Microsoft is giving Copilot access to your Windows files and the power to act on them

Microsoft is giving Copilot access to files on your Windows PC and the ability to take actions across the operating system. The company showed the upgrade at its Windows and Surface event on October 7 as part of what it calls hybrid intelligence, where apps and tools use a mix of local and cloud AI models.

Copilot gets three local capabilities. Microsoft says Copilot on Copilot+ PCs will gain local context, local actions, and local models. With your permission, it can understand relevant content on your PC, including files and recent activity. It can act on your behalf across Windows, with Microsoft citing tasks such as organizing files, assessing device diagnostics, troubleshooting issues, coding, and carrying out workflows. It can also use AI models running on the PC and combine them with cloud models when needed.

The demo had Copilot gather tax documents. Jacob Andreou, Microsoft's EVP of Copilot, walked through a video demo in which he asked Autopilot to get his accountant what she needed after she emailed him. According to The Verge, the agent searched across folders for the documents, renamed the files, zipped them into a folder, and drafted an email to the accountant with the zip file attached. XDA Developers reported that the agent then waited for permission before sending.

It builds on the new Copilot app. Microsoft recently rebuilt Copilot around three experiences: Home, Code, and Autopilot. The company says hybrid intelligence lets Home pull in files you have been working on, lets Code create native Windows apps from a single prompt and run code more securely in Microsoft Execution Containers, and brings local context, local models, and PC actions to Autopilot, which Microsoft describes as a persistent, proactive, and personal agent.

There is no firm release date. Microsoft says Copilot features powered by hybrid intelligence are expected to begin rolling out on Copilot+ PCs in the coming months, and that availability and timing may vary by device, market, and silicon platform. Andreou said the features will arrive over the “next couple months,” The Verge reported.

Microsoft is also fencing agents in. Microsoft Execution Containers (MXC) is now generally available on Windows 11. It lets organizations define which files and networks agents can access, with policies enforced at runtime, and Windows connects agent activity to Microsoft Agent 365 and Intune so IT can set policy and monitor risk. Microsoft says Codex from OpenAI, GitHub Copilot, OpenClaw, Replit, LM Studio, OpenShell from NVIDIA, and Unsloth AI already support MXC, with Anthropic's Claude Code, Perplexity, Manus, and others set to follow.

Third-party agents are coming to Windows too. Meta's Muse personal AI agent is coming to Windows as a native app with MXC integration, Microsoft said, without giving a date. Microsoft also showed a Perplexity agent resizing and renaming photos and building a local HTML gallery on the device, and a new “Get Started” flow for setting up agents, XDA Developers reported.

Trust remains the open question. Engadget noted that the push follows backlash against Recall and against Copilot features Microsoft later removed from Windows 11.