Microsoft's Copilot button: companies should reassign it

In January of this year, Microsoft introduced a new button for the first time in around thirty years : the Copilot button. It is supposed to open the Copilot app. Microsoft is now pointing out that admins in company networks should please change this.

In a blog post in the tech community, Microsoft writes that the original purpose, namely opening Copilot in Windows, has shifted. The company has adapted the Microsoft Copilot experience in Windows to better meet the wishes and needs of users.

Copilot in Windows is no more

This refers to the fact that Copilot is no longer directly integrated into Windows, particularly following pressure from the EU. The Microsoft Copilot app is only available to end users who authenticate themselves with a Microsoft account. It does not work for commercial users who log in with an Entra account. IT managers must therefore intervene to ensure that employees with an Entra account can access Copilot using the Copilot button.

Therefore, Microsoft recommends that commercial organizations reassign the Copilot button to launch the Microsoft 365 app, which provides simplified access for work and education. In the blog post, Microsoft provides instructions on how admins can solve this.

Newly rolled out machines now automatically receive the setting with the Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE) that the Microsoft 365 app is opened by pressing the Copilot button if an Entra account is set up. Users who set up a new Microsoft account for the device log-in will receive the configuration for personal use, so the Copilot app will open there.

Machines that have already been set up can reassign the button since the October update, but Microsoft does not automatically change anything here. However, for those using an Entra account, the Copilot app then redirects to the Microsoft Copilot "browser experience" at https://copilot.cloud.microsoft. This is developed for work anyway, explains Microsoft, and offers "Enterprise Data Protection" (EDP). However, admins can also use group policies to change the key assignment – The policy name is "WindowsAI/SetCopilotHardwareKey".

Since the preview version of Windows Updates in October, Microsoft has taught Windows 11 to assign the Copilot key differently. The way to do this is via the "Settings" – "Personalization" to "Text input". As part of the update, Microsoft mentioned – rather casually – that the M365 app should be set there for logins with an Entra ID account.

(dmk)