How Microsoft Copilot May Soon Appear Inside Windows 11 File Explorer

Microsoft is committed to transforming Windows into an AI native operating system, even if a significant portion of its user base hasn’t fully bought into the idea. It’s next move looks to fully integrate its Copilot assistant into File Explorer, according to a few resourceful users who have gone digging into a recent Windows 11 preview build.

Copilot can already be accessed from within File Explorer, as the right click menu presents an option labeled as “Ask Copilot” that launches a separate app. It’s a serviceable way to access the AI assistant when working with files, but a future update will likely make it feel a more fully baked-in part of File Explorer.

Two users on social media platform X, @PhantomOfEarth and @a_donglee, shared their findings with Windows Latest after digging through Windows 11 Build 26220.7523. They discovered a “Chat with Copilot” feature that can be launched by a hidden button placed near the “Details” pane, alongside another feature dubbed “Detach Copilot.”


The pair investigated further by looking through the resources.pri of the FileExplorerExtensions SystemApps. There they found two strings that point to how the new features will be implemented. One is titled Resources.AppAssistantLaunchLabel, and it's associated with “Chat with Copilot,” while the other is Resources.AppAssistantDetachLabel and is linked to “Detach Copilot.”

Though these findings only hint as to what Microsoft has in store, it provides enough context to guess at what the company wants to deliver. The “Detach Copilot” entry likely points to a new pane that will be added to File Explorer where users will be able to “Chat with Copilot” to find, modify or create files. That its name contains the word detach should mean users will have the option to open a persistent Copilot window for these functions, which doesn't bode well for the integration into File Explorer. However, this is just an educated guess, and it's early enough that it could change based on feedback from users testing these in future preview builds.