Skip to main content

Copilot+ PC exclusive settings teased in Windows 11 preview

Windows 11 logo on a laptop.
Microsoft

Microsoft is testing out an interesting new aspect within the Settings of the latest Windows 11 preview build that allows users to expand the functions of various applications.

The app settings called “Actions,” was hidden in the 26120.3576 build for the Dev Channel. However, enthusiasts uncovered the menu and shared details of its function on various Windows forums, noting the associated apps currently include Photos and Paint. When toggled on, it enables useful tasks that deepen the functions within apps.

Actions Settings in Windows 11 preview build
Windows Central

To find these settings within the Windows 11 preview Go to Settings > Apps > Actions. There you will find the available options for Photos, which include Blur background, Erase objects, and Visual Search with Bing. The available options for Paint include Removes background.

Recommended Videos

Notably, these are higher-level editing features that are typically not found in the vanilla versions of Microsoft’s software. However, the Actions settings do appear connected to the Click To Do intelligent text actions feature, which is mentioned by Microsoft within the feature log of the Windows 11 preview.

Windows Central noted that Click To Do is exclusive to Copilot PCs, which likely means Actions would similarly be associated with coming AI PCs. Click To Do is a feature that has similar functions to the Actions settings but can be accessed by highlighting and right-clicking to trigger a drop-down menu on AMD and Intel-powered PCs.

Microsoft is set to roll out several Copilot+ features, starting in May, including the notable Recall feature, To Do and a feature called AI in Windows Search, in the summer, as well as more “proactive” Copilot features later in the year, the publication added.

The Actions settings is not guaranteed to make it as a public-facing feature; however, if it did, it would integrate some of those AI-associated features, similar to Click To Do on the OS level. As said, all of these features require Copilot+ PCs that include an NPU that can process at least 40 TOPS.

While the Windows 11 preview only demos two applications, the pundits noted the potential for how other apps, particularly third-party apps, could be integrated into the Actions Settings experience for more dynamic functions.

Fionna Agomuoh
Fionna Agomuoh is a Computing Writer at Digital Trends. She covers a range of topics in the computing space, including…
Microsoft’s Copilot Vision AI is now free to use in Edge
Copilot Vision graphic.

After months of teasers, previews, and select rollouts, Microsoft's Copilot Vision is now available to try for all Edge users in the U.S. The flashy new AI tool is designed to watch your screen as you browse so you can ask it various questions about what you're doing and get useful context-appropriate responses.

The feature works for "most" sites, according to Microsoft but it gives you a list of recommendations to start with. We have Amazon, which makes sense, but also Geoguessr? I'm pretty sure the point of that site is to try and guess where you are on the map without any help. Anyway, the full list of starter sites is as follows:

Read more
Copilot is Microsoft’s cue to redeem Windows and edge past macOS
The new Surface Laptop 13 on a white table.

There is always going to be a big divide between macOS and Windows. Much of it has to do with the functional disparities that are deeply ingrained at an OS-level. Or if you dive into the heated community debates, you will see it broadly as a battle between seamlessness and flexibility. 

Gaming remains the guiding star for Windows adherents. A handful of highly specialized niche industry tools also remain locked to the Microsoft platform. On the other hand, macOS fans swear by the fluid software, plenty of firepower options in the M-series silicon era, and fantastic hardware. 

Read more
Windows 11’s controversial AI Recall feature is coming to your Copilot+ PC very soon
The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

As AI strides on, it inevitably finds its way onto our personal devices, with tech giants announcing new features that rely on accessing our private information and media to serve us better. While some might find this useful, others are bound to find it creepy, and one such feature is Microsoft's controversial AI Recall, which takes screenshots of everything you do on a Copilot+ PC so it's easier to trace back your steps and find something specific later. After being announced last year, and then witnessing a few delays, Recall is finally rolling out to a broader group of Windows 11.

Microsoft recently announced Recall is coming to Windows 11 with the latest Release channel update with build 26100.3902 (KB5055627). The feature's availability in the Windows 11 Release Preview channel, which succeeds the Beta channel in the Windows Insider program, means it is in the initial phases of being available to a wider audience of folks who own Copilot+ PC. This category of PCs currently includes a whole wide range of laptops with specialized hardware in the form of a neural processing unit (NPU) dedicatedly for running AI tasks, though we might see desktops joining the club soon.

Read more