What you need to know
- Copilot arrived in Windows 11 with the recent September 26 update.
- Users of PowerToys FancyZones might not be so happy, as your windows won't return to their original position.
- Windowed apps not part of FancyZones will also be moved and not returned to their original position.
Copilot is one of the flagship new features in the Windows 11 September 2023 update that has begun rolling out. But if you're a user of PowerToys FancyZones, or indeed you like to use windowed apps, then it's worth highlighting that Copilot doesn't play nicely.
Copilot operates by sliding in from the right-hand side of the screen, whatever else you have open. As it does this, apps will be resized or relocated. Full-screen apps will shrink, but return to their normal size when Copilot is closed.
But, if you use FancyZones, while the apps will be resized when Copilot opens, when it closes the apps will stay shrunk. Likewise, it seems if a windowed app is open that needs to be moved when Copilot opens, it won't return to its original location.
I've tried this with a bunch of different FancyZones layouts, and they all respond the same way. Copilot pushes them across if they're on that part of the screen and when they're moved, that's where they stay. The shared behavior with windowed apps not part of a FancyZones layout would suggest that it's not something that the FancyZones developers would need to fix, either.
Copilot is of course in its very early stages and there will be many updates to come. But if you live inside FancyZones, as I do, then it's not necessarily something you'll want to use a lot unless you like pulling your hair out.
