Copilot brings AI to the latest Windows 11 preview

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It's taken some time, but Windows Copilot is finally available for Windows Insiders to try starting today. Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 build 23493 to Insiders in the Dev channel, and the headlining feature is the introduction of the company's new AI assistant, simply called Copilot. We've seen Copilot used for Microsoft 365 and GitHub, but this is the most widespread implementation of it yet. The new build includes a lot more changes, too.

An early preview of Windows Copilot

Screenshot of Windows Copitlot next to an Edge window

Copilot is obviously the highlight of Windows 11 build 23493, though it's still a somewhat early preview. Right now, it supports some integrations with Windows 11 features. For example, you can ask Copilot to do things like enable dark mode, turn on Do not disturb, or take a screenshot. Thirs-party plug-ins aren't supported yet.

You can also use Copilot for other things you might ask in Bing Chat, which is what this experience is based on. You can ask it to write a story or create an image, as well as any question about information you need to know, or help planning a trip, for example. Microsoft warns that you may also see "recommendations" powered by Bing ads.

Copilot is accessible by clicking the new dedicated button on the taskbar or using the Windows + C keyboard shortcut, which was previously used for the Teams chat integration. It opens as a panel on the right side of the screen, pushing your windows to left, rather than overlapping with them, so it's always accessible and doesn't block other information on screen.

As is typical for Microsoft, however, Copilot is controlled feature rollout (CFR) meaning only select Insiders will be able to try it out. Wider availability should come later.

Settings gets a new Home page

Screenshot of the new Windows 11 Settings Home page

While Copilot is the center of attention here, there are a few other major changes in this build. First off, the Settings app is getting a new Home page, which is where you'll find link to the most important or common settings. The Home page opens by default and contains a few sections, starting with a Recommended Settings card, which is based on your most commonly-used settings, with quick recommendations for the things you use the most.

Other cards include cloud storage, account recovery, Xbox, Bluetooth devices, and personalization. There definitely seems to be a focus on features revolving around your Microsoft account here, but some of these settings are legitimately useful and things you're likely to use frequently. Microsoft says more cards will be added soon, and the Home page will learn based on your usage patterns, so it should show you more relevant content the more you use the app.

Restore desktop apps

Microsoft has been working on improving the backup and restore experience for Windows 11 for the past few builds, and this one also comes with a big improvement. Now, Windows 11 can back up your pinned desktop apps, even those that weren't installed from the Microsoft Store. For apps that were installed through the Microsoft Store, you can click the pinned icon to install it again. If it wasn't, clicking the pinned icon can take you to the developer's website so you can install the app manually.

Support for more archive types

A feature that Microsoft had announced earlier this year at Build was native support for more archive file types, such as .rar and .7z. This feature is now rolling out, and the supported file types include, but are not limited to:

.tar
.tar.gz
.tar.bz2
.tar.zst
.tar.xz
.tgz
.tbz2
.tzst
.txz
.rar
.7z

Many of these file formats are very popular for archives, and native support for them is arguably long overdue, so it's great to see it finally roll out. Microsoft says it has also improved archive compression performance in Windows 11.

New volume mixer

Screenshot of the audio mixer in Windows 11 Quick Settings

Microsoft is also finally bringing a new feature from the Canary channel to the Dev channel, and that's the new volume mixer experience. This new experience lets you change the volume of audio playback for each of your apps with a modernized look without having to go into the Settings app every time. Just like before, you can also control the audio for different playback devices connected to your PC.

This change has been a long time coming, and the lack of a modern audio mixer was something that was frequently pointed out in regard to Windows 10. Windows 11 worked around it by building a volume mixer into the Settings app, but it's not as elegant as the old audio mixer was on previous versions of Windows.

In addition to this, Microsoft has also made it easier to access this volume mixer with a new keyboard shortcut: Windows + Ctrl + V.

Other changes

In addition to the new features and changes above, Microsoft has also made a few smaller improvements to the Windows 11 experience overall. One of them is a new look for the Snap Layouts overlay, where you can see the app icon for your current app inside the area you're selecting, making it clear where that app will be shown on the screen in that layout.

Microsoft has also implemented a new system for apps requesting to be pinned to the taskbar. Now, you'll see a notification when an app wants to be pinned to the taskbar, and you can choose to approve or deny that request, giving you more control over the apps that appear there. The company has also done some work to prevent unrequested changes to your app defaults, such as your default web browser.

Fixes

Of course, as with most builds, this one also comes with an array of fixes for different parts of the experience. You can find those below:

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing explorer.exe crashes when doing a variety of things in the last 2 builds, including when uninstalling apps.

[Dev Drive]

Fixed an issue where symbolic links might not work correctly when using Dev Drive.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where the count shown for selected files in the details pane may have been extremely large.

