Microsoft’s Copilot app for Windows has received a staged Insider update that adds conversational, semantic file search on Copilot+ PCs and a redesigned Copilot home that surfaces recent apps, files and conversations — all packaged in Copilot app builds starting with version 1.25082.132.0 and rolling out gradually to Windows Insiders. ers now
Windows search has long been a functional but frustrating part of daily PC use: brittle filename matching, slow indexing, and inconsistent results drove many users to third‑party tools or convoluted file organization habits. The new Copilot update represents a deliberate pivot from keyword-first search toward intent-first discovery by introducing a semantic index and natural‑language query handling inside the Copilot app. That shift is intended to let users describe what they’re looking for — “find my CV,” “find pictures with red cars,” or “the file with the chicken tostada recipe” — and get relevant returns even when filenames or metadata don’t match exactly.
Microsoft is delivering this capability evanced behaviors are initially hardware‑gated to certified Copilot+ PCs — machines with on‑device AI acceleration (Neural Processing Units, or NPUs). Microsoft’s preview materials and community reporting tie the richest on‑device experiences to NPU‑equipped devices, with public previews referencing NPUs in the 40+ TOPS class as enablers for local inference; however, exact certification thresholds and vendor support are managed through Microsoft’s Copilot+ program and may change over time.
At the same time, rollout choices and technical tradeoffs produce practical constraints. Hardware gating leavfor the full experience; privacy and governance considerations mean IT teams must evaluate indexing scope and permission defaults before broad deployment; and semantic retrieval, while powerful, must be treated as an as than an infallible truth engine.
For most users the immediate takeaway is simple: try the new Copilot home and natural‑language search on an Insider build if you can, but configure permissions carefully*, validate results, and pilot within controlled groups before scaling across sensitive environments. These practices will let users reap the productivity benefits while managing privacy and compliance risk as Microsoft continues to tune the experience.
The Copilot update is rolling out Ils; expect incremental availability as Microsoft adjusts feature flags and hardware checks.
Source: Neowin Copilot app on Windows gets new home page and file search with natural language
Windows search has long been a functional but frustrating part of daily PC use: brittle filename matching, slow indexing, and inconsistent results drove many users to third‑party tools or convoluted file organization habits. The new Copilot update represents a deliberate pivot from keyword-first search toward intent-first discovery by introducing a semantic index and natural‑language query handling inside the Copilot app. That shift is intended to let users describe what they’re looking for — “find my CV,” “find pictures with red cars,” or “the file with the chicken tostada recipe” — and get relevant returns even when filenames or metadata don’t match exactly.
Microsoft is delivering this capability evanced behaviors are initially hardware‑gated to certified Copilot+ PCs — machines with on‑device AI acceleration (Neural Processing Units, or NPUs). Microsoft’s preview materials and community reporting tie the richest on‑device experiences to NPU‑equipped devices, with public previews referencing NPUs in the 40+ TOPS class as enablers for local inference; however, exact certification thresholds and vendor support are managed through Microsoft’s Copilot+ program and may change over time.
What’s new in the Copilot app update
Semantic file search (natural‑landn accept conversational queries and return matching files and images from indexed local locations, letting you search by meaning rather than exact filenames. Example queries Microsoft highlighted include “find my CV” and “find images of bridges at sunset.”
- The feature is gated initially to Copilot+ PCs where on‑device inference is available; fallback or cloud‑assisted behavior fnes is not fully documented in the preview.
Redesigned Copilot home
- The new homepage places recent conversations, apps and files up front so you can quickly re‑engage previous tasks ession for guided help with a chosen app. Clicking a recent file will upload it (explicit user action) into Copilot for extraction, summarization, or object identification.
- The recent files pane pulls items from the standard Windows Recent folder. Incompatible apps won’t appear in that pane. Copilot doesn’t silently upload files to Micng is performed locally unless you explicitly attach or permit otherwise.
