Microsoft Will Let Copilot Use PC Files and Take Actions With Permission

Copilot will be able to use files and recent activity on a PC, then act on the user’s behalf with permission. Microsoft announced those capabilities on October 7, 2026, alongside local AI model access. The features are expected to begin rolling out on Copilot+ PCs over the coming months—not become available immediately.

From PC context to completed tasks

Microsoft’s Windows announcement describes three additions: local context, local actions and local models. Context includes relevant files and recent activity. Actions include organizing files, checking device diagnostics, troubleshooting problems, coding and carrying out workflows directly on the computer.

These capabilities build on Copilot’s recently introduced Home, Code and Autopilot experiences, rather than introducing those modes for the first time. Microsoft describes the Windows integration as a way to bring information from the device into each mode and let more work happen there.

• Home: Copilot can pull in files the user has been working on and help turn them into materials ready to share with colleagues.
• Code: Microsoft says users will be able to create native Windows apps from a single prompt, run code with agent containment support and use local models when appropriate.
• Autopilot: Local context, models and PC actions will feed into a persistent, proactive agent that can continue working while the user focuses elsewhere.

At the event, Copilot chief Jacob Andreou offered a concrete example: gathering the files needed for taxes from different parts of a laptop without accessing the cloud. Microsoft presented that as a task that does not require heavy cloud computing, not a promise that every Copilot workflow stays offline.

Permission and boundaries do different jobs

Microsoft Execution Containers, or MXC, lets organizations specify which files and networks an agent can access. Those policies are enforced while the agent runs. Microsoft says its Code experience will use MXC support to contain code execution.

The Windows design also separates agent identity from the person using the device, so IT can identify which agent acted. Management tools including Agent 365 and Intune connect that activity to organizational policies and monitoring. Microsoft frames these controls around agents that can use tools, write code and act across systems without someone watching every step.

Local computing remains part of a hybrid system

Microsoft calls the approach hybrid intelligence: tasks can use models on the PC or reach the cloud when needed. A related coding rollout extends GitHub’s HydraFusion routing system to local Windows models. That integration is due in experimental preview later in October in the GitHub Copilot app, its command-line tool and Visual Studio Code.

The accompanying Surface Laptop Ultra uses Nvidia RTX Spark and is priced at $2,599, with availability beginning October 16. Microsoft also opened preorders for the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, scheduled to ship to U.S. customers in November.