Using Copilot in the Microsoft Edge browser

Copilot is built into Microsoft Edge: you don’t have anything else to install. It opens in a side panel, next to the page you are viewing. This tutorial shows you how to open it and use it, and what to do if the icon doesn’t appear.

Check your Edge version

The Copilot sidebar requires Edge version 111 or later. If your browser is older, update it. You can also download the latest version from the official Edge download page, available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux.

Available features vary depending on your device, your country and your Edge version. If an option described here is not in your browser, it is probably a version issue.

Open Copilot in the sidebar

Open Microsoft Edge, then click the Copilot icon in the toolbar. A panel opens on the side of the window. You can type your questions there, just as in the Copilot app.

Clicking the icon again closes the panel.

Use Copilot on the page you’re viewing

Open an article, a website or a PDF document, then open the Copilot panel. According to the official page, you can:

• ask a question about the content on screen;
• ask for a summary;
• analyze a PDF;
• compare several pages.

Stay alert to the content produced: check important information before using it.

Copilot in Edge is not the same as Copilot in Word or Excel. The latter are part of Microsoft 365 and are reserved for subscribers or business licenses. For more details, see Microsoft’s official page on the different Copilot experiences.

Bring the icon back if it’s missing

If you don’t see the Copilot icon, open the Copilot and sidebar appearance settings page by typing this address in the Edge address bar: edge://settings/appearance/copilotAndSidebar.

On this page:

1. set the sidebar so that it always stays visible;
2. find the Copilot section in the app settings, then turn on the option that shows the Copilot button in the toolbar.

Then close the page and check the toolbar.

On a work computer, a company policy may hide the sidebar. In that case, only your IT department can change it. Option labels may also differ depending on your browser’s language.

And now?

Open a page that interests you, for example a long article, then ask Copilot:

• “Summarize this page in five simple points.”
• “What are the important points in this PDF document, and what questions should I ask myself?”