Microsoft Adds AI Helper to Edge Browser That Reads All Your Open Tabs

On July 28, 2025, Microsoft announced a new experimental feature for its Edge browser called Copilot Mode. It's an AI assistant built directly into the browser that can look at information across multiple open tabs at the same time. The feature is available for free right now, but only on Windows and Mac computers.

What Does It Do

The main thing that makes Copilot Mode different from other browser AI tools is that it can read and understand information from all your open tabs at once. Instead of looking at one page at a time, it can help you pull together information from many different websites.

Think of it like having a research assistant who can glance at your entire desk of papers at the same time, rather than handing you one paper, then another, then another. You can ask it questions about everything you have open, and it can spot connections or differences between the pages without you having to copy and paste information around.

The feature can also remember your past browsing sessions, so when you come back to the browser later, it already knows what you were working on.

How to Use It

Microsoft made Copilot Mode optional. You can turn it on or off whenever you want, depending on whether you want the AI help. If you have Edge on Windows or Mac, you can try it free during this initial test period.

The company hasn't said when it might come to other devices like tablets or Linux computers.

Privacy

Microsoft says that any information you look at in Copilot Mode is private. The company won't share your browsing data without your permission.

Because the feature has to look at all your open tabs to work, it does see more of what you're looking at than a single-page AI tool would. That's something to keep in mind if you're concerned about what information the browser can access.

Why Microsoft Is Doing This

This is the latest step in Microsoft's plan to add AI helpers throughout its products. The company started rolling out Copilot across Windows 11 in September 2023, and has been adding it to Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Office since then.

The company appears to see browser-based research — the work of gathering information from many sources and making sense of it — as something AI could help with. Copilot Mode is Microsoft's way of testing whether this works for real people.

We have seen Microsoft approach new features this way before. When the company redesigned the menu system in Microsoft Office in 2007, people complained at first. But over time, it became the standard way that complex programs organize their tools. Microsoft seems to be taking a similar patient approach with AI, adding features step by step rather than overhauling the whole browser at once.

The Bigger Picture

Other companies have already built browsers designed around AI from the ground up — Arc is one example. Copilot Mode is Microsoft's answer: instead of forcing everyone to switch to a new browser, Edge lets you turn AI features on if you want them, and turn them off if you don't.

The fact that Microsoft is offering Copilot Mode free for now suggests the company wants lots of people to try it first, and figure out how to charge for it later. That's a common strategy when a company is still learning what people actually want.

Looking at how browsers are changing, there's a real shift happening. For a long time, browsers were simple tools — you pointed them at a website and they showed you a page. Now companies like Microsoft are experimenting with making browsers smarter, turning them into tools that actively help you research and pull together information from many places.

One thing worth keeping in mind: because this is still experimental, Microsoft will probably change it based on what it learns from real users. If you work in a company considering Edge for everyone to use, expect that Copilot Mode might work differently in a few months than it does today.