Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Microsoft, like most other major tech companies, is cramming as much artificial intelligence as it can into its products. It's shown up in Microsoft Edge, in the Office suite, and even in the most basic programs on the operating system, such as Notepad and Paint. It's difficult to get away from, but you're not obliged to use it. If you'd rather you didn't have AI assistants regularly interrupting you, or you want to rely on your own abilities to put one word in front of another, there are ways of disabling and hiding the AI.

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. 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. 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.

Updated on April 3, 2025: The new version of Microsoft Copilot is now rolling out to all Windows users. It's available for Windows 10 and Windows 11 and can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store. Previously, it was only available to Windows Insiders via preview builds, but now everyone can start using the new features. Original story from March 5, 2025: Microsoft has once again made changes to Copilot, with the new version now being delivered to Windows 11 Insiders. The redesign is meant to rethink the experience from the ground up, and that means Copilot is now a native app that's directly integrated into the operating system.

Want to talk with Copilot? If you do, Microsoft is testing an intuitive little tweak to allow you to do so. On March 10, Microsoft launched a new shortcut that is rolling out as part of the Copilot app on Windows: a "long press" combination of Alt SPACE as a press-to-talk shortcut to open the Copilot app. But who would remember that? Now, Microsoft is testing a smarter alternative as part of the Windows Insider Beta Channel, launching a "press-to-talk" voice chat by holding down the Copilot key for two seconds instead.

Newer Windows PCs have included a special Copilot key for about a year now. The Copilot key is meant to be a dedicated way to bring up Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant, although some people never use it and have turned to repurposing the Copilot key for other actions. But then there are others who want to use Copilot and wish they had a dedicated button for calling it up, yet don't want to shell out money on a new laptop just for said key. If that's you, then here's some good news: Microsoft is adding a new keyboard shortcut for Copilot. According to the announcement post, the Copilot app for Windows (available via the Microsoft Store) will soon be able to initiate a voice conversation with Copilot by holding Alt Space for 2 seconds. Once you're done talking, you can press Esc to end the conversation.

Microsoft has once again made changes to Copilot, with the new version now being delivered to Windows 11 Insiders. The redesign is meant to rethink the experience from the ground up, and that means Copilot is now a native app that's directly integrated into the operating system. According to Windows Latest, initial testers say the new Copilot Windows 11 app works even better than the ChatGPT desktop app. This is mainly due to the fact that Copilot works and responds with almost no delays and requires much less memory. Microsoft has redeveloped the Copilot app from scratch, utilizing Windows technologies like XAML and WinUI.

Instead of integrating Copilot as a function in Windows, Microsoft has presented its AI assistant as a new app. The app seems to automatically install itself onto your machine via the monthly updates, but only if you're in the US. However, if you're from the EU, the app is only available on the Microsoft Store. We'll show you how to manually install it (if you chose to embrace Copilot and its features that is). Here's how I fixed it To install the app, open the Microsoft Store via the Start menu, type Copilot into the search field, and click on "Microsoft Copilot."

Neowin reports that tech giant Microsoft will be shaking up the user interface of its Microsoft 365 app early next year. In addition, the app will be getting a new icon and a small name change, henceforth to be called "Microsoft 365 Copilot" starting mid-January 2025. The app will no longer have a top header. Instead, tools like user profile, settings, and feedback will move to the bottom left toolbar. The feedback button will be available under the "Settings and more" section in the bottom left toolbar.