Copilot AI assistant now searches for files on Windows 10 and 11 — better and faster than Windows Search

Microsoft expands functionality Copilot. With the latest update, this digital assistant is now able to search for local files on your computer, including those synced to OneDrive. Previously, this feature was only available to Windows Insider program members, but now it’s rolling out to all Windows 11 and even Windows 10 users. Earlier Microsoft has launched the Copilot search engine.

After the first tests, Windows Latest — journalists were very positive. The search is fast and surprisingly accurate because Copilot Search uses the standard Windows Search index. That is, the same one that, let’s just say, has not always impressed with the stable quality of results, but in combination with Copilot, it suddenly came to life.

In our tests, Copilot successfully found common file types that are usually opened through standard Microsoft programs: docx, xlsx, ppt, txt, pdf, and others. But if you’re a Flutter developer looking for a .dart file, for example, don’t get your hopes up. In this sense, Copilot Search is not omnipotent and does not claim to be a full-fledged file manager.

The use cases are simple but useful. Remember that you edited your resume a week ago, but forgot where you saved it? If it’s within the folders allowed by Copilot (which is Documents and Downloads by default), it will take a few seconds to find it. And yes, you can change access limits in Windows privacy settings.

When you enter a query like «find my resume» or «show me my latest Excel files», Copilot doesn’t do anything magical. It simply converts your human language query into a typical File Explorer search query. For example, the command «find resume with my name Mayank» turns into something like:

filename:Mayank OR resume kind:NOT folder.

That is, it doesn’t analyze the contents of documents, but searches Windows Search (and OneDrive if synchronization is enabled) only by name, type, and date. And yet Copilot Search is faster than Windows Search. If you want Copilot to read the contents of files — you can separately enable it in the settings. There’s also a handy addition: once you find a document, you can immediately add it to the message window and ask for more information.

It is worth noting that Copilot search is disabled by default — for privacy reasons. You can turn it on manually in the Copilot settings. And you don’t need to have a Copilot Pro subscription to do so. The feature is already gradually coming to all Windows 11 and Windows 10 users in updates.

Recently, Microsoft has been actively developing the capabilities of Copilot. Recently, the AI assistant learned see the Windows 11 screen.

Source: Windows Latest