Microsoft's planned new AI trick for Edge will 'automatically open the Copilot side pane' with Outlook email links — and I can feel the hate already | Tech Radar

Overview

Microsoft's planned new AI trick for Edge will 'automatically open the Copilot side pane' with Outlook email links — and I can feel the hate already

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Details

When you click a link in an Outlook message, it'll open that link in Edge with a Copilot side pane

This side pane will provide 'contextual insights and actionable suggestions', but I'm betting the idea won't be well received

Microsoft is preparing a feature for its Edge browser that automatically opens Copilot AI in a sidebar, and I can tell you now that this idea isn't going to be popular.

Windows Central spotted the addition to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap which means that when a Windows 11 user clicks a link in an Outlook message that opens in Edge, the Copilot side pane will automatically pop into view on the right of the browser window with extra details.

Microsoft explains: "When users open links from Outlook, Microsoft Edge can automatically open the Copilot side pane to provide contextual insights and actionable suggestion chips based on email and destination content – such as highlighting key points, and recommending next actions — without disrupting the browsing flow.

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"This experience helps users quickly understand content, take action with fewer steps, and get more value from Copilot while extending productive browsing time in Edge."

The feature is under development currently, and is expected to be rolled out starting from May 2026, according to the provided timeline on the roadmap. So in theory — if nothing derails the concept — it might be just a few short months away.

Despite the big AI backlash that started late last year, Microsoft clearly isn't downing AI tools – but did we think it would? No, of course not, as AI agents are the next-big-thing (TM) in Windows 11, and there's no getting around that.

Development of other AI features will continue as well, and Microsoft isn't putting any of this on ice to fix Windows 11. The promised work to address the fundamental issues that have blighted the desktop OS for a long time will happen alongside more AI being introduced to Windows 11 — it won't push AI aside.

The problem lies in what kind of AI features Microsoft is ushering in, and the sort which automatically pop up in your face in certain scenarios are the very unwelcome variety.

Granted, we don't know how this particular feature will be implemented, and we know very little about it at all save for what we can infer from a paragraph of description. Presumably it won't be on by default – the use of the word 'can' in Microsoft's blurb suggests that — but why do I worry that it might be?

Probably because Microsoft has pulled that kind of trick in the past, but given the anti-AI sentiment from many Windows 11 users these days, it'd be very foolish to try these kinds of shenanigans in 2026.

We shall see, and indeed Microsoft could even abandon this idea entirely — just because it's on the roadmap now, that doesn't rule out the feature getting pushed aside and abandoned. However, this is one addition that Microsoft will need to tread very carefully with, if the company does forge ahead with the idea.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for Tech Radar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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Key Takeaways

• Microsoft's planned new AI trick for Edge will 'automatically open the Copilot side pane' with Outlook email links — and I can feel the hate already

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• When you click a link in an Outlook message, it'll open that link in Edge with a Copilot side pane

• This side pane will provide 'contextual insights and actionable suggestions', but I'm betting the idea won't be well received

• Microsoft is preparing a feature for its Edge browser that automatically opens Copilot AI in a sidebar, and I can tell you now that this idea isn't going to be popular