In a demonstration of Microsoft’s latest plans for Copilot, the assistant searched through Downloads, Documents, Desktop, OneDrive and Images, then renamed files, moved tax papers into a folder called ‘2025 Tax Returns’ and prepared an email attachment. The file work used a local model.
The demonstration is part of a feature Microsoft calls Hybrid Intelligence. Its control is a toggle labelled ‘Let Copilot access your files, take actions, and use local models on this PC’. Users can select ‘Access your files’, allow Copilot to ‘Take actions’ on Windows apps and settings, or ‘Use local models’ to execute tasks on the PC at no extra cost.
Microsoft’s guardrail in the demonstration was plain enough: after Copilot had prepared its actions, the screen said, ‘Nothing will be sent until you approve it’. For Windows 11 users, Copilot will be able to work on PC files through local models when the user turns on the toggle and approves every transmission outside the PC.
It is a considerable expansion from Copilot’s first appearance as a preview sidebar in Windows 11 version 22H2 in September 2023. Windows 12 rolled out on June 12, 2024, after being launched at Microsoft’s Build 2024 conference from the company’s Redmond campus. At that event, chief executive Satya Nadella said: ‘Windows 12 is the platform where productivity meets intelligence. Copilot is not an add‑on; it's the core of how users will interact with their PC.’
Live demonstrations at Build showed Copilot drafting emails, producing code snippets and summarising meetings in real time. The assistant can answer natural‑language queries, automate repetitive work and suggest shortcuts based on context.
Microsoft then broadened its ambitions for the assistant. Copilot Vision, announced on May 6, 2025 for Windows Insiders, allowed users to share any browser or app window with Copilot. On October 16, 2025, the company announced the ‘Hey Copilot’ wake word for Windows 11 PCs generally, alongside an agentic update. That day also brought expanded Vision with desktop sharing, a ‘Highlights’ show-me-how mode, Windows Settings integration and Copilot Actions.
The local-processing element matters because Copilot+ PCs have built-in artificial intelligence components that run on the device’s Neural Processing Unit, or NPU. These cover image processing, image transformation, image creation and local language modelling. Microsoft’s January 2026 documentation said those local components provide low-latency performance, reduce dependence on cloud connectivity and keep sensitive data on the device.
Microsoft Execution Containers are now generally available for Windows. The company describes Hybrid Intelligence as a platform where agents run locally when appropriate, use the cloud when needed and operate with the security and manageability organisations expect. Microsoft also describes Windows as the most secure platform for agents, with containment, identity and manageability built into it.
The promise is a Copilot that can handle the small administrative chores that accumulate across a computer. The trade-off is equally direct: users who want that help must decide whether to grant an assistant access to personal files and Windows controls, with the approval prompt standing between a prepared task and anything sent outside the PC.
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