- Microsoft offers more options to remap the Copilot key
- You can redefine it to call the context menu, or use it as right Ctrl
- It was the right Ctrl key before Microsoft abandoned it to make room for the dedicated AI key on Windows 11 laptops.
Microsoft will provide more options for remaping the Copilot key, the dedicated key introduced to invoke Windows 11’s AI assistant on laptops (and some standalone keyboards as well).
Windows Central noted that Microsoft confirmed this move in a support document, which states: “Customers who rely on the right Ctrl key or context menu key for keyboard shortcuts or assistive technologies (such as screen readers) have experienced some challenges in their workflows when using these devices.
“A Windows 11 update will be available later this year and will add a configuration option allowing you to remap the Copilot key to act as a context menu key or a right Ctrl key.”
This way, you can use the Copilot key as a control key on the right side of the keyboard, which is what this key would have been before Copilot existed. Either that or you can change it to show the context menu (the context menu that makes contextual actions easier).
Microsoft previously introduced the ability to reset the Copilot key to invoke Windows Search or open certain apps (although no third-party apps support it, making it limited use so far).
Analysis: a necessary solution
So it’s good to have better options, including that context menu key (which was actually rumored to be a change in the works over a year ago). Putting the Ctrl key back to the right is an important move because, as Microsoft observes, not having it can be an accessibility issue.
This is essential for certain workflows, like being able to use shortcuts one-handed, pressing Ctrl plus the arrow keys, for example, or other combinations using Ctrl with other keys on the right side of the keyboard. Without a right Ctrl key, these actions become a two-handed operation using the left and right sides of the keyboard.
It would be nice if Microsoft gave us a wider range of options to remap the key as we wanted, although this can be achieved by installing PowerToys and using the keyboard manager. We’ve got all the details on how to do it here, although I’d still prefer to see some of the key elements of PowerToys – including this one – brought into Windows 11 as options, as I recently discussed.
Overall, the move is welcome and part of Microsoft’s grand plan to fix Windows 11 – even if some people are still pretty jaded about the company implementing the Copilot key in the first place.
As this Redditor observed: “Oh, yes: steal the right Ctrl and now return it as an improvement.”
And someone else on Reddit noted: “Looks like their telemetry told them people were avoiding pressing that key like the plague.”
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