Microsoft today announced new Copilot and agentic experiences that position every Windows 11 PC as an AI PC, with Copilot at its core. The company is simultaneously rolling out updates designed to make Windows 11 more intuitive, secure, accessible, and reliable for all users.
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File Explorer Enhancements
AI Actions in File Explorer
Users can now access AI-powered actions directly from File Explorer by right-clicking a file or pressing Shift + F10.
Supported actions include:
- Bing Visual Search: Search the web using images to find similar visuals, products, landmarks, plants, or famous faces.
- Blur background: Automatically blur photo backgrounds via the Photos app, with options to adjust blur intensity or use a brush tool.
- Erase objects: Remove unwanted elements from photos using Generative Erase in Photos.
- Remove background: Instantly isolate subjects from their background using Paint.
Microsoft 365 subscribers can also use the Summarize action to generate summaries of OneDrive and SharePoint files without opening them. This feature requires an active Microsoft 365 subscription and a Copilot license.
Microsoft 365 People Cards
Commercial users signed in with a work or school account (Microsoft Entra ID) will see people icons in the Activity column and Recommended section of File Explorer Home. Hovering over or selecting an icon displays a Microsoft 365 People card with contextual file information.
Widgets Experience Updates
Discover Feed Redesign
The Discover feed on the Widgets board now features a more organized, personalized layout. Copilot-curated stories include summaries, videos, and images from trusted MSN premium publishers. Users can customize their feed via Widgets > Discover dashboard > Personalization settings.
Multiple Widget Dashboards
Windows 11 now supports multiple Widgets dashboards, offering expanded space for favorite widgets and easier navigation via a new left-side navigation bar.
Lock Screen Widgets
The lock screen widgets experience replaces “Weather and more” with customizable options including Weather, Watchlist, and Sports. Users can add, remove, and rearrange widgets that support small sizing through Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.
Accessibility Improvements
Braille Viewer in Narrator
Narrator now includes Braille viewer, which displays on-screen text alongside its Braille equivalent on a refreshable Braille display. Educators can use this feature to support students with visual impairments. To activate, press Windows + Ctrl + Enter, then Narrator key + Alt + B. Braille support must first be installed via Settings > Accessibility > Narrator.
Enhanced Narrator in Microsoft Word
Narrator delivers improved voice feedback, continuous reading reliability, and better navigation for footnotes, comments, lists, and tables in Microsoft Word. Updates include consistent list announcements, clearer table boundaries, and intuitive selection feedback.
Gaming Innovations
Gaming Copilot (Beta)
Gaming Copilot integrates directly into Game Bar (Windows + G) to assist players with in-game help, recommendations, and achievement tracking via voice or text. The Xbox PC app now centralizes gaming libraries, apps, and play history.
Network Quality Indicator (NQI)
A new NQI tool helps monitor and troubleshoot cloud gaming issues like audio and video disruptions. Users can enable it before or during streaming through Xbox settings or the Game Bar widget.
Game Save Syncing and Social Widgets
The Xbox PC app improves handling of unsynced game saves by displaying progress bars, device names, and timestamps. Social widgets in Game Bar also receive a visual refresh and enhanced controller navigation.
Security and Identity
Windows Hello Visual Refresh
Windows Hello now automatically prioritizes the best sign-in method for Microsoft account users, simplifying authentication. The updated interface supports passkeys and connected devices with a cleaner, more secure experience.
Passkey Manager Integration
Windows 11 now supports third-party passkey managers like 1Password. Users can enable this via Settings > Accounts > Passkeys > Advanced options, followed by Windows Hello verification.
Password Management in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge has retired the legacy Wallet experience. All credentials now reside in Microsoft Password Manager under Settings > Passwords and autofill, with features like Password Monitor to detect breached, reused, or weak passwords.
Kernel Security and Wi-Fi 7
Parts of the Windows 11 kernel have been rewritten in Rust to reduce memory corruption vulnerabilities. Additionally, Windows 11 now supports Wi-Fi 7, offering higher speeds, reliability, and security for both consumer and enterprise environments.
App Control for Business
IT administrators can use Intune managed installer to designate line-of-business apps as verified, ensuring only trusted applications run under App Control for Business.
Developer Tools
Advanced Settings Page
The redesigned Advanced settings page (Settings > System > Advanced) replaces the “For Developers” page and includes Git integration in File Explorer, showing branch, diff count, and commit messages. The page is open source on GitHub.
Microsoft Edit
The open-source command-line text editor “Edit” is now included with Windows. Users can edit files directly in the terminal by typing edit [filename].
Windows ML General Availability
Windows ML is now generally available for production use, optimized for on-device AI inference across CPUs, GPUs, and NPUs. Windows ML is the built-in AI inferencing runtime optimized for on-device model inference and streamlined model dependency management across CPUs, GPUs and NPUs. It serves as the foundation for Windows AI Foundry and Foundry Local.
Advanced Shader Delivery
In partnership with Xbox and AMD, Microsoft introduces advanced shader delivery via Agility SDK 1.618 to reduce initial game load times and stuttering caused by shader compilation.
Task Manager Updates
Task Manager now uses standard CPU metrics across all views. A new optional “CPU Utility” column (hidden by default) preserves legacy CPU values for backward compatibility.
Quality-of Life Improvements
- A larger clock with seconds in the notification center (Settings > Time & language > Date & time).
Image by Microsoft - Notification center availability on secondary monitors.
- Dividers in the File Explorer context menu for top-level icons.
Image by Microsoft - Movable hardware indicators for brightness, volume, airplane mode, and virtual desktops (Settings > System > Notifications).
- New keyboard shortcuts: Windows + Minus for en dash (–), Windows + Shift + Minus for em dash (—).
- Modernized dialog pop-ups for Windows Update, activation, and app errors.
- Moved time, language, and keyboard settings from Control Panel to Settings, including multi-clock support, time server configuration, and regional formatting options.
Copilot+ PC Experiences
Recall (Preview) Homepage
Recall on Copilot+ PCs now features a personalized homepage showing recent snapshots and the top three apps and websites used in the past 24 hours. A new left-side navigation bar improves usability.
Click to Do Enhancements
Click to Do now highlights new and popular AI action tags in its context menu and delivers more concise summaries. A first-time interactive tutorial demonstrates actions like summarizing text or removing image backgrounds. Many actions run on-device using the Phi Silica small language model.
Agent in Settings
Agent in Settings now provides direct navigation links to relevant settings pages and is available on all Copilot+ PCs, powered by the Mu on-device small language model.
Voice Access with Natural Language
Voice access now supports natural language commands on Copilot+ PCs, allowing flexible phrasing like “Can you open Edge application.” Real-time command suggestions assist users in recalling available actions.
Inbox App Updates
Paint Project Files and Opacity Slider
Paint now supports saving creations as editable .paint project files. An opacity slider allows control over stroke transparency with Pencil and Brush tools.
Quick Markup in Snipping Tool
Snipping Tool introduces Quick Markup (Ctrl + E), enabling annotations directly within the selection area before finalizing a screenshot.
Notepad AI Features
Notepad on Copilot+ PCs offers AI features—Summarize, Write, and Rewrite—without a subscription. Local models support English-only tasks; cloud models are available with a subscription.
Availability
Windows 11, version 25H2, is now available as an optional update via Windows Update for devices meeting hardware requirements. Microsoft recommends installing the October 2025 security update afterward to receive the latest features through controlled rollout.
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