Microsoft has slipped a new “Share with Copilot” button into the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview, as first reported by The Verge. The button materializes when you hover over an open app’s icon on the taskbar, letting you pass the contents of that window directly to Copilot Vision with a single click.
It’s the latest in a rapid-fire series of Copilot entry points that Microsoft has been baking into the operating system over the past year, from a dedicated keyboard key to buttons inside Paint, Notepad, and the main taskbar. But unlike those, this one lives inside a transient preview—a place users visit for a split second to switch windows—and it can instantly trigger an AI scan of whatever is on your screen.
What’s new in the Insider build
The feature appears in the most recent Windows 11 Insider Preview and is delivered via a Microsoft Store update to the Copilot app. When you mouse over an open app’s icon on the taskbar, the familiar window preview thumbnail now includes a small “Share with Copilot” button. Clicking it fires up Copilot Vision, which captures what’s visible in that window and starts a conversation about it.
Here’s what Copilot Vision can do with that shared content:
- Analyze images, documents, or web pages visible on screen and answer questions about them.
- Provide step-by-step tutorials by highlighting UI elements (a feature Microsoft calls “Highlights”) and explaining where to click.
- Translate on-screen text and suggest localized alternatives.
- Offer context or background information about what’s shown—for example, identifying people in a photo or landmarks.
Microsoft is also testing related capabilities in the same Insider cycle, including the ability to share two app windows simultaneously or share your entire desktop. Translation of selected text is handled by the Copilot app, with processing taking place in the cloud.
Importantly, the company is explicit that this is an experiment. “We’re trying out this taskbar capability,” a Microsoft representative told The Verge. That means it could be removed in a future build before it ever reaches the stable channel.
What it means for everyday users
For Insiders willing to test cutting-edge features, the new button dramatically lowers the barrier to using Copilot Vision. Previously, you had to open the Copilot pane, enable Vision, select a window, and then wait for the analysis. Now, it’s a single click from a taskbar hover. That friction reduction might matter if you regularly need on-the-fly image recognition, translation, or UI coaching.
But for the vast majority of Windows 11 users who aren’t in the Insider program, nothing changes—for now. Even if this experiment graduates to a public release, the utility will depend heavily on your workflows:
- If you frequently collaborate or need quick explanations of on-screen content, the button is a handy accelerator. A single click can replace typing a long description or searching manually.
- If you rarely use Copilot or are privacy-conscious, it’s one more visual hint that Microsoft is pushing its AI assistant into every corner—and you may find it intrusive.
Privacy is the elephant in the room. Clicking “Share with Copilot” sends a screenshot of the selected window (or windows) to Microsoft’s cloud servers for analysis. While the interaction is opt-in and the session can be stopped, the button’s placement inside a thumbnail preview makes it dangerously easy to accidentally share sensitive information—a password manager, a banking app, a private conversation. Microsoft’s interface does not explicitly warn you about what data is being transmitted before the share occurs; it relies on the user understanding that clicking the button triggers a Vision session.
How IT admins should think about it
For enterprise environments, this feature raises immediate governance questions. Copilot Vision is not currently subject to the kind of data loss prevention (DLP) policies that organizations typically apply to email or file sharing. Any visual data shared with Copilot leaves the corporate perimeter and travels to Microsoft’s AI infrastructure.
Admins should:
- Monitor Insider build testing closely and provide feedback through the Windows Insider channels.
- Prepare for the possibility that a broader rollout will require group policy or MDM controls to disable the feature, just as Microsoft has done for other Copilot components.
- Plan user education campaigns so employees understand what screen sharing with an AI assistant actually entails, especially the lack of granular DLP controls.
Currently, the feature rollout is geographically limited—initial availability is focused on the United States—which may be related to regulatory and legal compliance. Expect that to broaden only after Microsoft has addressed the most pressing enterprise concerns.
How we got here: Copilot’s expansion across Windows 11
The “Share with Copilot” button didn’t materialize overnight. Microsoft has been systematically embedding Copilot into the operating system layer by layer.
- Early 2023: Copilot debuted as a sidebar icon on the taskbar, essentially a web wrapper for Bing Chat.
- Mid-2023: Copilot appeared in select apps like Paint and Notepad, adding AI image generation and text rewriting.
- Late 2023–2024: Microsoft added a dedicated Copilot key on new keyboards and PC hardware, and began testing deeper integrations like cross-app sharing and desktop analysis in Insider builds.
- Early 2025: The current Insider Preview introduces window-level sharing via the taskbar preview, alongside multi-window and full-desktop sharing, translation, and “Highlights”—a visual guidance system that annotates your screen with clickable cues.
Each expansion follows a pattern: Ship new functionality through the Microsoft Store as part of the Copilot app, gate it behind Insider builds, collect usage data and feedback, and then decide whether to promote it to the stable channel. The approach lets Microsoft iterate fast without destabilizing the core OS, but it also means users are subjected to a stream of half-baked AI features that can feel like a permanent experiment.
The motivations are clear. More Copilot entry points mean more engagement, richer telemetry for model training, and a stickier ecosystem that ties users to Microsoft’s AI services. In the corporate world, a deeply integrated Copilot creates demand for higher-tier subscriptions and paves the way for future monetization.
What you can do right now
If you’re running an Insider build and see the new button but want to steer clear, you have options.
Hide the Copilot taskbar button: Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. Under Taskbar items, toggle off “Copilot.” Note that this only removes the static Copilot icon—it does not affect the “Share with Copilot” button inside window previews. For now, the preview button cannot be independently disabled, which means the only foolproof way to avoid accidental sharing is to not click it.
Uninstall the Copilot app: If you never use Copilot, you can remove it via Settings > Apps > Installed apps, locate the Microsoft Copilot entry, and choose “Uninstall.” This should also disable any integrated sharing features, though it may reinstall with future updates.
Practice cautious hovering: The button appears only when you mouse over a taskbar icon and peek at the preview. If you rely on window previews for navigation, be mindful that the button is there—and avoid clicking it unless you’ve consciously decided to share that window’s contents.
Provide feedback: Use the Feedback Hub (Win + F) to tell Microsoft if you find the feature useful or intrusive. Insider feedback has historically shaped which experiments survive, and a strong signal against button clutter could influence the final design.
What to watch next
The “Share with Copilot” button is still firmly experimental. Its fate will likely be decided over the next few Insider releases. Watch for three things:
- Removal or rework: If the experiment doesn’t yield positive engagement metrics or draws heavy criticism, Microsoft may quietly kill it. The company has done so before with Insider features—such as the controversial “Meet Now” taskbar button.
- On-device processing announcements: Microsoft has promised that some Copilot features will eventually process data locally on NPU-equipped PCs (Copilot+ PCs). If Vision gains an on-device mode, the privacy calculus changes dramatically. Look for explicit documentation on which hardware and SKUs support local-only processing.
- Enterprise controls: A stable-channel rollout will almost certainly require dedicated group policy and MDM settings for IT admins. The maturity and availability of those controls will signal whether Microsoft is serious about enterprise adoption or only targeting consumers.
In the meantime, the preview button is a litmus test for how much AI assistance Windows users are willing to accept. It promises convenience at the cost of potential privacy, and it adds one more layer to an operating system that is increasingly defined by its relationship with Copilot.