‘Hey, Cortana’ becomes ‘Hey, Copilot’ in Windows 11
Image: Mark Hachman / Foundry
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: You can now talk to your PC’s built-in AI.
A few years ago, you’d use the term, “Hey, Cortana” in Windows 10. But in Windows 11, Cortana has been replaced with Windows Copilot, and you can now interact with Copilot by saying “Hey, Copilot” instead.
Microsoft is testing the new feature within the Windows Insider program. If your PC is unlocked, and you’ve configured it to accept the “Hey Copilot” wake words, you can now interact with Copilot verbally. The Copilot UI will launch as a small microphone icon. Tapping the “X” next to it closes the conversation.
Here’s how to configure “Hey Copilot” according to Microsoft:
- Open Copilot
- Tap your avatar in the bottom left corner
- Tap Settings
- Scroll down to Voice mode
- Toggle “Listen for ‘Hey, Copilot’ to start a conversation” on or off. It is off by default.
The user interface looks virtually identical to the way in which you interact with Copilot Vision, which is now set up to test as well. I tried going hands-on with Copilot Vision a short time back. While the concept is sound (and even works quite well in a few apps!), it still needs some fine-tuning in terms of recognition.
However, Microsoft announced this week that you can now interact with more than one app within Copilot Vision. Even better, Copilot Vision now provides the visual indicator that it previously lacked. You can enable it by asking Copilot Vision to “show me how.”
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers’ News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.
