Your Next Windows PC Will Have This Brand-New Key

Copilot will soon be available at the press of a button.

For the first time in almost 30 years, Microsoft is adding a new key to its keyboard layout. Microsoft announced the change in a short video showcasing what this new Copilot key might look like on a Windows PC keyboard.

This is the first time Microsoft has added a new key to the keyboard since 1994, when it added the Windows key. It's unclear if this new key will replace the Windows key—the company has said it will "join" the Windows key—though it does appear to be in the same place as the Windows key in the video that Microsoft shared. We'll have to wait to see it in action to know exactly where it will appear or what it will look like.

What is Copilot?

This is an extensive question that I answer in my in-depth Copilot explainer, which shares details all about Microsoft's very confusing Copilot AI system. For now, though, all you need to know is Copilot is Microsoft's answer to generative AI. It's a chatbot that can answer questions, help you find things on your PC, and even generate images.

Why is Microsoft adding a Copilot key?

Microsoft is really pushing its AI offerings, which is why it is adding a Copilot key to your keyboard. The idea here is that by putting AI front and center, more and more people will use it, allowing Microsoft to expand and offer more functionality. The company, and many others like it, are betting on generative AI chatbots like Copilot, which is an important step to getting more people to pick it up.

Microsoft has also toyed with the idea of replacing the Start Menu button with Copilot, though a consensus on that hasn't been reached quite yet as far as we know.

What if my PC doesn't have Copilot?

Despite Microsoft's push for Copilot, the service is only readily available on Windows 11, and it is slated to reach Windows 10 sometime down the line, too. Currently, only around 400 million active users have Windows 11 installed. That's only a tiny share of the 1.6 billion users that Microsoft has in the Windows ecosystem, so Copilot isn't something everyone has ready access to. So what if your PC doesn't have Copilot and you buy a keyboard with a Copilot key?

Well, the good news is that it doesn't matter if you have Copilot or not. If your PC doesn't have Copilot enabled or installed, then pressing the key will simply open up the regular Windows search system, allowing you to still easily search your PC for any features, functionality, or apps that you're looking for at the time. Plus, the key will only ship on new laptops that run Windows 11, like Dell's new XPS devices.

While the change will be big for users that like Copilot, having a keyboard with a Copilot key isn't going to mean much to the everyday people that don't rely on AI to get through their online activities. And, for the moment, you can still openly ignore Copilot if you don't want to buy into Microsoft's AI craze. However, Microsoft will likely one day lean even harder into the AI services it offers, so don't expect this always to be the case.