Microsoft adds another Copilot hotkey – this time for AI voice chat
- Reference: 1741726080
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/03/11/microsoft_voice_chat_copilot/
- Source link:
The [1]change comes via an update to the Copilot app in the Microsoft Store and is gradually reaching all Windows Insiders. Instead of typing out a request, users can now summon Copilot with the hotkey, triggering a small microphone to appear on the screen, and from there you can interact with the chatty Copilot assistant via voice, ask it questions, and so on. If no one speaks for several seconds, the microphone vanishes, and Copilot quietly ends the conversation.
According to Microsoft, the new press-to-talk functionality "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."
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Microsoft has been repeatedly tweaking the Copilot app for Windows over the past year. Its most recent change was to have the app [3]go native . Well, more native than when it was a web app [4]thinly disguised as a Windows application.
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Windows has long had its share of hotkey quirks - just ask anyone who's accidentally triggered Sticky Keys by hammering the Shift key five times. While accessibility shortcuts serve a clear purpose, the same can't always be said for Copilot.
[7]You begged Microsoft to be reasonable. Instead it made Copilot reason-able with OpenAI GPT-o1
[8]Microsoft goes native with Copilot. Again
[9]Copilot invades Microsoft 365 Personal and Family for an extra three bucks a month
[10]Linux rolls out the welcome mat for Microsoft's Copilot key
That said, when prompted, Copilot dutifully claimed the new press-to-talk hotkey would help users who prefer or rely on voice commands. Microsoft, however, was all about the potential for productivity improvements - because nothing says efficiency in this quasi-return-to-office era like talking to your PC out loud while working instead of typing.
Previously, Copilot could be launched using the Windows key + C shortcut. Many new PCs now ship with a dedicated Copilot key, which might have seemed like the obvious trigger for voice activation. However, since most machines still lack the button, Microsoft needed a universal alternative - hence the decision to use Alt + Spacebar held for two seconds instead.
Windows has plenty of handy hotkeys, and if you've installed PowerToys, Alt + Spacebar is used to launch the PowerToys Run feature.
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Microsoft isn't alone in assigning hotkeys to virtual assistants. Apple, too, has implemented a [12]key combination in macOS to summon its assistant, Siri. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2025/03/10/copilot-on-windows-press-to-talk-begins-rolling-out-to-windows-insiders/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z9DAh0x1tDYrMVKhYc5hWQAAAQ0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/06/microsoft_goes_native_with_copilot/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/11/microsoft_copilot_keyboard_shortcut/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z9DAh0x1tDYrMVKhYc5hWQAAAQ0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z9DAh0x1tDYrMVKhYc5hWQAAAQ0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/31/microsoft_open_ai_reasoning_copilot/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/06/microsoft_goes_native_with_copilot/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/17/copilot_microsoft_365/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/24/copilot_key_linux/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z9DAh0x1tDYrMVKhYc5hWQAAAQ0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchl6b029310/mac
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
We are back to morse code?
It feels like those printers which have only one button, no display, and a morse-LED about its status.
The windows version is: Alt+Space 1 second - 2 second - 1 second to open the start menu. Alt+Space 1 second - 2 second - 2 second to initiate forced shutdown, closing all programs.
Re: We are back to morse code?
dit-dit-dit dah-dah-dah dit-dit-dit
Translated: Gawd Help Us!
An important application is signalling for help through SOS, " ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ". This can be sent many ways: keying a radio on and off, flashing a mirror, toggling a flashlight, and similar methods. The SOS signal is not sent as three separate characters; rather, it is a prosign SOS, and is keyed without gaps between characters.[45]
Re: We are back to morse code?
Yet another instance of an Onion joke anticipating reality?
[1]https://theonion.com/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no-keybo-1819594761/
[1] https://theonion.com/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no-keybo-1819594761/
Re: We are back to morse code?
Oh, thank you! YMMD!
We are almost there. Start Trek IV: The Voyage home was years ahead of it's time. "Hello Computer"
Hello user, yes I can open Microsoft excel for you. Have you considered all the possibilities that PowerPoint has to offer? Or Teams For Work Or School or Home or one or two or all three (new) (classic)? What's that you say? Shut up? OK, would you like to order Microsoft Office For Teams for Work For Home Premium Classic Business CoPilot Rectangles in a Grid? It's a simple £9.99 per month per user per work per home per seat per screen connected per CPU core? Ordering now...
EMH: Emeergency Medical Hologram, what is the nature of emergency? Oh captain, can I help you with that elongated, crooked nose or the unsightly bags under the eyes?
Janeway: Why are you shaped like a giant paper clip and why does the ship drop to sub-light speed when you appear?
EMH: My programming was recently acquired by Spacesoft. I can change to an equally annoying dog if you prefer.
Janeway: No, I just needed an aspirin, but better make it a Melorazine now.
and for the poor buggers that use computers for REAL WORK?
ALT-SPACE is already a hot key combo in the software I use to earn money to pay my mortgage. Will this unprovement(*) take priority? Does this mean that microshit is actively going to make it harder for me to make a living? FFS!
(*) unprovement - an addition to software inflicted by a software house that reduces the user's efficiency
TL;DR - HOW DO I AUTO EJECT THE COPOILOT?
Re: and for the poor buggers that use computers for REAL WORK?
Go to Settings > Apps > Uninstall Copilot.
I've done it dozens of times...
Rage-Inducing Key-Combo Hijacking
If I had not been quit of MS-Windows for decades, this certainly would make me do so now.
Alt-Space is MINE, MS-shitheads, used for my Unreal Tournament throw-teleporter disc-activate teleport in-game macro!!
In future news
All keys will launch Co-Clippy-Pilot.
You can tell it, which keys you want pressed, and it will oblige ... after a few messages