File upload types supported (chat attachments)
- Supported upload types for direct file attachments into Copilot’s chat currently include: **.png, .jpeg, .svg, .pdf, .docx, .xlsx, .csv, ## Release and availability
- The update is distributed via the Microsoft Store to Windows Insiders as a staged rollout. Not every Insider will see all features immediately; Microsoft controls distribution throuice eligibility and regional gating.
How the semantic file search works (technical overview)
Two-layer indexing: classic + semantic
Microsoft is building a second, meaning‑aware index alongside the traditional Windows Search index. The classic index hanata and literal text matches; the semantic index stores vectorized representations (embeddings) of document text and descriptors derived from image analysis so queries can be evaluated by meaning and similarity. The system maps a natural‑language query into an embedding and performs nearest‑neighbor retrieval to surface candidate files that align with the user’s intent.On‑device inference using NPUs (Copilot+ PCs)
When Copilot+ hardware is present, heavy lifting for semantic queries is routed to the device’s NPU to reduce latency and preserve an improved privacy posture by keeping sensitive processing local. Micross with multi‑TOPS performance (public previews mentioned 40+ TOPS) as enablers for the richest experiences, though the exact hardware certification rules are subject to Microsoft’s Copilot+ program and OEM documentation.Integration with Copilot Vision and the chat
Search results appear inside the Copilot chat so users can preview files, attach them into the conversation, request summaries, or ask follow‑ups. Selecting a recent app can start a Vision session where Copilot inspects the vir(walkthroughs, how‑tos, or readouts of on‑screen content) when permissions are granted.Strengths — meaningful productivity and UX gains
- Faster, more natural discovery. The primary user benefit is a real reduction in the cognitive load of remembering exact filenames; describing a document or photo in plain language is often faster than guessing a filename or scanning folders. Semantic retrg‑standing pain point in Windows search workflows.
- Actionable results inside Copilot. Returning results directly into the chat makes it easy to summarize a document, extract key facts, or ask follow‑ups without switching windows — a productivity multiplier for knowledge workers and students.
- On‑device speed and privacy for Copilot+ users. Offloading inference to local NPUs lows some offline use, reducing round trips to cloud services for routine semantic queries. This improves responsiveness and shrinks the privacy surface for eligible devices.
- Unified workspace. The redesigned Copilot home is positioned as a singnds search, conversation history, and guided app help — a sensible UX direction that reduces context switching.
Risks, limits, and unresolved questions
- Privacy and consent caveats. Even though Microsoft states Copilot does not upload recent files to Microsoft by defaultns locally where possible, the convenience of “click to upload” and the presence of cloud fallbacks mean consent and configuration matter. Users should verify which toggles are enabled; not all users will be copilot access to file contents.
- Hardware inequality. The feature’s best experience is gated to Copilot+ PCs with NPUs, which favors newer or premium hardware. This creates a two‑tier experience where many existing devices will receive reduced functionality until broader hardware support arrives.
- Scope and file coverage. Preview notes make clear the search targets indexed locations and the Recent folder by default; it will not scan every folpt scoped approach protects privacy but may mean searches miss items stored outside indexed locations.
- Accuracy and hallucination risk. Semantic search improves recall of conceptually related files but is not infallible. Results are ranked by similarity, so false poms remain possible — especially when file content is minimal or images are ambiguous. Users should treat returned results as candidates to verify, not authoritative assertions.
- Enterprise governance and compliance. Organizations with strict data governance, DLP, or regulatory constraints must indexing and Vision sessions interact with existing policies. The preview materials advise conservative testing and policy reviews.
- Unverified or evolving details. Certain technical thresholds (for example, the precise NPU TOPS requirement for Copilot+ certification) are discussed in preview materials but remain subject to change; such figures should be treaer than absolute.
Practical implications for everyday users
What you will notice day‑to‑day
- Ask Copilot a conversational query and get document or photo matches even if you don’t remember a filename. Results will include preview snippets and the option to attacat for summarization or extraction.
- The Copilot home becomes a quick launchpad for recent work: recent apps (for Vision help), recent files, and prior conversations appear front and center. Clicking items is an explicit action and will upload them into Copilot only when yatures will only appear on Copilot+ certified hardware or after feature‑flag enablement as Microsoft rolls the update out across Insider channels.
