Windows Copilot replaces Cortana as your new AI-powered personal assistant in Windows 11

Microsoft is doubling down on its AI capabilities with its new Windows Copilot feature. Having already integrated its AI-powered Bing search engine into Windows 11 along with AI-powered productivity tools to Edge and Office, the Redmond-based company is now introducing Windows Copilot as the new personal assistant for Windows 11 users.

During Microsoft Build, the tech giant lifted the veil off their latest AI-powered tool in the form of Windows Copilot. According to Microsoft, Windows is now the first PC platform in the world to provide centralised AI assistance for their users with Copilot, which together with Bing Chat and plugins will help users complete their projects and bring their ideas to life. It seems to be everything Microsoft wished Cortana was in the first place, and Copilot looks set to replace Cortana altogether; the old assistant was already phased out quite a bit when Windows 11 came along anyway.

Once it’s out and available to the public, Windows 11 users will be able to access Windows Copilot simply by launching it via the taskbar. It’ll open into a Copilot side bar and once open, the side bar will always be available for you to access across your apps, programs and windows. Microsoft says this will make every user a power user, helping you take action, customise your settings and connect across your apps. Copilot will also apparently improve the standard suite of Windows tools too such as Snap Assist, Snipping Tool, personalisation and more.

“We’re thrilled to introduce Windows Copilot. Windows is the first PC platform to provide centralized AI assistance for customers.

The things you love about Windows – copy/paste, Snap Assist, Snipping Tool, personalization – they are all right there for you, along with every other feature on the platform, and they only get better with Windows Copilot,” – Panos Panay, Microsoft Chief Product Officer, Windows and Devices

For instance, when you copy content onto your clipboard, you can get Windows Copilot to help rewrite, summarise or even explain what you’ve copied back to you. Similarly, you can talk to Copilot and ask it a bunch of questions and it’ll provide you answers. On top of that, Microsoft claims that with Windows Copilot, users will not only be able to access new augmented AI capabilities and experiences, but developers in particular will benefit by having new ways to reach their customer base. Specifically, they call for devs to be part of the Windows Copilot program by working on their own Bing and ChatGPT plugins to be used together with Copilot.

Windows Copilot will become available in preview for Windows 11 some time next month, but if you can’t wait till then you can click here to sign up for more updates about it straight from Microsoft.