Discover How to Find Anything on Your Windows 11 Desktop with Microsoft Edge’s New Feature
The Circle to Copilot feature in Microsoft Edge, which allows users to circle any content on their screen and query Copilot, is not obsolete. A recent update enhances this feature’s utility beyond the Edge browser.
Microsoft has been trialing the Circle to Copilot functionality in various Edge preview versions for some time, though it remains unavailable to all users.
The feature has recently been rebranded as Copilot Vision within the Appearance settings. Besides Circle to Copilot, Copilot Vision enables users to select anything displayed on their screen, allowing queries to Copilot across the Windows 11 desktop and other applications, including Google Chrome.
Microsoft Edge Now Allows You to Search Anything on Your Windows 11 Desktop Screen
Regrettably, the expansion of Copilot Vision to the Windows 11 desktop had limited functionality until now. With Copilot Vision activated and the associated shortcut in the settings, users can drag to highlight a region on the screen. This action activates a UI at the bottom to annotate and copy content to the clipboard, which can then be pasted into Copilot on the Edge sidebar for the intended results.
Recent updates in Edge Canary provide insights into the capabilities of the Circle to Copilot feature, now known as Copilot Vision. By utilizing the shortcut to drag and select items on the Windows 11 desktop or within settings, users may now see Visual Search-related results about the selected area or object, powered by Bing Image Search, displayed in a pop-up window.
To deactivate the feature, simply copy the image to the clipboard and press Esc. This functionality marks a notable advancement, with potential for further updates from Microsoft in the future.
As Windows Copilot is still not universally accessible on Windows 11, leveraging Microsoft Edge’s Copilot Vision with the Circle to Copilot feature could provide additional motivation to utilize the Edge browser.
Besides the expansion of Copilot Vision, Microsoft aims to integrate the Windows Energy Saver into Edge’s Efficiency Mode. The browser is also experimenting with Picture-in-Picture (PiP) for Taskbar media controls, a streamlined New Tab Page free of news feeds, and notifications for users when extensions impact browser performance.
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