Ignite 2025: Microsoft Brings Copilot and AI Agents to Windows 11 Taskbar

At its Ignite 2025 this morning, Microsoft announced new features to help users access and manage AI agents on Windows 11. One of these updates is a new Ask Copilot on the taskbar experience that provides quick access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, agents, and Windows Search.

With one-click access from the taskbar, users can leverage contextual insights from their work data, invoke agents using the tools button or “@” commands, and enjoy a redesigned, faster search interface for apps, files, and settings. This feature is currently available in public preview on Windows 11 PCs.

“Ask Copilot on the taskbar is your entry point to Microsoft 365 Copilot, agents, and search—accessible instantly by voice or text. Now, you can use the Windows taskbar to find apps, files, and settings and launch, invoke, monitor, and manage agents like Researcher—with even more first-and third-party agents coming soon,” Microsoft explained.

The new Agents on the taskbar experience allows users to invoke, monitor, and manage AI agents (such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, troubleshooting agents, and third-party assistants) directly from the Windows taskbar. Once users start an agent task from the Microsoft 365 Copilot app or Ask Copilot on the taskbar, it appears on the taskbar as an icon with status indicators and a hover card showing progress and details.

Windows 11 adds new Copilot and AI features

Microsoft also detailed new Copilot and AI experiences coming to Windows 11. The Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot feature allows users to send any text or image captured by Click to Do directly to Copilot without leaving their current workflow. In File Explorer, users can interact with Copilot by selecting a file for insights or assistance, and even hover over documents to apply AI-powered enhancements.

Additionally, enhanced Windows search now supports Microsoft 365 integration, which allows users to describe what they need and find files quickly. Microsoft has also introduced semantic searches across local and cloud documents for Microsoft 365 Copilot customers with Copilot+ PCs.

Microsoft has also added built-in writing assistance support for any text box in apps, which offers rewriting and proofreading tools with offline support on Copilot+ PCs. This feature is currently available in public preview. Moreover, the new “Hey Copilot” voice command in Windows and the Copilot key (or Win+C shortcut for Copilot+ PCs) let users easily interact with Microsoft 365 Copilot. This capability eliminates the need to switch between different windows or apps.

Microsoft also highlighted new accessibility features in Windows 11. Fluid Dictation on Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs uses AI to make voice typing fast, accurate, and natural. This feature is currently in preview as part of the Voice Access suite. Meanwhile, Narrator and Magnifier now offer lifelike, context-aware text-to-speech powered by Azure’s advanced generative AI to deliver a more intuitive reading experience with high-definition voices.

New developer tools coming to Windows 11

Lastly, Microsoft has announced a preview of native Model Context Protocol (MCP) support, which enables AI agents to connect seamlessly with business apps and tools. This update introduces built-in agent connectors (such as File Explorer and Windows Settings) that enable secure file operations, natural language search, and automated device configuration with user consent.

Microsoft is also introducing new AI APIs to help developers build powerful apps with local AI capabilities on Copilot+ PCs. These APIs should help reduce latency, improve privacy, and cut costs by avoiding cloud dependency. These include Video Super Resolution for clearer video streaming, the Stable Diffusion XL API for high-quality text-to-image generation, and Phi Silica, an NPU-optimized language model for fast text generation and summarization, running locally for better performance and efficiency.