OneDrive is Getting New Copilot Features, Photos Agent, More

Microsoft detailed several new AI features coming to OneDrive during a Copilot + OneDrive digital event earlier today. Some of these new features, including a floating Copilot icon on the web and a new Photos agent, will require a premium subscription.

“Whether you’re dealing with enterprise compliance or family photos, OneDrive now delivers personalized intelligence to every file,” the OneDrive team said today. “It’s always on and ready with speed and reliability front and center, built for seamless team flow and collaboration, and there to rediscover your favorite memories, no matter your role or need.”

Here are the biggest new OneDrive features Microsoft announced today:

Floating Copilot icon on the web: For users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, the OneDrive web app will show a new Copilot icon in the bottom right corner of the page. Clicking on it will display suggested actions such as summarizing content, comparing files, or creating an audio overview.

Hero link: OneDrive users can now create a single sharing link with a permanent URL and adjust permissions as needed for different subsets of users. People receiving the link can also ask Copilot for a quick summary of the shared content.

New Photos experience in OneDrive for Windows: This new OneDrive app for Windows with a new Photos tab leaked a couple of days ago. It will feature gallery, people view, and AI slideshows tabs at the top, and it will also offer editing features for cloud-based and local photos.

Photos Agent: Copilot will be able to help users find photos, build albums, and share them through natural language prompts. This new AI agent is coming to the OneDrive web app and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app for Windows, and it will require a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.

AI mobile editing: The OneDrive mobile app will soon allow users to transform their photos into different styles.

Photo stacks: This new feature will group blurry or duplicate shots, with Microsoft 365 subscribers getting more cleanup suggestions.

Smarter search and answers: The Search bar at the top of the OneDrive web app will be able to provide ChatGPT-like answers to questions about files saved on OneDrive

Custom agents: OneDrive will make it possible to create a knowledge agent using a specific OneDrive folder. This agent will be able to answer questions about its documents, summarize their content, and more.

M365 Copilot Researcher integration: Researcher, the reasoning agent that can perform complex, multi-step research at work, is coming to OneDrive for the Web.

If you missed Microsoft’s Copilot + OneDrive event feature today, you can watch it on demand on YouTube.