Microsoft Copilot is becoming more useful and feature-rich as time goes on, so it benefits you to enable it in Windows 11. From help with day-to-day Windows tasks to summarizing web pages or coming up with better wording for an email, Copilot already has lots to offer the averageWindows 11PC user.
Unfortunately, though, many users have found that they can’t access Microsoft Copilot. This is usually due to their geographical location, because Microsoft hasn’t rolled out the proprietary AI helper to everyone just yet. There are workarounds, though, so you might be able to enable it even if you fall outside the current official target market. Here’s how to enable it on your Windows 11 PC, plus some simple steps you can take to force-enable Microsoft Copilot if you need.
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What is Microsoft Copilot?
Copilot is the name given to several of Microsoft’s AI chatbot and assistance features, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, Edge Copilot, and Windows Copilot. It uses OpenAI’sGPT-4large language model (LLM) and gives users access to a chatbot that can help with day-to-day tasks in software with which it is integrated.
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When enabled,Microsoft Copilot in Windowsallows you to chat with the Copilot chatbot in a right-side panel to find quick answers to questions or perform typical chatbot functions, such as summarizeMicrosoft Edgeweb pages. You can also direct it to perform common Windows tasks, such as turn on dark mode or take a screenshot. The main draw to Windows Copilot over standalone chatbots is that it has access to operating system (OS) functions, alloiong you to perform Windows tasks easily as more Copilot plugins and features are implemented.
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How to check if you have Copilot enabled
The easiest way to check if you already have Microsoft Copilot enabled is to hit Win + C simultaneously on your keyboard – if Microsoft Copilot is installed and enabled, this should launch it. You should also see the Copilot icon on the bottom-right of your screen, next to the clock and the notification section of your toolbar.
Older Copilot versions had the icon located next to the Windows icon, so be sure to check there, too.
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How to enable Copilot on a Windows 11 PC
To enable Windows Copilot on your Windows 11 laptop or PC desktop, follow these steps:
Once Copilot is launched, you may start interacting with it by typing in your queries or commands in the chat pane that appears.
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How to force-enable Copilot on Windows 11
If you’re in a geographical region where Copilot hasn’t been rolled out, enabling it should still be a breeze, as there’s a handy third-party tool that can enable Copilot for you.
Option 1: Update your build and join Insider
You might be able to force-enable Microsoft Copilot simply by updating your Windows installation. You should be onWindows 11 23H2 build 22621.2361 or aboveto access Copilot. To check your current Windows build, open the Run dialogue withWin + Randenter"winver".
To update Windows 11, do the following:
you may also try participating in theWindows Insider Programto get preview Windows 11 builds. To do this, from theWindows Updatepage, selectWindows Insider Program, then selectGet started, and follow the instructions.
Option 2: Use ViVeTool to force-enable Copilot
If, even after updating Windows and participating in the Insider Program, you don’t see Microsoft Copilot in your Settings, you’re able to use a third-party app calledViVeToolto enable it. (Credit goes toTroubleChutefor this fix.)
Restart your PC, and Microsoft Copilot should be installed on your Windows 11 OS. From here, you just have toenable it in your Taskbar settingsas described above. If it’s still not installed, users in your geographical location might currently be locked out of Copilot access.
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Should you try Copilot on your PC?
We’re already seeing more OS functionality being added to Copilot in the most recent Windows beta (build 26058), such as the ability to empty the recycle bin and change text size (viaPCGamer). And if you install the Power Automate plugin for Copilot in this Windows beta, you’re able to use it to do things such as move files and split a PDF in two.
We recommend trying out Copilot on Windows 11 if you can, largely because its number of features seems set to exponentially increase, and Microsoft seems committed toembedding Copilot in its laptop ecosystem. If more and more quality-of-life and task efficiency features are implemented, and if Copilot becomes ubiquitous, we’d be fools for not at least trying it out.
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Q: Is your Microsoft Copilot icon missing?
If you’ve managed to enable Microsoft Copilot and can launch it with “Win + C”, you might still be missing the Copilot icon. This might be because your geographical location hasn’t been granted official access to Copilot, or it could be because of a known issue, such as one that occurswhen using multiple monitors.
If this is the case, don’t worry, you can make your own icon to launch Copilot by doing the following:
Unfortunately, it seems that this icon cannot be pinned to the taskbar like other icons, but you can still run it from the desktop to launch Microsoft Copilot. Or, you canpaste it into C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programsto have it appear in yourStart menu. You can change the icon for this shortcut byright-clicking, selectingProperties, going toWeb Document, and selectingChange Icon.
Q: Is MicrosofCopilot still not working for you?
If you still can’t enable Microsoft Copilot on Windows 11 after working the above steps, you might just have to be patient. Microsoft is still rolling out Copilot to different regions, and it isn’t officially available everywhere yet.
If Copilot hasn’t launched for your location yet, you could try using a VPN to make Microsoft think you’re somewhere else, but this isn’t guaranteed to work.
Also, give your Windows installation some time to check for and install further updates, and do whatever other wizardry the operating system does in the background to work out all the kinks. After enabling Copilot, it took a day or two of reboots before the Copilot icon appeared on my taskbar.
