Microsoft Copilot claims it can set reminders. My phone never buzzed
Image: Microsoft
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld tested Microsoft Copilot’s new reminder feature for Android and iOS phones, which allows setting reminders from a PC similar to old Cortana functions.
- The feature proved unreliable during testing, with reminders failing to trigger notifications on devices, raising concerns about Copilot’s overall utility.
- With SimilarWeb reporting only 1 percent usage figures for Copilot, this unreliability could further impact user trust and adoption rates.
Microsoft has quietly added reminders to Copilot. Well, at least Copilot seems to think so. I don’t.
Windows Latest reports that you can now ask Copilot to set a reminder for a specific task, and the reminder should fire on your Android or iOS phone, letting you know what’s going on.
Reminders, of course, are nothing new — what is new is simply the ability to add one right from your PC, much like Cortana could do way back in Windows 10. Cortana even featured geolocation for a short time, so if you happened to be in the neighborhood of your grocery store, it could remind you to pick up milk or bread.
Copilot is not as sophisticated. But there is a feature within it that does allow you to set a reminder, at least according to Copilot. Simply tell it to remind you at a certain time, and Copilot will agree that it will.
Well, Windows Latest was able to get it to work. Not me.
Unfortunately, my phone didn’t buzz with the notification at the appointed time, and I didn’t receive a notification on my PC, either. Could it have been a connection issue?
I asked Copilot what went wrong, and it offered a laundry list of possible excuses.
I tried again, and Copilot failed again.
At this point, setting a user-generated reminder would be table stakes for a phone or PC a decade ago. And if Copilot is going to say that it can perform a reminder, it should. In 2026, having Copilot promise to do something it can’t do is just another reason that people are beginning to question how much Copilot is being used — and not getting answers. (SimilarWeb says that the Copilot usage figure is about at 1 percent. )
In 2020, Microsoft Cortana transitioned from part of Windows 10 an app, and I stumped it when I asked the answer to “2+2.” At least Copilot can figure that one out.
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.
