Windows 11 AI Features Explained (2026)

First, what is a Copilot+ PC?

A Copilot+ PC is Microsoft's certification for a Windows 11 machine that can run AI models locally, quickly, without leaning on the cloud. The headline requirement is a compatible NPU rated at least 40 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), alongside minimum memory and storage — Microsoft's Copilot+ PC developer guide describes the class as powered by an NPU that can perform more than 40 trillion operations per second. These machines ship with silicon from Qualcomm, Intel or AMD and began arriving in mid-2024. If your PC is older than that, it is almost certainly not a Copilot+ PC — and that is fine, because most of the everyday AI features still work for you.

Features that work on any modern Windows 11 PC

Copilot

Copilot is the assistant you reach from the taskbar or with the dedicated Copilot key on newer keyboards. It answers questions, drafts and rewrites text, summarises documents, generates images and can help you find settings. Because the heavy lifting happens in the cloud, Copilot chat runs on any Windows 11 PC with an internet connection and a Microsoft account — no special hardware needed. It is delivered as an app that updates through the Microsoft Store, so the exact capabilities shift over time.

Voice typing and voice access

Two different things share the word "voice":

• Voice typing — press Windows + H in any text box and dictate. It transcribes speech to text and can add punctuation automatically. Works on any Windows 11 PC.
• Voice access — a full hands-free control system for driving Windows, opening apps and clicking with your voice, found under Settings > Accessibility > Speech. The base feature works on any Windows 11 PC (version 22H2 and later). The newer, more natural "just say what you want" command style rolled out first on Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs, with AMD and Intel following.

Live Captions (basic)

Live Captions automatically transcribes any audio playing on your PC — a meeting, a video, a podcast — into on-screen text. Turn it on with Windows + Ctrl + L or from Settings > Accessibility > Captions. Basic captioning works on any Windows 11 PC running version 22H2 or later, and all of the audio processing happens on your device: Microsoft states that audio, voice data and captions never leave your device and are not shared to the cloud or with Microsoft. The translation layer is the part that needs a Copilot+ PC — see below.

Paint: Image Creator and the AI eraser

Paint has quietly become an AI app. Image Creator generates pictures from a text description using cloud services, and the generative / AI eraser removes objects and fills the gap behind them. Microsoft widened the eraser from a Copilot+ exclusive to all Windows 11 users, so these two tools are available broadly — you generally need to be signed in with a Microsoft account and connected to the internet for the cloud-powered parts.

Photos: generative erase and AI edits

The Photos app can erase unwanted objects, people or blemishes from a picture and reconstruct the background behind them — cleanly, even around tricky edges like hair and foliage. Generative Erase is available to Windows 11 users generally. The difference a Copilot+ PC makes here is where the work happens: Copilot+ machines process more of it on-device for speed and offline use, while other PCs fall back to cloud processing. Same feature, different engine underneath.

Features that require a Copilot+ PC

Everything in this section leans on the NPU to run AI on the device in real time. On a non-Copilot+ PC these options simply will not appear.

Windows Studio Effects (webcam)

Studio Effects is a set of camera enhancements applied by the NPU: background blur, automatic framing, eye contact correction (so you appear to look at the camera while reading your screen), portrait lighting and voice focus. Because it runs on the NPU, it layers on top of any app that uses your webcam — Teams, Zoom, Meet — without that app needing to support it. You control it from the camera panel in Quick Settings or under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras. This is Copilot+ only.

Live Captions with live translation

On a Copilot+ PC, Live Captions can translate as it captions — turning speech from more than 40 languages into English in real time, plus 27 languages into Simplified Chinese, all on-device — the figures Microsoft gives in its live captions documentation. Point it at a foreign-language video or a call and read along in your language, with no separate app and nothing sent to the cloud. The captioning itself works everywhere; this real-time translation is the Copilot+ only upgrade.

Cocreator in Paint

Cocreator sits inside Paint and blends your drawing with a text prompt: sketch a rough shape, type what you want, and slide a "creativity" control to decide how far the AI reinterprets it. Because it renders on the NPU it updates almost as fast as you draw. Cocreator is Copilot+ only, is optimised for English prompts, and typically needs you to be signed in (an organisational Entra ID account and an internet connection may be required to reach the supporting cloud services). Don't confuse it with Image Creator, the text-only generator that works on any PC.

Click to Do

Click to Do is a "smart overlay." Hold the Windows key and click (or use the launcher) and Windows recognises what is on screen — text or an image — and offers relevant actions right there: copy or summarise text, rewrite it, remove a picture's background, search visually, or hand a selection to another app. It is designed to save the copy-paste-switch-app dance. Click to Do is Copilot+ only.

Recall (preview)

Recall periodically saves encrypted snapshots of your screen so you can later search your own history in plain language — "the orange sofa I looked at last week" — and jump back to whatever you were doing. It is the most powerful and the most debated of the Copilot+ features, so the guardrails matter:

1. Recall is Copilot+ only and ships as a preview.
2. It is opt-in and off by default — nothing is captured until you deliberately enable it. Microsoft's Recall documentation says plainly that saving snapshots is not enabled by default and you must opt in.
3. Snapshots are encrypted and stored locally; opening the timeline requires Windows Hello.
4. You can exclude specific apps and websites, pause it, filter sensitive content, or delete snapshots.

Quick reference: what needs a Copilot+ PC?

How to get set up in five minutes

1. Update everything. Go to Settings > Windows Update, install all updates and restart. Many AI features arrive through updates rather than a fresh install.
2. Update the apps. Open the Microsoft Store, choose Library and update Paint, Photos and Copilot — the AI tools live in the apps, not just in Windows itself.
3. Sign in. Cloud-powered tools (Copilot, Image Creator, some Photos and Paint features) generally need a signed-in Microsoft account and an internet connection.
4. Explore the Copilot+ pages if you have the hardware. Check camera settings for Studio Effects, and decide deliberately whether to enable Recall.
5. Turn off what you don't want. Most features are optional; you can disable Copilot, Recall, Studio Effects and captions individually in Settings whenever you like.