What administrators and privacy-conscious users should do
- Review Copilot’s permission toggles and ensure file access is scoped to acceptable folders only. The Copioses options to control what Copilot can access, read or retrieve; use these to limit indexing or on‑device processing if needed.
- Test the feature on non‑production devices before wider rollout. Because Copilot creates a semantic index alongside exizations should verify disk, CPU, and NPU load characteristics in representative environments.
- Update governance and DLP rules to account for new local insion interactions where applicable.
Recommendations: how to adopt this feature safely and productively
- Verify eligibility and build: check Copilot app version (1.25082.132.0 or later) and whether your device is flagged as Copilot+ before assuming on‑device inference is available.
- Audit Permissions: open Permissions and explicitly configure which folders or file classes Copilot may index and access. Limit scope to Documents, Desktop and Downloads unless broader access is required.
- Try targeted searches: begin with descriptive querie“find my CV,” “find screenshots from last week”) to evaluate both recall and precision.
- Validate results: treat Copiandidates. Open matching files manually or use the built‑in preview before acting on extracted content.
- Monitor resource usage: on systems without NPUs, cloud routing or CPU usage could impact battery life or performance; monitor CPU, disk I/O and battery builds.
- For IT teams: pilot the feature in a lab or controlled pool, update DLP/policy documentation, and train helpdesk staff on how Copilot’s new home and file search alter end‑user workflows.
- Adjust default indexing: useings to control indexed locations if you want to proactively exclude sensitive paths from the semantic index.
Deep dive: a realistic scenario
Imagine Sarah, a project manager who saved a contract as “Final_v2.docx” in an old folder. She can now type “find the signed contract for Contoso project” in Copilot and get the document returned even if the filename contains none of those descriptive words. Once the document appears, she can click it to upload into Copilot and ask for a one‑paragraph summary, or to extract a clause. The spinning parts that make this work are the semantic index (which mapped the contract content to a vector representing “signed contract for Contoso”) and either local NPU inference (on a Copilot+ PC) or whatever fallback is available. The convenience is clear — but so is the need for Sarah’s organization to verify that the contract’s folder was allowed for semantic indexing and that the team’s DLP policies permit local AI processing of that content.Limitations and what to watch next
- Expect iterative improvements. The feature is in staged Insider preview and will evolve as Microsoft broadens hardware support, tightens privacy guardrails and refines the UX.
- Watch for extended app and file type coverage. At preview, upload types into Copilot chat are limited to common document and image formats; power users with niche formats may see gaps.
- Keep an eye on enterprise controls. Microsoft’s enterprise documentation and management controls for Copilot indexing and Vision sessions will be decisive for broad corporate adoption.
- Treat early performance claims (exact NPU TOPS thresholds, for example) as provisional. Hardware certification details and performance numbers haebject to program changes.
Final analysis — a pragmatic verdict
The Copilot app’s semantic file search and redesigned home mark a meaningful UX advance for Windows: the transition from keyword lookup to intent‑awaiscovery aligns search with how people naturally recall information. For eligible Copilot+ PCs, the on‑device NPU approach offers tangible benefits in speed and privacy, and surfacing recethe Copilot home cleanly folds assistance and discovery into one workspace.At the same time, rollout choices and technical tradeoffs produce practical constraints. Hardware gating leavfor the full experience; privacy and governance considerations mean IT teams must evaluate indexing scope and permission defaults before broad deployment; and semantic retrieval, while powerful, must be treated as an as than an infallible truth engine.
For most users the immediate takeaway is simple: try the new Copilot home and natural‑language search on an Insider build if you can, but configure permissions carefully*, validate results, and pilot within controlled groups before scaling across sensitive environments. These practices will let users reap the productivity benefits while managing privacy and compliance risk as Microsoft continues to tune the experience.
The Copilot update is rolling out Ils; expect incremental availability as Microsoft adjusts feature flags and hardware checks.
Source: Neowin Copilot app on Windows gets new home page and file search with natural language
