Microsoft has added a new free tool to its Edge browser that can actually see what’s on your screen and help you with it. According to Gadgets360, this feature called Copilot Vision was announced last week after first being shown in December 2024. The project is led by Mustafa Suleyman, who heads Microsoft’s AI department.
This new tool is like having a helpful friend who can look at your screen and answer questions about what you’re seeing. It uses artificial intelligence (smart computer programs that can learn and make decisions) combined with computer vision (the ability for computers to understand images like human eyes do).
What is Copilot Vision and How Does It Work?
Copilot Vision is a free feature that lets the Edge browser understand what you’re looking at on websites. It can read text, recognize pictures, and make sense of how information is arranged on the page. The clever part is that it works in real-time – this means it can help you instantly, without any waiting.
You can talk to it with your voice or by typing, just like chatting with a person. For example, if you’re looking at a long article, you could ask, “Can you give me the main points of this?” and it will read and summarize it for you.
How to Start Using Copilot Vision
To use this feature, you need to turn it on yourself – it’s what tech people call an “opt-in feature” (meaning it’s not automatic; you have to choose to use it). You can find it in the Copilot sidebar, which is a panel that opens on the right side of your browser window. When you click on the Vision mode button, you’re giving the tool permission to see what’s on your screen.
Things Copilot Vision Can Help You With
- Reading and summarizing long articles or reviews
- Describing pictures or diagrams on websites
- Finding products when you’re shopping online
- Answering questions about what you’re looking at
- Saving time by quickly finding information on busy web pages
For Indian shoppers, this could be especially helpful during big online sales like Flipkart’s Big Billion Days or Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. Instead of reading through dozens of product reviews, you could ask Copilot Vision to tell you what most people like or dislike about a product.
| Without Copilot Vision | With Copilot Vision |
|---|---|
| Copy-paste text to ask questions about it | Just ask about what you see on screen |
| Read all reviews yourself | Get quick summaries of many reviews |
| Struggle to describe what you’re looking for | Point to images and get help finding similar items |
Your Privacy and Control
Many people worry about tools that can “see” their screen. Microsoft says they’ve built this with privacy in mind. Here’s how they protect your information:
- You must choose to turn it on – it never watches your screen without permission
- Your conversation data gets deleted after you finish using it
- The information isn’t stored or used to train Microsoft’s AI systems
- You can turn it off anytime if you don’t want to use it anymore
Think of it like showing your screen to someone to help you, but then they forget everything once you’re done. This helps keep your browsing private while still getting the benefits of assistance.
What Microsoft Says About It
Mustafa Suleyman, who leads Microsoft’s AI team, shared his excitement about the feature on social media. He wrote: “Copilot Vision is out now, free in @MicrosoftEdge. It can literally see what you see on screen (if you opt in). Pretty amazing! It’ll think out loud with you when you’re browsing online. No more over-explaining, copy-pasting, or struggling to put something into words.”
Copilot Vision is out now, free in @MicrosoftEdge. It can literally see what you see on screen (if you opt in). Pretty amazing! It’ll think out loud with you when you’re browsing online. No more over-explaining, copy-pasting, or struggling to put something into words. pic.twitter.com/XMXSYcsKIi
— Mustafa Suleyman (@mustafasuleyman) April 16, 2025
While there is no info on exactly how many people are using Copilot Vision yet, there are some impressive numbers about their AI tools overall. In 2023, people using Edge and Bing had over 1.9 billion conversations with Copilot. By 2024, that number grew to about 10 billion interactions. This shows that many people are finding AI helpful when browsing the web.
What This Means For You
This new feature is part of a bigger trend where AI is becoming more helpful in our everyday computer use. Instead of just searching for information, these tools can now understand what we’re looking at and help us make sense of it.
For people who find technology challenging sometimes, Copilot Vision could make using the internet easier and less frustrating. Whether you’re researching, shopping, or just browsing, having a helper that can see your screen might save you time and effort.
The best part is that it’s completely free for anyone using the Microsoft Edge browser. If you want to try it, just open Edge, look for the Copilot button on the side, and turn on the Vision feature to get started.
