company is promising that Copilot won't even launch when you tap the key -- just a subset of the app will. This "new experience" for Copilot won't feature the full-fledged Copilot app. Instead, Microsoft is promising that the Copilot key -- or, in future, the WIN+C shortcut -- will launch Copilot Chat, a small chat box that won't take up as much screen space as before. Cool, right? But even this new experience isn't free from Microsoft's fragmentation problems, which puts separate features on separate tracks. Microsoft has two Copilot experiences: the "consumer" version of Copilot, and the more professional Copilot experience as Microsoft 365 Copilot. This week, Microsoft began reworking that latter version of Copilot to bring it more in line with the consumer application, which allows for image creation. Microsoft 365 Copilot is adding project-based Notebooks and other features, such as improved AI search and an "agent store" for sending out AI to do more specific tasks. It's Microsoft 365 Copilot that's receiving the less obtrusive interface. In May, Microsoft said it will launch "an updated Copilot key experience," which will launch a "prompt box" using Copilot Chat. While the app can be expanded into the full Copilot app, it's designed to offer a minimal interface at launch. If you have a Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise PC with a Copilot key, and the Copilot key is mapped to the full Microsoft 365 Copilot app, you'll see this behavior change, too, as part of a Windows update. Put another way, you'll have to launch the Copilot Chat app, then launch the full-screen app if that's the way you work. (If you've already mapped the Copilot key to some other app or function, that won't change.) It's not clear what will happen to the Alt+Space shortcut. Microsoft's blog post says that the key changes are being pushed to "organizations," implying that business customers may be the first group to receive the change. But it wouldn't be surprising if it migrated into the consumer space, too. Microsoft has waffled between making Copilot a web app, and then a native one; and the Copilot key can now be remapped to other functions on consumer PCs, too. Microsoft probably correctly feels that businesses don't want an omnipresent Copilot app taking over their screen when they tap the Copilot key. But there's sure to be a set of consumers who feel the same way, too.