How to Use Windows Copilot to Summarize a Webpage: Windows 11 Copilot is a useful application for summarising Edge web pages, PDFs, and Office documents.
When a tab for a website is open in Microsoft Edge, users can query Copilot what the page is about and receive summaries.
Windows 11 Copilot is currently only available to those with a Dev version. The same functionality can be enabled via Taskbar settings.
The Windows 11 Copilot preview may not be as impressive as users had anticipated. However, it is only a matter of time before Copilot becomes the tool of choice for Windows users seeking assistance with routine duties. In fact, the Edge browser can already do a few things quite well, such as summarise and collect information about a webpage. Here is everything you need to know to get started with it.
Currently, Windows 11 Copilot is essentially nothing more than the Bing AI interface detached from the Edge browser and residing on your PC as a side-on taskbar. Additionally, it is exclusive to the Dev channel of the Windows Insider Programme. Check out our guide on How to Download Windows 11 Insider Build if you’re interested in getting your hands on it.
Enable Windows 11 Copilot from the Taskbar configurations.
Enable Copilot from the Taskbar settings if you already have the Windows 11 Dev build that includes Copilot for preview. To accomplish this, right-click the taskbar and choose Taskbar settings.
A new Copilot icon will appear in the taskbar. Select it to launch Windows 11 Copilot.
You can also access and close it by pressing the Win+C keyboard shortcut.
Launch Microsoft Edge and navigate to the website you wish to summarise.
If you have multiple web pages active in Edge, you must select the one you want Copilot to analyse. This is because Copilot will only collect information regarding the active Edge page. Therefore, if you frequently move between tabs, its responses will change accordingly.
Next, press Win+C to launch Windows 11 Copilot if it is not already visible. Then inquire what the page is about.
Then, Copilot will search the current Edge tab and provide a summary of the page.
There are also reference numbers at the conclusion of a few sentences. These indicate where Copilot obtained this information.
Click on one to see where that information is presented on the webpage.
These references should make it easier for a user to quickly navigate to the most essential and pertinent portions of a website.
You can also request additional website-related information.
Although still in its infancy, the Bing AI powering Copilot cannot be discounted. Copilot can efficiently parse multiple document formats so long as they are displayed in a Microsoft Edge tab.
Windows 11 Copilot can summarise any type of web page, as previously demonstrated. This includes journals, educational websites, entertainment websites, research resources, and search engines, among others. However, when it comes to summarising their actual content, Copilot will limit itself to the words and a few images on the page. Additionally, it does not comprehend the context completely. For instance, when you use Google to search for something, it will simply examine your query and the search results and summarise them; it will not be able to determine that you are using Google.
Nor can Copilot summarise the contents of a YouTube video, for instance. Therefore, when using this feature, you should expect primarily text-based web pages.
Windows 11 Copilot can also examine and summarise PDFs without issue. Obviously, you will first need to access them in Microsoft Edge.
Make sure you remain on the tab to make it active.Then, merely ask Copilot what the page is about, and it should generate the PDF’s key points.
To obtain better results, ensure that the PDF is not too large; otherwise, Copilot will make the simplest of observations (as in the example above, 23 pages), which defeats the purpose of generating summaries.
Here is an improved summary generated by Copilot in which the PDF contains only six pages.
Microsoft Edge can also access Office documents and summarise them using Copilot.
This is applicable to all office documents, such as Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel.
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Let’s examine some frequently inquired questions regarding the use of Windows 11 Copilot to summarise your active web pages.
No, Windows 11 Copilot cannot access or summarise Chrome web pages at this time. It can only do so for active pages in Microsoft Edge.
Since Windows 11 Copilot is still in development, it may occasionally refuse to summarise your active Edge web page. If this occurs, simply click the ‘New Topic’ option to the left of the prompt box or the three-dot menu in the upper right corner and select ‘Refresh’ to refresh the conversation. Attempt again.
Currently, Windows 11 Copilot can only perform a limited number of tasks, such as summarising active Edge tabs, capturing screenshots with the Snipping tool, activating DND, light/dark mode, and Bluetooth.
Yes, the Windows 11 Insider Preview Dev build is required to access Copilot.
Microsoft’s early preview of Windows 11 Copilot may not appear to be a significant advancement. But it has every indication of becoming something that we will all eventually use in the future. This guide should have helped you comprehend how to use Copilot to summarise your active Edge tabs. Until next time!
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