What to know
- Microsoft’s Copilot will soon be a dedicated key on your keyboard.
- The Copilot key will invoke Windows Copilot on the desktop, similar to its taskbar button.
- When Copilot is disabled, the Copilot key will invoke Windows Search.
- The Copilot key will reside next to the right-Alt key on the keyboard, though this may vary based on different OEMs and markets.
After stuffing Copilot into Windows, its suite of Microsoft 365 apps, and lately, as a downloadable app on your phone, Microsoft is gearing up to introduce Copilot to your keyboard as well. In a new blog post, Microsoft unveiled its plans to ship new PCs and laptops with a dedicated Copilot key. Here’s everything you need to know about the change coming to Windows PCs in 2024.
A new Copilot key on your keyboard
The introduction of the Copilot key marks the first major change to the layout of PC keyboards in 30 years.
Though many, no doubt, will consider it a needless change, Microsoft sees it as a “significant change toward a more personal and intelligent computing future where AI will be seamlessly woven into Windows”.
This means that whether one wants it or not, new buyers will have to contend with the Copilot key on their keyboard.
What will the Copilot key do?
As one would expect, the new Copilot key will bring up Windows Copilot on your screen, making it easier to get access to Copilot’s AI-powered features.
Granted that Copilot hasn’t been fleshed out fully in terms of its capabilities, and there’s still quite a way to go for it to become truly indispensable to one’s daily use, it’s a step toward making Copilot conspicuous to the point that it can’t be ignored.
Microsoft has also mentioned that if Copilot for Windows is not available or enabled on the device, the Copilot key will simply launch Windows Search. This may not be the ‘major’ change that Microsoft hopes it will be.
Though it hasn’t been confirmed, one can speculate the new dedicated key to offer new ways to customize shortcuts and hotkeys, similar to the Windows (or the Start menu) key. That would at least be some consolation for users who don’t want AI so deeply integrated into their PCs.
Where will the Copilot key reside on your keyboard?
The new Copilot key will reside next to the right-Alt key on your keyboard, taking the place of the application key (often called the context-menu key).
Of course, this will vary depending on the different OEMs and marketplaces. But Microsoft is yet to confirm which OEMs will get the option to add Copilot to the keyboard, and will most likely announce it in the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show.
With Microsoft putting all its AI eggs in one basket, the push toward a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard is yet another way for Microsoft to shoehorn AI into personal computing. Whether or not this change will be welcomed by users is as much a matter of time as it is a matter of what Copilot can actually do for you on a daily basis.
