Microsoft has unveiled an innovative tool designed to enhance user experience within File Explorer, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence. This new feature, aptly named AI actions, offers a suite of AI-driven commands tailored for various file types, including images, PDFs, and documents. Currently available in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build, AI actions operates in a manner reminiscent of the recently introduced Click to Do feature for Copilot+ PCs.
Exploring AI Actions
Users can access AI actions by right-clicking on specific files within File Explorer, revealing a context menu entry dedicated to this feature. Upon selecting this entry, a range of commands becomes available, contingent on the file type chosen.
At present, the AI actions feature is primarily focused on image files, specifically JPG and PNG formats. For these images, users can execute one of four distinct commands:
- Bing Visual Search – Initiates a web search for the image, providing details about the file, locating similar images, and identifying landmarks or other notable items.
- Blur Background – Launches the Photos app, where the background of a photo is automatically detected. Users can blur the background to emphasize the subject, with options to adjust the blur intensity or refine the blurred area using a Brush tool.
- Erase Objects – Also opens the Photos app, allowing users to select elements within a photo for removal. The Generative Erase feature effectively eliminates the chosen object.
- Remove Background – This command opens Paint, enabling users to remove the background from an image, resulting in a clear cutout of the subject. The tool attempts to automatically separate the subject, with manual adjustments available through a selection tool if needed.
Future Enhancements
Looking ahead, Microsoft plans to expand the capabilities of AI actions by introducing two additional commands specifically for Microsoft 365 files. These enhancements will include:
- Summarize – This feature will allow Copilot to generate AI-based summaries of files stored in OneDrive and SharePoint without requiring users to open them. It will support a variety of applications and file types, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe PDF, plain text, rich text files, and Microsoft Loop.
- Create an FAQ – This command will convert OneDrive files into Q&A lists that can be easily shared. It will be compatible with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, text files, rich text files, as well as ASP files and web pages.
The image-related commands are accessible to all Windows insiders, while the Microsoft 365 features come with specific prerequisites. To utilize the Summarize option, users must be Microsoft 365 subscribers with a Copilot subscription. Similarly, creating an FAQ requires a commercial Microsoft 365 subscription with Copilot, with consumer account support promised for the future.
