Microsoft appears set to deepen Copilot’s role in Windows, with File Explorer potentially the next app to receive built-in AI features.
An invisible button was spotted in the latest preview build of Windows 11, which appears to be tied to Microsoft’s generative AI chatbot. Users may be able to ask Copilot to find specific documents, photos, or file types, or even direct them to a particular file within a large folder.
The button was spotted by Windows tester @phantomofearth, who shared it on microblogging site X. It marks yet another Copilot integration in Windows, a trend that has irked some users, particularly as many of these additions cannot be disabled once installed.
Copilot is already integrated into File Explorer via the right-click menu, allowing users to “Ask Copilot” about a file. This opens the Copilot app and continues the query there, whereas the newly discovered button would reportedly keep the interaction within File Explorer itself, offering a more seamless experience.
Search within File Explorer has long been a point of criticism, especially among power users, due to slow performance, unreliable results, and its reliance on properly configured indexing. Many users turn to third-party tools for more reliable file discovery, and a generative AI model capable of understanding search context could significantly improve the Windows experience.
Copilot in everything
Microsoft has been integrating Copilot heavily across Windows and its Microsoft 365 suite over the past two years, using its exclusive license to commercialize OpenAI’s GPT technology across its products and services.
This strategy has seen clear successes, including the hundreds of thousands of developers who now use GitHub Copilot as a code-completion tool and AI assistant. Copilot’s integration into the Office suite was another hit, allowing users to rapidly create documents, presentations, and spreadsheets through Microsoft’s Frontier program.
Microsoft has also partially revived Cortana-style voice activation with a “Hey, Copilot” command, enabling hands-free interaction. This feature launched as part of a broader push to position every Windows 11 device as an AI Copilot Hub.
AI agents are next
Signs suggest Microsoft is far from finished embedding Copilot into Windows, with AI potentially moving to the forefront through a new framework known as Agent Launchers. This would allow AI agents from different models and developers to integrate seamlessly into core Windows functions.
Much like Windows once served as a platform for thousands of software developers, Microsoft now envisions its operating system as an ecosystem for AI agents designed to boost productivity. These agents could monitor calendars, aggregate information from multiple apps into a single dashboard, and reduce the friction of manually gathering data across services.
This shift toward agentic AI is seen as a natural next step for generative models, which are currently used primarily through web and mobile chat interfaces. Freed from those confines and embedded into everyday workflows, AI assistants could become even more indispensable.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on our sister publication, TechRepublic.