AI-Powered Windows Search Comes to Dev Channel Testers With Copilot+ PCs

Windows Insiders on the Dev Channel with Copilot+ PCs can now test the AI-powered Windows Search experience Microsoft announced in October. This is one of the new features included in the Windows 11 Insider build 26120.2992 that Microsoft released on Friday.

This AI-powered Windows Search experience is gradually rolling out on Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs enrolled on the Dev Channel, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. Once enabled, it lets Insiders search for locally saved files using natural language. This improved search experience currently has some limitations, but it also works within the Settings app for quickly accessing specific settings. In a future build, Insiders will also be able to search for settings using natural language within Windows Search.

“Whether it’s searching in File Explorer, in the Windows search box on your taskbar, or in Settings – just type what’s on your mind to find it on your Copilot+ PC,” the Windows Insider team explained. “You no longer need to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names.”

Currently, the improved search experience is only available in select languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish), and it only supports the .txt, .pdf, .docx, .doc, .rtf, .pptx, .ppt, .xls, and .xlsx file formats for documents, as well as the .jpg/.jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, and .ico image formats. Microsoft is also working to make this new search experience work with files saved in OneDrive and other cloud-storage services in addition to local files.

The Windows 11 Dev Build 26120.2992 also introduces a new Refine text action in Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs. It can be used to quickly proofread and refine text on a web page or document. Additionally, the new Windows 11 build adds new keyboard shortcuts and buttons for controlling zoom levels in the Magnifier app.

Microsoft released this latest Windows 11 Dev build late on Friday and it was probably easy to miss. Earlier in the day, the company also released two new Windows 11 23H2 builds for Insiders on the Beta and Release Preview channels plus a new build for Windows 10 Insiders that automatically installs the new Outlook for Windows client.