"Ask Copilot" replaces Copilot actions in Windows File Explorer

In September 2025, Microsoft introduced Copilot actions for OneDrive files in Windows File Explorer. They are available when a Copilot Premium user right-clicks a synced OneDrive file.

The actions are also available in the OneDrive activity center.

Which actions appear depends on the file format. They include Summarize, Create an FAQ, Compare files, Ask a question, Explain image, Explain images, Compare images, and Extract text.

These actions will be retired from the File Explorer context menu starting mid-November 2026. Users who still want these actions will find them in the OneDrive activity center.

Instead of choosing between several individual actions, users get one Copilot action for everything they want to do with a file, everywhere in File Explorer (for supported file types).
Going forward, users can right-click a file and select Ask Copilot, or hover over a file in File Explorer Home and select the Copilot icon.

“Ask Copilot” is already available. It’s part of the Copilot desktop app, so the app must be installed.

This update is also useful for Copilot Basic users.
The old actions require the file to be synced with OneDrive and are available only to Copilot Premium users. The Ask Copilot action works with supported file types in File Explorer, now also for Copilot Basic users.

A new Copilot conversation opens with the file already attached, and users can then ask Copilot to summarize it, answer questions about it, compare it with other content, or explain what it contains. This is similar to the existing actions.

The behavior depends on whether the file is synced:

• For synced files (via the OneDrive Sync client): Copilot Chat attaches the existing file as a reference. Users should adapt the proposed prompt as needed.
• For files that are not synced: Copilot Chat uploads the file to the Microsoft Copilot Chat Files folder in the user's OneDrive, then the file is attached as a reference. Users should adapt the proposed prompt as needed.

Note:
Ask Copilot is available in both the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app (the older app) and the new Microsoft Copilot desktop app. The behavior for Copilot Premium and Basic users differs slightly between the two apps. This post describes the new Microsoft Copilot app.