Microsoft demos Copilot actions across Windows and local files

Microsoft EVP of Copilot Jacob Andreou demonstrated the system in a video shown at the event.[2] In the example, he asked Microsoft’s Autopilot tool to help file taxes.[2] Autopilot searched different folders for documents, renamed the files it found and compressed them into a folder.[2] It then drafted an email to the accountant with that folder attached.[2] The sequence shows the kind of multi-step file handling Microsoft presented, but the evidence describes a demonstration, not a general performance result.[2]

The demonstrated Copilot upgrade can access files stored locally on a PC and take actions across Windows.[2] The apps and tools rely on a mix of local and cloud AI models.[2] Microsoft’s stated aim is to accomplish tasks efficiently.[2] Andreou said Copilot’s Hybrid Intelligence features would arrive over the next couple of months.[2] The evidence does not specify which tasks will be available at launch, how users will approve actions, or whether every step in the demo will be supported when the features arrive.

Microsoft also showed a Windows search experience that can perform quick actions directly from the search bar.[2] The examples included turning on dark mode, raising microphone volume with an in-line slider and sending a text.[2] Davuluri said the new search experience would start arriving this fall on Windows 11 PCs.[2] That makes search a separate part of the announcement from the file-handling Copilot demo: the evidence gives it its own actions and rollout timing, and does not say it can manage local documents.

Windows Insiders can use Copilot Actions to perform tasks directly on local files.[3] Microsoft described that earlier experience as experimental and warned it could make mistakes.[3] The company said it runs in a contained environment separate from the user’s interactive session.[3] The earlier rollout excluded the European Economic Area.[3] These details apply to the earlier Copilot Actions experience; the evidence does not establish that the same rollout, safeguards or availability terms apply to the newly demonstrated Hybrid Intelligence features.