Here's How Microsoft Gave Copilot a Slick New Icon That Can Finally "Join the Conversation"

If you have been using Copilot lately, you may have noticed that the AI assistant is changing quite a lot. Well, Microsoft is now giving Copilot a fresh visual identity, including a redesigned icon that can actually communicate what the AI is doing.

Microsoft wants Copilot’s icon to do more than just sit there

In a recent Microsoft Design blogpost, the company mentioned that the redesign comes as Copilot evolves into a broader experience across its products. The company also wanted the icon to feel consistent wherever users encounter it.

According to Microsoft designer Lucas Fitzpatrick, the team started with a simple question. What if Copilot’s icon could “join the conversation?” Interestingly, the answer involved going back to one of Microsoft’s simplest shapes, the square. Designers eventually created two distinct forms that combine into one silhouette.

Microsoft says the two shapes represent separate pieces coming together into something more useful. The company also redesigned the wordmark using Segoe and Segoe Serif.

The new Copilot icon can now show what is happening

Color also plays a major role in the new identity. Microsoft kept a connection to Copilot’s original gradient, while allowing colors to shift between different contexts. That said, motion appears to be the biggest change. Microsoft has created three animation styles for different moments when Copilot is working.

The first is Thinking, which appears while Copilot processes a request. Planning represents the assistant organizing its next steps. There is also Retrieval, which appears when Copilot pulls context from files and work. Microsoft says these gestures will follow Copilot across Windows, Word, PowerPoint, and other experiences.

The company says the redesign took months of work across brand, product, and motion designers. The team even printed icons to test how the designs looked away from screens. For now, Microsoft is presenting the new identity as more than another logo change. The company wants Copilot’s visual language to communicate what is happening instead of simply identifying the product.