Microsoft opens testing for Windows AI search

Microsoft is try AI-powered Windows Search in a new development channel for Windows 11 Insider Testers. Announced in Octoberuses semantic indexing to allow users to search local files using a more casual language. Like other Microsoft AI features, you need a Copilot Plus PC to use it.

The feature applies if you use search boxes in Settings, File Explorer, or the taskbar. And it does not need to be connected to the internet to work, thanks to the NPU chips in the Copilot Plus computers. For now, AI search is limited to Windows settings and files with image and text formats including JPEG, PNG, PDF, TXT and XLS.

Microsoft says that search only works for files in the locations you’ve chosen to index. Users can adjust those locations using the options found in Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows, or enable “Enhanced” to point to their entire machine. The company adds that the feature will eventually expand to include cloud data such as that stored in OneDrive.

AI-powered Windows search “will gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs,” Microsoft writes, with support for Intel or AMD Copilot Plus computers later. The feature will work for machines set to Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish languages.

In addition to the new search, the build also includes AI typing tools offered by Click to Do, a feature that lets you choose from context-sensitive menu options when you hold down the Windows key and left-click on the your screen. Now, when you click on a block of text and select Rewrite, there is a “Refine” option that can correct the grammar for you.