Microsoft is experimenting with yet another way to access its Copilot assistant in Windows 11. The latest Insider Preview build adds a new Copilot Vision button that appears when users hover over an open app in the taskbar. The feature allows them to share the content of that window directly with Microsoft’s AI chatbot.
When selected, the “Share with Copilot” button lets Copilot Vision scan what is displayed on screen, analyse it, and provide additional context. For example, it can help identify people celebrating in a sports image, offer insights into a sculpture captured in a photograph, or guide users with tutorials related to the content.
The update highlights Microsoft’s continuing push to embed Copilot more deeply across Windows, although not all users are convinced the assistant needs so many entry points.
Growing presence of Copilot across Windows
In recent months, Microsoft has placed Copilot buttons in a variety of applications and locations. They can now be found in tools such as Paint and Notepad, on the taskbar, within keyboards, and even as physical buttons on certain new PCs.
This increasing visibility has drawn mixed reactions. While Microsoft is eager to showcase Copilot’s potential, many users argue that the assistant is being integrated into too many places without clear demand. Despite this, the company remains committed to testing new access points to determine which features are most useful.
The new Copilot Vision tool reflects Microsoft’s broader strategy of expanding the assistant’s role in helping users understand and interact with on-screen information. Unlike static AI features, it aims to provide live analysis that feels more responsive to the user’s immediate context.
The feature may not reach all users
Microsoft has made clear that the new taskbar button is still experimental. The company has said it is “trying out this taskbar capability,” which means it may never appear in the standard release of Windows 11. Previous test features have sometimes been dropped after trial runs if they failed to gain traction or generated negative feedback.
Alongside the Copilot Vision button, the Insider Preview build also includes a more practical addition: the ability to translate on-screen text. This feature is a potentially more useful tool for everyday users compared with yet another Copilot shortcut.
For now, the Copilot Vision experiment remains part of Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to establish its AI assistant as a core element of Windows. Whether this new button survives testing or is quietly removed in future builds will depend largely on how users respond during the preview phase.