We fixed the following issues for Insiders with the modernized details pane in File Explorer:

Fixed an issue where the details pane was flashing white in dark mode when navigating or resizing the File Explorer window.

We fixed the following issues for Insiders with the modernized address bar in File Explorer:

Fixed an issue where the delete key was sometimes not working in File Explorer (including when doing Shift + Delete).

We fixed the following issues for Insiders who have the modernized File Explorer Home:

File Type icons were displayed in place of file thumbnails for ‘Recommended’ section (applicable to Enterprise users).
Insiders signed in with an AAD account and try to navigate the Recommended section on File Explorer Home with the tab key on the keyboard may have experienced an explorer.exe crash.
When navigating from another group to the Recommended section using a keyboard, focus did not appear on the group header or files appropriately.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed multiple explorer.exe crashes that were impacting taskbar reliability.
Fixed an issue when using uncombined taskbar that was causing focus to get lost when moving from the taskbar previews back to the taskbar icons.

[Search on the Taskbar]

Fixed an issue impacting search reliability for some Insiders in the last 2 flights.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to move the Task Manager window with touch or pen.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Fixed an issue where device icons were missing from the device cards in Settings.

[Windows Ink]

Fixed an issue where users were unable use handwriting to erase text in Microsoft Edge.

Known issues

Naturally, this build also comes with its fair share of known issues. That's to be expected with any Insider build, but there's a significant list in this build. You can read about all of them below:

[Windows Copilot]

You can use Alt + Tab to switch out of Windows Copilot, but not back into it. Windows + C will move focus back to Windows Copilot
When first launching or after refreshing Copilot while using Voice Access you'll need to use "Show grid" commands to click in the "Ask me anything" box for the first time.

[Dev Drive]

There might be variable performance on different hardware. If you notice slower performance on your machine, please file feedback!

[Search on the Taskbar]

After changing your Windows display language, the search box on the taskbar may continue to display in the previous language for a short time before changing to the new language you selected.
Text scaling may not work in the search flyout.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] Copying files out of large archives or using “Extract All” might be slower than expected for “solid” .7Z or .rar archives.
In some cases, the context menu background in File Explorer may appear transparent.
Insiders may experience a File Explorer crash when dragging the scroll bar or attempting to close the window during an extended file-loading process.
Thumbnail loading performance in Gallery for dehydrated cloud files and memory usage in large collections are known issues we are focused on improving. Please capture Performance traces in Feedback Hub for any performance-related issues. Rebuilding your Indexer can help if thumbnails are missing for cloud files; Search for “Indexing Options” and look in Advanced settings to find the rebuild tool.

Insiders who have the modernized File Explorer Home that began rolling out with Build 23475:

File Type icons are displayed in place of file thumbnails for ‘Recommended’ section (applicable to Enterprise users).
Insiders signed in with an AAD account and try to navigate the Recommended section on File Explorer Home with the tab key on the keyboard may experience an explorer.exe crash.
When navigating from another group to the Recommended section using a keyboard, focus does not appear on the group header or files appropriately.
Files display file extensions with the Show file extensions setting disabled.

Insiders who have the modernized File Explorer address bar that began rolling out with Build 23475:

Windows Insiders may notice missing craftmanship polish with the modernized address bar and search box. The team greatly appreciates the use of Feedback Hub to help call out important details to address.
Users might experience lost keyboard focus and missing keyboard shortcuts. The team implemented improved tabbing with keyboard shortcuts that will be available soon.
If “…” shows in the address bar path, selecting it will crash explorer.exe.

Insiders will have issues with the following commands on recommended files in File Explorer that began rolling out with Build 23403:

Clicking on the Share command will currently bring up the Windows share sheet (nonOneDrive).

[Notifications]

The copy button for quickly copying two-factor authentication (2FA) codes in notification toasts (first introduced in Build 23403) is currently not working in this build. A fix is coming in a future flight.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Using Wave and Wheel effects can result in typing not working in certain apps.
All-device settings changes are not propagating to per-device Settings.
Switching user accounts can turn off device LEDs.

[Windows Ink]

The address box in Microsoft Edge might not work correctly.
Windows Ink does not convert handwriting to text into the main content (e.g., Word documents and Excel spreadsheets) in Microsoft 365 applications.
Search boxes in Microsoft 365 applications (e.g., Microsoft Word) might not work correctly.
Comment fields in Microsoft 365 applications (e.g., Microsoft Word) might not work correctly.

As per usual, Windows 11 build 23493 can be downloaded from WIndows Update if you're a Windows Insider enrolled in the Dev channel. You can always join the Insider program if you want to try these and other Windows 11 features in preview, but keep in mind you will be running into problems more frequently. Many or most of these features should be available to the general public with Windows 11 version 23H2 this fall.