Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Aaron Klotz

Microsoft kills Win + C shortcut to promote dedicated Copilot key, drive PC sales

Microsoft branding for Copilot+ PC.

Copilot is one of the most important applications powering Microsoft's new vision for Windows 11. However, in an attempt to get more people on board with Copilot and Microsoft's new Copilot+ PCs, Windows is stripping away the current "Win + C" hotkey that opens the Copilot sidebar app right now on Windows 11 23H2 and 24H2. Patch notes for Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22635.3785 reveal that the Win + C keyboard shortcut has been removed from this build of Windows, confirming that this change will be making its way to Windows 11 as a whole later this year.

Of course, Microsoft is spinning this change as a positive, saying it is part of the "Copilot experience's evolution on Windows to become an app that is pinned to the taskbar...". But in reality, this is an attempt to get more people to buy Copilot+ PC because it comes with the Copilot key on its keyboard. 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.