Do you often chat to Copilot in Windows 11? A new press-to-talk feature should prove very handy

Windows 11 users who are keen on talking to Copilot will be pleased to learn that a new feature is now in testing to allow for such conversations to be invoked in a much more convenient way.

Microsoft has announced that Windows Insiders now have access to a press-to-talk capability with the latest (preview) version of the Copilot app from the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft notes that the feature:

"Allows you to interact with Copilot using your voice by using a hotkey, providing instant responses while staying in your current workflow and continuing tasks without interruption."

So, all you need to do is press a keyboard shortcut (hold Alt + Space, albeit for two seconds) to trigger a voice conversation, and then away you go.

When you're done, you can press the Escape key to end the session. Although if you don't say anything for "several seconds" the AI will automatically close the conversation, so there's actually no need to terminate it manually.

We're still waiting for Copilot to be better fleshed out, but there have been some positive steps with the AI assistant in Windows 11 recently, including a much-improved new app for starters. (One that's no longer a simple web wrapper, as was the case with the disappointing first incarnation of the standalone Copilot app). We'd expect further additions to be incoming before long.