How to Create an Audio Podcast of a Page with Copilot in Edge
Copilot in Microsoft Edge can turn a web page, or a stack of open tabs, into a generated audio podcast. This guide walks through exactly how to do that: what you need before starting, how to write a prompt that produces useful output, and where the feature's limits are.
The scenario it's built for is specific. Four tabs open on one topic, twenty minutes in the car. The Verge reported last month that Edge's tab-to-podcast tool is comparable to Google's NotebookLM-style audio summaries, added alongside AI tab summaries and a Study and Learn mode. The Microsoft Edge Blog frames the pitch simply: "listen, learn, and keep moving."
For a Microsoft Edge Copilot audio podcast, one thing matters upfront: per Microsoft Support's podcast documentation, Copilot curates information from the web when generating a podcast. Your open tabs and your prompt shape what it focuses on, but the output is a web-informed synthesis. Treat it as a briefing, not a faithful readback of the pages you had open.
Before you start
- Microsoft Edge on desktop, updated to the latest version. This covers Windows 10, Windows 11, and macOS. Go to Settings and more > Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge, let it check for updates, and restart if prompted.
- A personal Microsoft account, signed in. Podcast generation requires sign-in, per the Microsoft Edge Blog. Work or school accounts on managed devices may not have access; that's an IT administrator restriction, not something you can configure yourself.
- An English-language setup. The feature is available across all Copilot markets but only in English, per both the Edge Blog and Microsoft Support. If your account region or Edge language is set to a non-English locale, the option won't appear.
- The podcast experience enabled. Microsoft lets users select which AI experiences are active and leave others off. If you've updated Edge but the podcast option isn't visible, check Settings > Copilot and AI to confirm it's toggled on before assuming the feature hasn't reached your account.
- Your usage tier. Free accounts have a generation quota. Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, and Premium subscribers get extended usage.
How to create an audio podcast of a page with Copilot in Microsoft Edge
Step 1: Open the pages you want to cover
Navigate to the article or page you want the podcast to address. For multiple sources on one topic, open each in a separate tab. The Verge confirmed last month that Copilot in Edge can gather context from all your open tabs when prompted to do so.
A single tab keeps the focus narrow. Related tabs give Copilot more context if you want a broader synthesis across sources. Either approach works; the choice depends on whether you want a tight summary of one piece or a topic overview drawn from several. Whatever you open, name the topic explicitly in your prompt rather than leaving Copilot to infer it from page metadata.
Keep the tab set relevant to your topic. Copilot can ask questions about tab content, compare products across pages, and summarize open articles, per The Verge, so a focused set of tabs gives the prompt cleaner material to work with.
Step 2: Open the Copilot panel and submit your prompt
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Open the Copilot panel in Edge. The button sits in the upper-right area of the address bar, per PC Magazine's testing of Edge's AI features. A sidebar opens with a prompt field. Edge displays clear visual cues when Copilot is active, so you'll know when it's working on your request.
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Below the prompt input, select the Open (+) icon to reveal the format options, then select "Create a podcast", per Microsoft Support's workflow documentation.
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Write a specific prompt before submitting. Prompt specificity matters most here. Compare:
- Weak: "Make a podcast" no topic, no scope, predictably generic output.
- Single page: "Create a podcast summarizing this article on [topic]" names the topic explicitly rather than leaving Copilot to guess from page metadata.
- Multiple tabs: "Create a podcast covering the key findings across my open tabs on [topic] focus on where the sources agree and where they differ" gives Copilot a topic, a scope, and a structural goal.
The pattern: what content to draw from, what the topic is, and what kind of output you want. Microsoft Support illustrates this with a prompt like "Create a podcast about the history of space travel" simple, specific, scoped.
- Submit the prompt. Copilot will acknowledge the request and notify you when the audio is ready. Generation takes approximately two to five minutes, per Microsoft Support. Browse other tabs in the meantime.
If the podcast option isn't showing up: Work through this checklist. First, confirm you're signed in with a personal Microsoft account, not a work or school account. Second, verify your setup is English-supported both your Microsoft account region and Edge's UI language. Third, check Settings > Copilot and AI to confirm the podcast experience is enabled; Microsoft makes these features individually selectable, so it may simply be toggled off. If all three check out and the option still isn't there, restart Edge and try again.
Content filters: Topics involving sensitive, violent, or explicit material may trigger a safety block, per Microsoft Support. Rephrase or narrow the topic if this happens.
Interface naming: Microsoft retired the "Copilot Mode" label last month and folded those capabilities into "Browse with Copilot," per The Verge. If your panel looks different from what's described here, look for any "+" or format-selector near the prompt field; the underlying workflow is the same.
Step 3: Listen and share
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When Copilot signals the podcast is ready, select Listen to start playback.
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Copilot takes you to a dedicated playback page with standard audio controls play, pause, skip forward, skip backward per Microsoft Support.
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To share, select the share icon on the playback page. This generates a direct link to the podcast on copilot.com, which recipients can open on copilot.com or in the Copilot app, per Microsoft Support.
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On storage: Generated podcasts are retained for the same period as your Copilot conversation history, per Microsoft Support. Microsoft's support page does not describe a local download option, so plan accordingly if you need the audio beyond that window.
When this feature earns its keep and when it doesn't
Microsoft Support is explicit: Copilot curates information from the web when generating a podcast. Your open tabs and prompt direct the focus; the output is web-informed synthesis. Keep that in mind when deciding whether to reach for the podcast tool or just read the page.
The feature works well as a listening-first orientation to a topic. A stack of tabs you'd rather absorb on a commute than read at a desk. A long article you won't get to before a meeting. A topic you're approaching cold and want a quick lay of the land before digging into sources. The two-to-five minute generation window is worth it in any of those cases.
Where it breaks down is anywhere you need to trace a specific claim back to a specific source. Because the podcast draws on Copilot's web curation, not a closed transcript of your tabs, there's no reliable way to confirm which source contributed a particular assertion. If something in the audio matters enough to act on or reference, go back to the original page. The podcast is a starting point, not a citation.
The same Copilot panel offers a different output format worth knowing about. Per The Verge's coverage of last month's Edge update, the Study and Learn mode can turn an article into an interactive quiz same access point, built for a different kind of engagement. If the podcast gives you a topic overview and you want to test retention or go deeper on specifics, Study and Learn is the logical next step.
One other Copilot feature in Edge is worth flagging here, since it's easy to confuse with the podcast tool. Copilot's standard tab-context mode lets you ask questions about what's in your open tabs, compare products across pages, and summarize articles on demand, per The Verge. That's a different workflow from the podcast: interactive and text-based rather than generated audio. If you want to interrogate your tabs rather than listen to a produced briefing, the standard Copilot chat prompt handles that without the generation wait.
What you can do now
Open Edge, pull up any article or set of tabs on a topic, and generate a Microsoft Edge Copilot audio podcast from the Copilot panel in under five minutes. Share it via a direct link. Come back to it later in your conversation history. No separate app, no third-party tool.
The practical ceiling is clear: a focused tab set on one topic converts well. A vague prompt on scattered tabs does not. Specificity in the prompt is the single variable most in your control, and the difference between a useful briefing and something too broad to act on.
From here, the Study and Learn mode in the same Copilot panel is worth exploring, per The Verge. Same workflow, different output and a natural next step once the podcast generation process is familiar.
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