Microsoft’s Copilot Vision can now see your entire screen

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Microsoft is introducing a powerful new update to its AI assistant, Copilot Vision, for people using early versions of Windows (called Windows Insiders). 

This update gives the AI the ability to see your entire screen, not just two apps at a time like it did before. 

Now, Copilot Vision can view your full desktop or any app or browser window you choose. Importantly, this feature doesn’t spy on your screen automatically. 

It works more like screen sharing in a video call—you choose when to turn it on by clicking a glasses icon in the Copilot app, and then select what part of your screen you want Copilot to see.

Once active, Copilot Vision can analyze what’s on your screen and help you with it. 

For example, it can:

• Give you suggestions to improve a creative project.
• Offer tips on editing your resume.
• Guide you while you’re playing a new video game.
• Help you understand documents, presentations, or anything else you’re looking at.

Microsoft says the AI can talk you through tasks, giving you spoken advice or tips based on what it sees on your screen.

This isn’t the same as Recall, another Windows feature that takes automatic snapshots of your screen over time. 

Instead, Copilot Vision is manual and controlled by you—you decide when it’s watching and what it sees.

Microsoft started testing Copilot Vision in 2023, mainly with its Edge web browser. 

The company also developed a version for phones, where Copilot can answer questions about what it sees through your phone’s camera.

This new version of Copilot Vision represents a big step forward in how AI can assist you directly in real time, based on what you’re working on. 

It gives users more interactive help without feeling like their privacy is constantly being watched. 

Because you have to turn it on yourself, it adds useful functionality without the automatic surveillance concerns tied to features like Recall.

Do you think having AI view your entire screen is a useful productivity feature? Or does it raise too many privacy concerns, even if you control when it’s active? Tell us below in the comments, or reach us via our Twitter or Facebook.