When Microsoft introduced its new Copilot + PC earlier this year, it made the first change to the standard Windows keyboard in over 30 years by adding a new dedicated Copilot Key

However, not all new PCs meet the criteria to be considered Microsoft's Copilot + PC, and some are also equipped with these new keys However, when the company's Copilot AI was released, key features like Recall were almost immediately ahem, recalled As mentioned above, some PCs do not have Copilot or have never even used the feature

As Ars Technica discovered, for those who do not use Copilot or find it infrequently used, Microsoft has been testing the ability to program Copilot keys within the Windows Insider beta program in recent preview builds for testing Functionally, the Copilot key can be used as a shortcut to launch other tools and programs

However, the Copilot key is not freely customizable

“The Copilot key can be selected to launch MSIX-packaged and signed apps, thereby demonstrating that the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe,” Microsoft writes on its Insider Blog Microsoft wrote on its Insider Blog

In general, however, apps installed via the Microsoft Store or bundled with Windows are more likely to meet these requirements Apps from other sources may not and should be checked Additionally, the Copilot key only launches apps, not batch files or other executables

Copilot itself was already remappable, but doing so would render the special new key largely inoperative

Microsoft's AI efforts also received a major update this week with several new features and enhancements

The current preview build is based on Windows 11 24H2, an update Microsoft just released this week

Microsoft's Insiders program is a test environment, and this feature may never see the light of day in a public build of Windows 11 Likewise, it could be completely reworked before release However, if we had to bet, this feature will most likely actually be released to the public in the coming months