Microsoft seems to have enabled the option to upload documents, screenshots, and images to Windows 11’s Copilot AI assistant, allowing you to ask it to analyze documents stored on your PC.
The ability to “query” a document is a powerful feature that many users may not have explored yet. It is much faster than analyzing it on your own. However, this new capability may face challenges in terms of persistence similar to other LLMs.
Querying a document involves asking Copilot questions about it, such as summarizing it or identifying next steps. The goal is to simplify complex documents like contracts for average users. While you can already do this with Edge and a web page, this new feature allows you to analyze private files on your PC within seconds.
This capability is currently available on Copilot for Microsoft Edge and Microsoft’s Copilot site. Some Twitter users spotted this feature last week, as reported by XDA Developers. Microsoft has announced plans to introduce Copilot for OneDrive soon, which will automatically analyze all files stored in the Microsoft cloud.
Mark Hachman / IDG
In Edge, Copilot now offers three icons below the query box: a “camera” for image uploads, a “scissors” for screenshots, and a “paperclip” for file uploads. Users can simply click on the paperclip icon and select the file they want to upload.
Once the file is uploaded, Copilot will analyze it within seconds. This is much faster than training a local LLM / AI chatbot on a local file, which could take over an hour on a fast gaming notebook. However, Copilot may encounter technical errors at times when performing the task.
The issue is that Copilot seems to lack consistency. While it did a good job summarizing old press releases and presentations, it would sometimes forget the context of the conversation or resort to searching the web for answers instead of relying on the uploaded document.
There is a tradeoff between analyzing a private file on your PC and uploading it to the Microsoft cloud. This feature has potential, even though it may seem unfinished at the moment.
