Microsoft Unveils AI Powered OneDrive Overhaul

Microsoft is gearing up for a significant evolution of its cloud storage service, OneDrive, with a host of new features set to roll out over the coming months and into next year. The updates focus on a redesigned user experience, powerful AI integration, and long-awaited improvements to file sharing.

A Major Redesign for the Windows App

Coming next year, Windows users will receive a completely new OneDrive application. This is a substantial redesign, moving away from the simple taskbar flyout to a full-fledged app that mirrors the functionality and feel of its mobile counterpart.

This new desktop experience introduces a dedicated gallery view for browsing all your cloud-stored photos. A key feature is the new 'people view,' which intelligently detects faces in your photos, allowing you to tag and organize your memories by the people in them. Furthermore, the app will soon support local photo management, giving you the ability to edit images stored on your computer and then choose whether to save them locally or upload them to OneDrive's cloud.

Introducing the AI-Powered Photos Agent

Microsoft is deepening its integration of AI by introducing a new 'Photos Agent' into OneDrive for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Premium subscribers. This feature functions like a personal chatbot for your photo library. You can use natural language to ask it to find specific collections, such as holiday photos or pictures from a particular event. Copilot will then locate the relevant images and even help you create albums from them, streamlining photo organization.

Enhanced Mobile Experience and Editing

The OneDrive mobile apps for iOS and Android are also receiving a significant AI boost. A forthcoming update will enable AI-powered mobile editing, allowing users to transform photos into unique animated styles. The app will also gain tools to help you clean up your library by identifying and removing blurry or duplicate shots. A new 'moments' tab has already begun rolling out, which surfaces memories from past years, similar to 'on this day' features on other platforms.

Simplified Sharing: A Long-Awaited Update

Finally, Microsoft is addressing a long-standing pain point with a major update to how file sharing works in OneDrive. A new 'hero link' feature modernizes the process, making it identical to the intuitive system used by Google Docs for years. Instead of generating special sharing links, you can now simply copy the document's URL from your browser. If someone without access tries to open it, they will be prompted to request access, eliminating the frustrating 'access denied' errors of the past. You can learn more about the new features coming to OneDrive on Microsoft's tech community blog.