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**ZDNET’s Expanded Key Takeaways**
Microsoft’s Copilot will soon possess the ability to securely connect to both your Microsoft and Google accounts, creating a unified digital environment where your files, emails, and schedules coexist. Once linked, users will be able to retrieve and manage their content from OneDrive, Outlook, Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar — all through Copilot’s intelligent interface. At present, this innovative capability is accessible exclusively to participants in the Windows 11 Insider Program, serving as a preview of a broader rollout to come.
Have you ever found yourself wishing that Microsoft Copilot could help you manage your personal communications — perhaps checking your inbox for an important message or confirming an upcoming appointment? Microsoft’s newest Windows 11 update takes decisive steps toward fulfilling that wish. According to the company’s recent announcement, the Copilot app for Windows will soon integrate seamlessly with a variety of personal services, branching beyond the Microsoft ecosystem to include key Google platforms. This progressive integration, now deploying to Insiders, bridges your most-used accounts, ensuring smoother transitions between tools and allowing Copilot to act as a truly cross-platform digital assistant.
Imagine asking this AI helper to look up Sarah’s email address, retrieve a file of class notes saved a week ago, or confirm meeting details from your calendar. Once your Microsoft or Google credentials are connected, Copilot gains the capability to intelligently search across these cloud-based services to deliver the most relevant results. The feature empowers users to manage both productivity and personal matters from a single conversational interface, minimizing the friction of switching between multiple web apps.
To test the functionality firsthand, I connected both my Microsoft and Google accounts to the Copilot Windows app. Getting started is straightforward: ensure that you are operating the latest Windows 11 Insider build, then launch the Copilot application directly from the taskbar. Within the Settings section, locate the “Connectors” area and toggle on OneDrive, Outlook, Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Calendar. This setup process authorizes Copilot to access your data in a secure, consent-driven manner.
Establishing a connection with OneDrive and Outlook is a surprisingly smooth affair — practically instantaneous. By contrast, authorizing access to Google’s suite of services involves a more deliberate, multi-step process. For Gmail, the system prompts you to decide whether Copilot should be permitted to read your messages and settings, compose and send email on your behalf, or manage drafts and dispatch communications. Similarly, connecting Google Calendar requires explicitly approving view permissions for your events and appointments, while linking Google Drive invites you to allow Copilot access to browse, download, and organize your stored files. Each step underscores Microsoft’s commitment to transparency in user control and privacy.
When exploring Copilot’s performance in real scenarios, the results are impressive. In OneDrive, a simple request to locate a file called “Business Invoices” immediately returned several candidate documents, with the desired file conveniently highlighted at the top. After selection, I could open the document directly within Windows, demonstrating how effectively Copilot integrates file search with system actions.
In Outlook, asking Copilot to retrieve an email concerning a Bloomberg subscription yielded three relevant results. The correct message appeared first, complete with an access link, confirming that the AI assistant can identify and prioritize queries based on context. Testing Google Drive produced similarly efficient outcomes; when asked to find a document on “Excel tips,” Copilot swiftly displayed several listed results, and selecting the ellipsis icon beside the preferred file launched it directly within Google Docs.
Using Gmail through Copilot proved equally intuitive. When I requested an email from Covent Garden, the system promptly located both the original correspondence and a forwarded version, providing direct links to open them in Gmail. Querying Google Calendar for my next dentist appointment elicited an accurate response, with the AI not only identifying the event’s date and time but also offering a quick link to view the entry in full calendar context.
Notably, it is not always necessary to specify a particular service when performing searches. In one instance, when I simply asked Copilot to locate emails related to Google Voice, it intelligently aggregated relevant messages across both Outlook and Gmail, unifying results into a single, coherent view. This capability signifies a step toward a truly integrated assistant that perceives your digital environment as a whole rather than a collection of separate components.
It’s worth recognizing that Microsoft has previously allowed connections to these external services through the Copilot website and mobile apps on iOS and Android. However, this new Insider update extends that same level of cross-platform functionality directly into the Windows desktop experience. As a result, users now enjoy consistent interoperability regardless of whether they are on mobile, web, or PC.
Competing AI systems are developing comparable integrations. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, for instance, can already connect to Outlook and Gmail to streamline workflow-related queries. ChatGPT also supports numerous third-party platforms such as Box, Dropbox, GitHub, Slack, and Teams, along with external apps including Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, and Spotify. Gemini, as one might expect, provides native integration with core Google services alongside tools like Google Flights, Google Hotels, and YouTube. Microsoft’s latest step thus ensures that Copilot maintains competitive alignment in the evolving multitool AI market.
In addition to enhanced account connectivity, the Windows Insider update introduces another substantial advantage: the ability to export conversations directly into Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents. For example, users can instruct Copilot to transform the content of a chat into a fully formatted Word file, organize tabular information into an Excel sheet, or convert summary points into a slide deck. The AI’s capability to automatically generate structured documents saves considerable time in transferring data between applications. Additionally, conversations exceeding 600 characters now feature an export button, letting you instantly send the material to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or save it as a downloadable PDF.
At present, these updates are limited to those participating in the Windows 11 Insider builds, functioning as a preview of what will likely be a core feature in a future general release. Most users can therefore expect to receive access to these time-saving and productivity-enhancing enhancements within a few months. Microsoft’s Copilot is gradually evolving from an embedded support interface into a fully-fledged personal assistant, bridging ecosystems, and enabling users to orchestrate their digital lives from one seamless hub.
Sourse: https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-unleashed-copilot-on-my-microsoft-and-google-accounts-heres-what-happened/
