- Windows 11’s latest preview has an Ask Copilot feature
- This effectively replaces the search box on the taskbar
- It achieves basically the same function, but supercharged by AI – although the existing search function is present behind the scenes
Windows 11 has a new preview release, and it heralds a big move with Copilot, putting a fuller incarnation of AI on the taskbar — if you want it there. In the blog post introducing build 26220.7051 in the Beta and Dev channels, Microsoft has announced the choice to have a new ‘Ask Copilot’ feature on the taskbar.
The company has already unveiled this functionality as part of its wider push to bolster AI capabilities in Windows 11 – and that’s outside of Copilot+ PCs, too – and the idea is that Ask Copilot replaces the traditional Windows search box.
You’re still typing in this taskbar box, just like the current search, except this time Copilot guides the answers – and can show relevant files or apps on your PC or possible queries you might want to ask the AI (which will be turned on in the Copilot app, as you’d expect). You can also click to switch to a classic Windows 11 search (which opens the Start menu to run that query, the same way the taskbar search box works now – except it’s an extra click away).
On top of this, the Ask Copilot box has icons for one-click access to both Copilot Vision and also voice commands to the AI.
It’s also worth noting that elsewhere in this new preview build there’s a nifty introduction about an audio feature for watching movies with a friend on the same laptop – audio sharing across wireless headphones (sadly with some gripes).
Analysis: Microsoft would like to emphasize that Copilot is not intrusive
The idea is that Copilot sort of replaces the Windows 11 search bar, except that the latter functionality is still present – it’s just buried a click further away from the desktop (in the Start menu, as mentioned).
For those dreading the prospect of having Ask Copilot on the taskbar, the good news is that this is an opt-in feature, so if you don’t want it, you won’t get it.
Microsoft makes it clear that the Ask Copilot box is turned off by default, so you have to actively go into Settings and enable it to get this experience (in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Ask Copilot). And further remember that it’s only in testing for now, so you won’t see this unless you’re running the mentioned preview version of Windows 11.
Furthermore, Microsoft emphasizes – as it did when this feature was first revealed – that Ask Copilot does not use anything other than what Windows search already accesses. In other words, there is no change in the privacy of the contents of your PC, or AI poking its nose into your files or personal data, as some of the more paranoid out there might imagine.
Microsoft informs us: “Ask Copilot uses existing Windows APIs to return apps, files and settings – just like Windows Search – and does not give Copilot access to your personal content.”
So, even if turned on, this is no different than Windows 11 Search in its reach and oversight. But it obviously promotes the Copilot app in terms of it being called upon for probably a few queries made via the box. (And also the Copilot Vision and Voice icons are going to push further use of these abilities – not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with this, as they’re neat tricks, though Vision does come with some privacy caveats).
While Ask Copilot remains purely opt-in for now, it’s not hard to imagine that in the future this will be a central and mandatory item on the taskbar – indeed, probably a key part of the entire next-gen Windows interface alongside the Copilot app (if Microsoft gets its way, anyway – and maybe Mico too).
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