Microsoft adds powerful AI upgrades to Windows 11, improving Copilot

Your computer is listening

Imagine saying ‘Hey Copilot’ to your laptop and getting help. Microsoft now offers an opt-in voice wake word for Copilot on Windows 11 that you can enable to start hands-free conversations.

Microsoft is rolling out features that let Copilot see, understand, and, if you opt in, act on your requests; these agentic capabilities are experimental and permissioned, so you stay in control.

Talk instead of type

You can now have a natural conversation with your computer using your voice. Simply say the wake words “Hey Copilot” to ask questions or give commands without touching the keyboard. End the chat by saying “Goodbye,” and the AI assistant will politely sign off.

This feature aims to make getting help as easy as talking to a friend, providing a hands-free way to manage tasks while you’re cooking, working, or simply when your hands are full, revolutionizing how we command our devices every single day.

Your AI assistant can see

A feature called Copilot Vision allows the AI to analyze what is on your screen when you give it permission. If you are stuck in an app or a game, it can look at your display and offer guidance.

With your permission, Copilot Vision can access the full app context to analyze an entire Word document or PowerPoint deck and provide a summary or suggestions.

This provides helpful insights and tips based on exactly what you are seeing, acting as a real-time tutor that understands your context and provides immediate, relevant assistance for any on-screen challenge.

Get visual how-to guides

Copilot Vision can also give you visual, step-by-step instructions right on your screen. Just ask “show me how” to do something, like editing a photo or finding a setting.

This turns your laptop into a personal tutor for any software, visually guiding your cursor through complex processes in unfamiliar programs and eliminating the frustration of searching through menus for that one elusive button.

Your PC gains a new helper

Windows 11 is introducing a powerful new AI agent called Copilot Actions. You can tell this agent what you want to accomplish using your own words. It will then work in the background, using your apps and files to complete the task for you.

You can watch its progress and take back control at any time, essentially giving you a digital personal assistant that handles multi-step chores like organizing files or compiling data, saving you precious time and effort on mundane digital housekeeping.

Automate your file tasks

This new AI agent can handle boring computer chores for you. For example, you could ask it to sort through hundreds of vacation photos and pick the best ones. It could also rename a whole folder of files or pull specific information from a lengthy PDF.

This frees you up to focus on more important or fun activities, automating digital organization in a way that was previously only possible with advanced technical knowledge or expensive software, now available to everyone.

A smarter search Bar

The familiar search bar on your taskbar is getting an AI makeover and will soon be labeled “Ask Copilot.” This new bar combines searching for your files and apps with the power of the Copilot assistant.

It is designed to be the one place you go to find anything on your PC or get answers from the web, merging traditional search with intelligent conversation to provide a unified and vastly more powerful starting point for all your questions and tasks.

Connect your favorite apps

A new feature called Copilot Connectors lets you link your favorite services directly to the AI. You can connect to Microsoft services like Outlook and OneDrive, or even Google services like Gmail and Drive.

Once connected, you can ask Copilot to find a specific email or your latest document without opening multiple apps, breaking down the walls between your different accounts, and creating a seamlessly integrated control center for your entire digital life through simple voice commands.

Build a website instantly

In a private preview, File Explorer will include a Manus action (select → right-click → ‘Create website with Manus’) that uses local files to build a simple site. It’s being trialled in preview rather than being broadly available today

It can use the text and images from your local files to build a professional-looking site in minutes, with no coding required, democratizing web design and allowing anyone from students to small business owners to establish an online presence with incredible ease and speed.

Your gaming sidekick

For gamers, a new “Gaming Copilot” is being introduced on devices like the ROG Ally. You can long-press a button mid-game to get real-time tips and strategies. This AI companion can help you with difficult missions or suggest what to do next in an open-world game.

It is like having an expert guide right beside you, offering personalized advice that can help you overcome frustrating challenges and discover new content you might have otherwise missed.

Security is a top priority

Microsoft says these AI powers include permission boundaries, opt-in defaults, and monitoring tools, though privacy advocates and some developers have raised concerns about certain features in the past, so scrutiny will continue.

The AI agent works in a secure, contained environment on your PC to keep your data safe while it works, ensuring your personal files and information remain private and are not exposed to unnecessary risks during automated tasks.

A push to upgrade

Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 10 in mid-October 2025 and is encouraging upgrades to Windows 11. Some paid/extended security support options exist, but many users on older hardware face hard choices about upgrading or replacing devices.

The company hopes these exciting and useful AI features will be the main reason people decide to upgrade their computers, positioning Windows 11 as a significant and necessary evolution rather than just a minor incremental update to the operating system.

An environmental concern

However, ending support for Windows 10 creates a difficult choice for many. Older computers that cannot run Windows 11 become security risks, potentially forcing people to buy new devices.

Consumer advocates warn this could generate massive amounts of electronic waste, which is a serious problem for the environment, highlighting the tricky balance between technological progress and its very real ecological footprint that companies and consumers must now navigate.

Not just for new PCs

Microsoft is rolling out many Copilot features to all Windows 11 PCs, though some premium features and higher-fidelity experiences remain tied to Copilot+ hardware or optional paid tiers.

This makes powerful AI assistance accessible to a much wider audience, regardless of their PC’s age, ensuring the benefits of this technology are democratized and not just reserved for those who can afford the newest hardware on the market.

A more accessible computer

The update also includes improvements for users with disabilities. The Voice Access feature now understands more natural language, so you don’t have to memorize specific commands.

A new Narrator Braille viewer helps visually impaired students and professionals by showing text and Braille together on screen, representing a meaningful step forward in making technology inclusive and empowering for all users, regardless of their physical abilities.

AI in your creative apps

Beloved creative tools like Paint and Notepad are also getting AI boosts. Notepad now includes AI tools to summarize long texts, rewrite sentences, or help you write from scratch.

Paint continues to get new editing features, making digital art creation more intuitive and powerful for everyone, embedding intelligent assistance directly into the applications people have used for decades to lower the barrier to entry for creative and writing projects.

Curious what other AI tools are coming to your apps? See how Claude is teaming up with ChatGPT here.

The future is conversational

Microsoft believes talking to our computers will become as normal as using a mouse. This update is a huge step toward an operating system that understands you.

The goal is to make technology feel less like a complex tool and more like a helpful partner in your daily life, signaling a fundamental shift where our interaction with machines is driven by natural conversation, fundamentally changing our relationship with the technology that powers our world.

To make sure your upgrade goes smoothly. Check out the update causing drive failures before you get too chatty with your PC.

Would you use the ‘Hey Copilot’ wake word, or do you prefer typing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Read More From This Brand:

• Microsoft flags 2 settings that slow Windows PCs
• Microsoft Edge adds protection from sideloaded extensions
• Take control of your notes with Microsoft Copilot AI and boost your productivity

Don’t forget to follow us for more exclusive content right here on MSN.

If you liked this story, you’ll LOVE our FREE emails. Join today and be the first to get stories like this one.

This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.