Windows 11 removes Copilot branding from Notepad and Snipping Tool
- Microsoft has started removing the visible Copilot label from Windows 11 utilities including Notepad and Snipping Tool, while keeping the same artificial intelligence features available inside the apps. - In Notepad, Rewrite, Summarize and Write still use GPT, and Snipping Tool still offers Perfect Screenshot on Copilot+ PCs even as Microsoft trims extra Copilot buttons. - The shift follows Microsoft’s March 20 pledge to cut “unnecessary Copilot entry points” in Windows while expanding app-native Copilot actions in Office. (blogs.windows.com)
Microsoft is stripping the Copilot name out of small Windows 11 apps without removing the artificial intelligence tools inside them. (blogs.windows.com) (windowslatest.com) On March 20, 2026, Windows chief Pavan Davuluri said Microsoft would reduce “unnecessary Copilot entry points,” starting with Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets and Notepad. He said future Windows integration would be “more intentional” and focused on “genuinely useful” features. (blogs.windows.com) That policy is now showing up in shipping apps. Windows Latest reported on April 26 that Notepad on production Windows 11 PCs no longer shows Copilot branding, even though its artificial intelligence functions still work. (windowslatest.com) Microsoft’s own support page says Notepad still includes Rewrite, Summarize and Write, and that those features are powered by GPT through a cloud service tied to a Microsoft account and AI credits. The same page still refers to Summarize as living in a “Copilot menu,” which shows the branding cleanup is moving faster than the documentation. (support.microsoft.com) Snipping Tool follows the same pattern. Microsoft says the app still offers Perfect Screenshot, which automatically tightens a capture around the main content on screen, and that feature remains limited to Copilot+ PCs. (support.microsoft.com) Microsoft had introduced those newer utilities with overt Copilot language in Insider builds. In May 2025, the company described Perfect Screenshot as an “AI-powered” Snipping Tool feature and put Paint’s sticker generator inside a Copilot menu. (blogs.windows.com) At the same time, Microsoft is pushing the Copilot name harder inside Office, not less. On April 22, 2026, the company said agentic Copilot features in Word, Excel and PowerPoint were now generally available and could take multi-step actions directly inside documents, worksheets and presentations. (microsoft.com) Microsoft said those Office features became possible after model improvements in instruction following and reasoning over the past year. The company framed the new default as Copilot doing formatting, restructuring, analysis and visual-building work while users review the results. (microsoft.com) The result is a split strategy: less Copilot branding in lightweight Windows utilities, more Copilot automation in the apps where Microsoft sells productivity subscriptions. The name is fading from the buttons first, not from the features. (blogs.windows.com) (support.microsoft.com) (microsoft.com)
