You may soon be able to ask Copilot about customizing Windows 11 from the Settings app

This week"s Windows 11 Canary build 26212 does not contain anything exciting in its release notes. However, as it often goes with Windows 11 preview builds, all the good stuff is hidden under the surface. Besides the new widgets in the Start menu, build 26212 has an interesting change for the Settings app and its search.

Spotted by Albacore on X, in build 26212, customers can ask Copilot about anything right from the search box in the Settings app. Suppose you wanted to change a specific option or tweak something on your computer but could not find the toggle needed. In that case, the Settings app would allow you to ask Copilot and get some information from the AI assistant. Just click "Ask Copilot in Windows (preview)" and continue from there.

Unlike some of the other recent changes in Windows 11, this one looks like a good idea made for inexperienced customers. Of course, that is assuming Copilot can help those users with their requests and explain how specific parts of the operating system and its settings work. This is similar to Copilot banners Microsoft is testing for its browser.

Here is how to try that:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
3. Switch Windows Terminal to the Command Prompt profile with the Ctrl + Shift + 2 shortcut or by clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
5. Type vivetool /enable /id:49445394 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.

Once on the desktop, launch the Settings app, type something in the search box, and click "Ask Copilot."