It looks like Copilot is sneaking into another corner of the Windows 11 interface, with the AI assistant showing up in File Explorer’s context menu.
This is still in test versions of Windows 11, and not official either. Windows Latest flagged the change, which was first spotted by PhantomOfEarth, a well-known leaker on
Here’s how the Copilot item will appear in File Explorer’s context menus. It shows some actions you can take on files using Copilot, such as summarizing and describing text files. https://t.co/15KXTKcaBn pic.twitter.com/N6HhIB8pWkMarch 17, 2024
Now we can see how the context menu option works, allowing you to right-click on a file and choose to send it to Copilot – open the AI panel while the file is active, as if you had dragged it there – or to in front of it Select to ‘summarize’ the file. This last choice is the default option for Copilot to summarize a document or PDF, for example.
Even though we’ve now gotten a glimpse of the menu, it’s still not working (which is why it’s not officially running in Windows 11 previews yet). As Windows Latest makes clear, when you click to summarize, no summary is provided.
Other options may be added later. In fact, it’s very likely that we’ll see a ‘rewrite’ choice, for example, which will allow a document to be rewritten, another task that Copilot is currently capable of.
Analysis: the copilot’s future flight path
We can expect Copilot’s tendrils to eventually snake into all parts of the Windows 11 interface, which might not be to everyone’s taste.
Those who don’t want to use the AI, or even see it at all in Windows, can ignore it or disable the functionality (somehow) for now – but there will come a point where Copilot becomes the beating heart of the operating system. Microsoft, and you’re going to have to use AI whether you like it or not. Although at that stage the functionality provided will likely be quite advanced and undeniably useful (or even indispensable).
However, this particular move isn’t a major intrusion into the desktop. We’re talking about an extra line in the right-click menu, and perhaps Microsoft will also build in an option to disable this. Likewise, you can remove the Copilot icon from the taskbar if you wish. Maybe there’s a way to disable all AI features with a simple push of a button. (Or maybe an instruction: “Copilot, remove yourself from all parts of my Windows 11 interface” – we wouldn’t count on that, mind you).
As long as users have a choice, that’s a good thing, but as we’ve already said, we think there probably won’t be a choice in the future as Copilot will pretty much become Windows, or the central pillar of the Operating System. Windows 2030 could easily be called Copilot 2030.