Soon you’ll be able to remap the Copilot key on Windows PCs

When Microsoft announced that most new keyboards for Windows PCs would feature a dedicated Copilot key, a lot of people remained unconvinced that it was a good idea to add a key for a single feature that many folks don’t plan on using.

Now Microsoft has announced that it’s begun rolling out an update to Windows Insiders that makes it possible to remap the Copilot key so that it can be used for another purpose… although there are still limited options available.

By default, any Windows PC with a Copilot key will still launch Microsoft’s Copilot AI application on any computers that have Copilot installed. But starting with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4225 (Beta Channel), users will be able to remap the key to launch a different application instead.

You can only configure the key to launch apps that are packaged and signed in the MSIX format, because Microsoft says this indicates that “the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe.”

Users can customize what application the Copilot key launches by opening the Settings app and navigating to the the Text Input area in the Personalization area.

While this feature is rolling out to beta testers first, it will most likely find its way to stable builds of Windows 11 in the future. While Microsoft has been known to roll out features to Windows Insiders that never see the light of day, I feel like teasing this one and then canceling it would do more harm than good.