Copilot Gets File Access on Copilot+ PCs, With Permission

Copilot is getting three new powers on Copilot+ PCs: reading your files and recent activity with your permission, taking actions across Windows, and running AI models on the PC itself. Microsoft says they will start rolling out “in the coming months”, and its 7 October announcement names no setting for them.

What you can limit today is narrower: Windows’ agent settings let you make an agent ask, or refuse it, before it opens your main folders, and the Copilot app can be uninstalled.

What Microsoft announced, and who gets it

Microsoft calls the idea “hybrid intelligence”: agents that run on the PC when that makes sense and in the cloud when they need to. For most people, the parts that matter are in Copilot and in Windows Search.

Feature	Availability	Permission or control
Local context: Copilot reads files and recent activity	Copilot+ PCs, “in the coming months”	“With your permission”; no setting named
Local actions: Copilot organises files, runs diagnostics, troubleshoots, codes	Copilot+ PCs, “in the coming months”	“With your permission”; no setting named
Local models: Copilot uses AI models on the PC	Copilot+ PCs, “in the coming months”	Not described
Actions in Windows Search: dark mode, Bluetooth, mute, arranging windows	Windows Insiders, Experimental channel, from 7 October, English	Feature flag for Insiders
Copilot inside Windows Search	Select markets, later this year	Opt-in

Windows Experience Blog and Windows Insider Blog, 7 October 2026.

The local Copilot features were not in the Insider builds Microsoft released the same day; the builds post lists the new Windows Search and a Battery Status widget. Microsoft’s footnote says availability “may vary by device, market, and silicon platform”, and Microsoft gives no date and no list of countries.

A Copilot+ PC is Microsoft’s label for Windows machines that meet its hardware bar, including an NPU rated at more than 40 TOPS; our explainer covers what that 40 TOPS threshold gates. Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Ultra is one, according to its product page.

What “local context” and “local actions” mean

Microsoft’s post describes the three abilities in a sentence each:

• Local context: “With your permission, Copilot can understand relevant content on your PC, including files and recent activity.”
• Local actions: Copilot “can take action on your behalf across Windows”, with organising files, assessing device diagnostics, troubleshooting, coding and “carrying out workflows” as the examples.
• Local models: Copilot can use models running on the PC and combine them with the cloud “when needed”.

This is the new Copilot that Microsoft introduced on 25 September, built around Home, Code and Autopilot. Autopilot is the agent that “keeps working even when you’re not”. According to The Verge’s report of 7 October, the on-stage demo had Autopilot search several folders for tax documents, rename them, zip them and draft an email to an accountant.

How the new Copilot reaches people matters here. Microsoft’s 25 September post says it is rolling out through its Frontier early-access programme, with Code in preview for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers later this year. The Copilot app is one app for work and personal accounts, and Microsoft’s support page says that what you get depends on the account. The 7 October post does not say which accounts or subscriptions the local features will need.

What the permission controls look like

Microsoft’s announcement says Copilot acts “with your permission” and that you stay “in control at every step”. It does not say where that control lives. The post names management tools for organisations, Agent 365 and Intune, but no setting a person can open on their own PC.

The closest thing Microsoft documents is the agent workspace, built for an earlier preview called Copilot Actions. Its support article, last updated on 5 December 2025, describes these controls:

1. The master switch. Settings › System › AI Components › Experimental agentic features. It is off by default, only an administrator can turn it on, and once on it applies to every user on the PC. Agents then work in a separate account and desktop rather than yours.
2. Folder access. With it on, agents such as Copilot can request access to six folders: Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Music, Pictures and Videos. Turning the switch off limits that access.
3. Per agent. On preview builds 26100.7344 and later, Settings › System › AI Components › Agents, pick the agent, then Files, offers Allow Always, Ask every time or Never allow. Windows asks by default.

Microsoft has not said whether the new local Copilot features will run in that workspace or use these settings. Treat the list above as what exists now, not as the controls the new features will ship with.

For other agents, Microsoft made its sandboxing layer, Microsoft Execution Containers, generally available on 7 October. It limits which files and networks an agent can reach, and the agent cannot widen that itself. It works only in agents built to use it; Microsoft lists GitHub Copilot, OpenAI’s Codex and others, and says a Windows app of Meta’s Muse is coming with it. We covered what Muse can reach and what it asks first on phones and the web.

How to remove Copilot

If you would rather not have Copilot at all, Microsoft’s support page gives the route on Windows 11: Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Copilot, open the More options (…) menu and choose Uninstall. On Windows 10 it is Settings › Apps, then Copilot and Uninstall.

Copilot inside Windows Search, when it arrives, is opt-in by Microsoft’s account, so leaving it off needs no action.

Once the local features ship, the first prompt asking to let Copilot read your files is the one to read carefully. Until Microsoft documents where that permission is kept and how to withdraw it, uninstalling the app is the control on its pages that covers Copilot as a whole.

Questions people ask

Can Copilot access my files on Windows 11?

Microsoft says it will, with your permission, on Copilot+ PCs: “local context” covers files and recent activity on the PC. It is expected to start rolling out in the coming months. Microsoft has not said which setting will control it.

When will Copilot be able to control my PC?

Microsoft’s 7 October post says the local features are “expected to begin rolling out on Copilot+ PCs in the coming months”, with timing varying by device, market and chip. They were not in that day’s Windows Insider builds.

Do I need a Copilot+ PC for the new Copilot features?

Microsoft names Copilot+ PCs for local context, local actions and local models. The new Windows Search actions are not tied to Copilot+ PCs in Microsoft’s posts; they are rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel first.

How do I stop Copilot accessing my files?

For the new features, Microsoft has not published a setting yet. Today, Settings › System › AI Components › Agents lets you set an agent’s folder access to Ask every time or Never allow on preview builds, and uninstalling the Copilot app removes it.

How do I uninstall Copilot on Windows 11?

Open Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Copilot, open the More options (…) menu and choose Uninstall. Microsoft’s support page gives that route and a separate one for Windows 10.

Is Copilot in Windows Search turned on automatically?

No, according to Microsoft. It says the option to bring Copilot into Search on the taskbar will be opt-in, starting in select markets later this year. The new search actions themselves are a separate feature.