You might have heard people say – smart work over hard work! Right? Windows AI assistant, Copilot allows you to do just that. Although users can easily access it using the dedicated button on the taskbar or the Win + C hotkey, many still prefer to create a desktop shortcut for Copilot on Windows 11 or add it to the context menu. In this guide, we will show you how to do the same.
How to Create Copilot Desktop Shortcut on Windows 11
Shortcuts help you reach productive apps quickly and easily. So it’s a smart approach to create a desktop shortcut for Copilot AI too. Moreover, you can just remove the Copilot button from the taskbar and make room for more apps to fit into it.
1. Right-click on a blank space on the desktop, hover the cursor to the New option, and select Shortcut from the context menu.
2. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, copy and paste the following URL in the Type the location of the item text field:
Microsoft-edge://?ux=copilot&tcp=1&source=taskbar
3. Click on Next, Enter Copilot in the Type a name for this shortcut text field, and click on Finish.
Now a Copilot shortcut will be created on the desktop which you can double-click on to launch.
While Microsoft released the AI assistant with the latest Windows 11 update, you can also download it on Windows 10. Check our guide to download and install Microsoft Copilot on Windows 10.
How to Customize Copilot Shortcut Icon
Although with the above-mentioned steps, you’ll easily create the Copilot shortcut on the desktop, you might have noticed that its icon resembles that of Microsoft Edge. You can customize it as per your likeability.
1. Download the Copilot icon or any icon you want to set for the Copilot shortcut as preferred.
Note: It should be in .ico format to function as a shortcut icon. If you have downloaded it in any other format, convert it using an online File converter such as CloudConvert.
2. Right-click on the Copilot shortcut on the desktop and select Properties from the context menu.
3. Go to the Web Document tab and click on the Change Icon… button.
4. Click on the Browse… option, select the icon file you just downloaded, and click on Open.
5. Click on OK, and then on Apply and OK to save the changes.
Also Read: How to Sign up, Login, and Access Google Gemini AI
How to Add Copilot to Context Menu On Windows
You can even add Copilot to the context menu as well to add more convenience and flexibility. Here’s how:
1. On the Desktop, press the Windows+R keys to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit in the text box and press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Click on Yes in the UAC prompt to confirm.
3. Copy and paste the following address into the address bar and press Enter:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell
4. On the left panel, right-click on Shell, select New from the context menu, followed by Key.
5. Type Copilot as the new key name and press the Enter key.
6. Now, right-click on the Copilot key created by you, select New from the options, and then select String Value from the context menu.
7. Name it MUIVerb, and then double-click on it to open the Edit String box where you can set the Value data as Copilot. Click on OK.
8. Again click on the Copilot key, select New, then Key, and name it as command.
9. On the right pane, double-click on the (Default) value, and set its Value data to
rundll32.exe url.dll,FileProtocolHandler "microsoft-edge://?ux=copilot&tcp=1&source=taskbar"
10. Click on OK to save.
Also Read: How to Access and Use SantaGPT on ChatGPT
How to Remove Copilot Preview
You can easily remove the Copilot (preview) button from the taskbar following the steps below:
1. Open Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.
2. Toggle off the Copilot (preview) option.
To conclude, sometimes your digital shortcuts can become your smartest moves. Hope this article helped you with how to create a copilot desktop shortcut on Windows 11. Leave your suggestions and queries below in the comment section and keep reading our blogs for more such tech-related information.
