Set your Copilot Key application with Microsoft Intune

A few days ago, I talked with someone about the latest Microsoft Surface Copilot+ PC devices, their performance, and their pros and cons.
One issue (or annoyance) was that using the Copilot Hardware key opens the personal Copilot application by default.

You might think, what’s wrong with that? Well, if you are using your device in a Microsoft 365 environment (Entra ID), you can’t sign in to that application with your Microsoft Entra ID account, and that’s the whole point of using the Copilot key on your organizational device!

So, by default, pressing the Copilot key opens the personal Copilot app that only allows you to log in with your personal Microsoft account. But if you want to use the Copilot key to open Microsoft 365 Copilot, you’ll need the new Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

Microsoft Copilot vs. Microsoft 365 Copilot

First, let me show you the difference between the Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot applications in Windows.
Here’s a comparison in table format:

Feature	Microsoft Copilot	Microsoft 365 Copilot
Purpose	Personal productivity assistant for individuals.	Professional productivity tool for businesses.
Integration	Built into Windows 11.	Integrated into Microsoft 365 apps (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).
Target Audience	General users on personal devices.	Professionals and organizations using Microsoft 365.
Key Features	File management, system settings, general assistance.	Document creation, data analysis, collaboration in workplace apps.
Account Requirement	Personal Microsoft account.	Microsoft 365 (Entra ID) account.

Manual procedure

You can easily resolve this manually on your Windows 11 device by installing the latest Microsoft 365 Copilot application from the Microsoft Store first.

The next step is going to System | Personalization | Text input | Customize Copilot key on keyboard, and you’ll see that the default app is Copilot or None selected. Click the dropdown menu and choose Custom.

After you install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, you can choose between Microsoft 365 Copilot (Business) and Copilot (Personal). Choose Microsoft 365 Copilot and then Select. You’re all set now.

So now your Copilot key is set to use the “correct” Copilot app for your organization. But what if you have multiple Copilt+PC devices within your organization? Then we have Microsoft Intune, which can manage this for you! Let’s dig in more on that part.

Microsoft Intune – Configuration

Microsoft Entra ID Group

The important part is that your Copilot+PC device needs to be managed by Microsoft Intune within your organization. We also need a Microsoft Entra ID device group with all Copilot+PC devices for the assignment. At the moment of writing, I haven’t found a solution to create a dynamic device based on a parameter related to the Copilot+PC devices.

I created the following group: grp-dvc-a-all-surface-copilot+pc-devices. And make sure our Copilot+PC device is a member of this group.

Microsoft 365 Copilot application

The next step is to make sure we have the Microsoft 365 Copilot application installed or deployed to our managed Copilot+PC device. I’ve added the app as a Managed App in Microsoft Intune and assigned it to the newly created group.

Configuration Profile

Get Application Name

Before we can create our configuration policy in Microsoft Intune, we need to get the Application User Model ID (AUMID) from the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

On a device with the application installed, open Powershell and run this command:

Get-StartApps *Copilot*

This will give you a list of installed apps with Copilot in their names. Take note of the AppID from Microsoft 365 Copilot, we need this for our configuration policy.

Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub

Configuration Policy

Now go to the Microsoft Intune admin center | Devices | Windows | Configuration and choose + Create and + New Policy.

We will create a Settings catalog policy for Windows 10 and later.

Give your policy a name and choose Next.

In the Settings Picker, search for “Windows AI” and check the “Set Copilot Hardware Key (User)” setting. In the Configuration settings screen, fill in the AUMID or AppID value we’ve retrieved. Then choose Next.

You can skip the Scope tags part. In the Assignment part, we will choose the Copilot group we’ve created.

Choose Next and Create. Our policy is created and ready to be deployed.

Result

Once the configuration policy is deployed, the required app will be set as the Copilot key application on your Copilot+PC device.
The left screenshot shows you the setting before deploying the configuration policy, the right screenshot shows you the result after deployment.

Configuring the Copilot key to launch the Microsoft 365 Copilot app ensures better compatibility with business environments. Whether done manually or via Microsoft Intune, it enhances workflow integration.
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