Microsoft is introducing a Power Automate plugin in Copilot in Windows that could upgrade the Copilot experience with significant new automation capabilities.
Microsoft Power Automate is a versatile tool designed to automate repetitive tasks efficiently. Whether working with Microsoft-made apps, third-party services, or web platforms, it can intelligently record steps and create flows, simplifying the process of regular tasks.
After installing Power Automate and activating its plugin with Copilot in Windows, users can leverage automation features for Excel as well as file management that improve upon the Copilot feature set that is currently available.
Microsoft's Windows Insider Blog wrote:
We’re excited to introduce the Power Automate plugin in Copilot in Windows(...) Power Automate is a low-code automation solution that is part of the Power Platform. This first release of the plugin offers automation features for Excel, PDF manipulation and file management."
To access the plugin, users must ensure they have downloaded or updated Power Automate Desktop to the latest version available on the Microsoft Store. Plugins are only available when users sign in to Copilot in Windows using a Microsoft account.
Microsoft cited some compelling examples of how transformative this update might be for the Copilot experience, including being able to automate writing emails to teams wishing them a happy weekend, listing the top five highest mountains in the world in an Excel file, renaming all PDF files in a folder to add the word final at the end, moving all word documents to another folder, splitting a PDF by the first page for the user.
New Copilot in Windows Capabilities Also Added
However, Power Automate isn't the only source for substantial Copilot in Windows improvements, including significant enhancements to accessibility-focused settings.
"Try asking Copilot to turn on Narrator or Live Captions, turn on battery saver, show you available networks, even empty your recycle bin or clean up your storage," Microsoft's blog noted.
The list of new possibilities is exhaustive and includes being able to ask Copilot for available wireless networks, for system or device information, for battery information, to clean storage, to empty recycle bin, to toggle battery saver, to show startup apps, for a user's IP address, and system, device, or storage information.
