- Microsoft is experimenting with a new recommendation in the Start menu
- It's effectively an ad for Copilot (and Microsoft 365 Copilot)
- Recommendations include prompts to write a draft, create an image, or just fire up a query
Windows 11 could be getting another thinly veiled ad in the Start menu, and this time it's for Copilot.
Windows Latest reports that PhantomOfEarth highlighted the move on X, but note that Microsoft is just experimenting with this idea currently in test builds of Windows 11, so you won't see this yet.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft's quest to add Copilot buttons to everything in Windows 11 has reached the Start menu.MS is experimenting with a new Start menu recommendation for Copilot/M365 Copilot that suggests a few different prompts you can use with it, here are 4: pic.twitter.com/tzHHr0XLoLAugust 16, 2025
The nudge to use Copilot appears in the 'recommended' section of the Start menu, which is where Microsoft points out apps and services it thinks you might find useful (read: tries to sell you), as well as recently used apps or files.
As you'll see if you look over the four screenshots provided on X, there are recommendations to use either plain Copilot or Microsoft 365 Copilot. The latter is the business-targeted subscription version, and I presume the former is what will be presented to the average consumer.
These consist of prompts to either just fire up Copilot to answer a query or to use the AI to write a first draft.
However, Windows Latest did some digging and found references to other spins on these recommendations in Windows 11. That includes getting Copilot to create an image, or a suggestion to 'Teach me a few ways that Copilot can help me with my productivity,' which opens Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Analysis: starting to get annoyed?
Unsurprising things that have happened this week, number 28: Microsoft is mulling the idea of pushing AI functionality a bit more in Windows 11. Of course, we should bear in mind that this is just experimentation at the moment - the leaker on X doesn't make it clear if this is hidden in Windows 11 preview builds, but I assume this is the case (the finds made by Windows Latest certainly are).
I'd bet at least some cash that this is something that does make the cut for inclusion in Windows 11 eventually. Although we don't really need any more prompting to use Copilot, there's already a big button for the AI on the taskbar, after all.
Now, to be fair to Microsoft, the good news is that if you aren't fond of recommendations within the Start menu like this, the company recently introduced the ability to turn them off in Windows 11 (after that option was spotted in testing a while back).
To do this, you need to go into Settings, and head to Personalization > Start, where you'll see a slider for the following: 'Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists'. Just switch this off, but note that you'll lose the other mentioned bits and pieces, including recent files being flagged up in File Explorer (which is the app that displays the folders on your desktop).
