OneDrive is getting a new Windows app and an AI photo agent

Microsoft is preparing to release a new OneDrive app on Windows next year that will include a photo gallery, people view, AI-powered slideshows, and editing features. It is part of a number of New features coming to OneDrive In the coming months, including a new photo agent and AI-powered mobile editing.

The new OneDrive app on Windows is a major redesign compared to the current desktop app. Instead of displaying a small pop-up menu on the taskbar, it’s a full app, much like the OneDrive mobile app. It includes a new gallery view for all your cloud photos and a dedicated people view that detects faces in photos and lets you name them.

OneDrive on Windows will also work with local photos soon, letting you edit photos and then keep them locally on a drive or upload them to Microsoft’s cloud storage service.

Microsoft is also adding more Copilot integration to OneDrive, with a new photo agent that will be available to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers. It’s like a chatbot for your photos, letting you request a collection of vacation photos, or remember specific points in time. Copilot will then find the photos and allow you to create albums as well.

OneDrive on iOS and Android will also get AI mobile editing soon, with the ability to turn photos into animated styles. You’ll be able to easily clean up blurry or duplicate shots from the mobile app, and a new Moments tab has already started rolling out that displays old photos and “on this day” memories.

Microsoft also rolled out a major update to the way OneDrive users share documents. The new Master Link feature means you can simply copy the URL of a OneDrive document instead of having to share private links with people. It’s identical to the way Google Docs has worked for years, and it finally makes it easier for people to request access to files instead of getting an ugly access denied message.