New feature announced: Start Copilot actions directly from the document

In the new OneDrive file preview, Copilot actions will soon be directly visible—rather than switching to a separate Copilot view, you can start relevant actions closer to the open document. For users who frequently just quickly review, summarize, or share files, this can significantly shorten the first step. The feature is particularly useful in situations where you don’t want to read a document in full but need quick orientation. We’ve summarized what is already known and what to watch out for initially.  
Info Benefit: Faster document actions
UseCase Use case: Review files
Time Reading time: 3 minutes
Difficulty Difficulty: Beginner
With this announcement, two new features are coming our way at once. Documents in OneDrive will soon get a preview view. This view will also provide additional Copilot actions. We see this as a small but useful improvement to the workflow. Copilot will no longer only become relevant after opening a chat—it will already start assisting you directly within the file preview window.

At present, there are no reliable public user reports available on this feature. The existing results mainly refer to Microsoft release notes and Message Center summaries; independent tests with concrete observations on file preview behavior are still missing.
The feature is also not yet available in our tenant, which means we are currently unable to provide screenshots.

  • Start with typical test files: Use a protocol, a concept document, or a longer working file. These are the best way to see whether the suggested actions truly help in day-to-day work.
  • Compare actions deliberately: When a Copilot action appears in the preview, compare the result with your previous approach using the Copilot chat. This helps you quickly identify which entry point works better for which type of file.
Copilot actions in the OneDrive file preview are not a major new way of working, but rather a practical shortcut in a very fitting place. What we find particularly interesting is this close connection to the document itself: open the file, see the action, gain orientation. For users, this can save time, especially with long documents, meeting notes, or draft concepts. There is still a lack of public hands-on testing and a clearly documented click path, so teams should observe the feature carefully at first. Our next step would be a small test with three file types: minutes, presentation, and technical concept—each tested once via the preview and once via the traditional Copilot entry point.