Edge Copilot Now Reads All Your Open Tabs at Once

Key Takeaways

• Copilot can now gather information from all open tabs to answer questions and compare products
• New features include AI podcasts, study quizzes, and a writing assistant that appears when you type
• Copilot gains long-term memory to personalize responses based on your conversation history

Microsoft is turning Edge into an AI-first browser with a significant Copilot update. The chatbot can now pull information from every tab you have open, letting you ask questions that span your entire browsing session.

Say you're shopping for a laptop with five product pages open. You can ask Copilot to compare specs, prices, and reviews across all of them without switching tabs. The same works for research: open a dozen articles, then ask Copilot to summarize the key points or find contradictions.

Microsoft says users can "select which experiences you want or leave off the ones you don't." This opt-in approach matters because the feature requires Copilot to scan tab content in real time.

Copilot Mode Is Dead, Browse with Copilot Lives On

The company is retiring Copilot Mode, which offered similar tab-scanning plus agentic features like booking reservations on your behalf. Those automation capabilities now live inside the "Browse with Copilot" tool instead.

This consolidation suggests Microsoft wants a single, more powerful AI layer rather than multiple overlapping modes. For users who relied on Copilot Mode's booking features, nothing disappears. It just moves.

AI Podcasts and Study Mode

Edge is borrowing a page from Google's NotebookLM with a new feature that converts your tabs into AI-generated podcasts. If you have several articles open on a topic, the browser can synthesize them into an audio format you can listen to while doing something else.

For students and researchers, a new "Study and Learn" mode turns any article into an interactive quiz or study session. This could replace the manual process of making flashcards or writing practice questions.

An AI writing assistant rounds out the productivity features. It appears automatically when you start typing in a text field on any webpage, offering suggestions as you compose emails, forum posts, or form responses.

Long-Term Memory and Browsing History Access

Two features push Edge further into personalization territory. First, you can grant Copilot access to your browsing history to provide "relevant, high-quality answers." Second, Copilot on desktop and mobile gains "long-term memory" that tailors responses based on your previous conversations.

The memory feature means Copilot can remember that you prefer concise answers, that you're a software developer, or that you've been researching a specific topic for weeks. It builds a profile over time.

Microsoft is also redesigning the new tab page to combine chat, search, and web navigation in one interface. A feature called Journeys uses AI to organize your browsing history into categories you can revisit later.

Mobile Gets Screen Sharing with Copilot

The Edge mobile app is getting a feature that lets you share your screen with Copilot and ask questions about what you're seeing. This works for troubleshooting, explaining content, or getting help with apps that aren't part of Edge itself.

Microsoft says the app will show "clear visual cues" when Copilot is active, "so you know when it's taking an action, helping, listening, or viewing." This transparency matters given the sensitivity of screen sharing.

Privacy Trade-Offs

Every new feature here involves giving Copilot more access to your data: your tabs, your typing, your browsing history, your screen, your conversation history. Microsoft emphasizes opt-in controls, but the browser is clearly designed to work best when you share everything.

For enterprise users, IT teams will need to decide which features to enable by default and which to lock down. The productivity gains are real, but so is the expanded data surface.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Edge Copilot read all my open tabs?

Yes, the new update lets Copilot gather information from all your open tabs to answer questions, compare products, and summarize content across your browsing session.

What happened to Copilot Mode in Edge?

Microsoft is retiring Copilot Mode. Its agentic features, like booking reservations, have moved to the "Browse with Copilot" tool.

Does Edge Copilot remember previous conversations?

Yes, the update adds "long-term memory" that lets Copilot tailor responses based on your conversation history across sessions.

Can I turn off Edge Copilot's new features?

Microsoft says users can select which experiences to enable and disable the ones they don't want.

How does Edge's AI podcast feature work?

Similar to NotebookLM, Edge can convert your open tabs into AI-generated audio summaries you can listen to.

Copilot Mode Transitions to Native Integration and Mobile Expansion

The new article reports that Microsoft is officially retiring the 'Copilot Mode' branding as the features are now natively integrated across both desktop and mobile versions of Edge. It also introduces specific mobile updates such as the 'Vision and Voice' screen-sharing feature and the availability of 'Journeys' for syncing project research across devices.

Subscription Requirements and Mobile Integration

The new article provides specific details on availability, noting that the 'Browse with Copilot' features and the writing assistant are currently limited to Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers in the US. It also reveals a new screen-sharing capability for the mobile Edge app and the retirement of the legacy Copilot Mode.

Internal Shift to GitHub Copilot CLI

Microsoft is reportedly phasing out internal use of Anthropic's Claude Code and transitioning its engineers to GitHub Copilot CLI. This move is aimed at consolidating internal AI tools and reducing costs as the company approaches the end of its financial year.