"Copilot+ PC" is a hardware class with fixed minimums, and the Windows AI features tied to it only run on machines that meet them. A Copilot+ PC is a Windows 11 PC with a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of 40 or more trillion operations per second (TOPS), plus at least 16 GB of DDR5 or LPDDR5 memory and 256 GB of SSD or UFS storage, a category Microsoft introduced on 20 May 2024. This page sets out the exact requirements, the processor families Microsoft lists, the features reserved for Copilot+ PCs (Recall, Click to Do, improved Windows search, Live Captions translation, Cocreator and others), their regional and language limits, the developer APIs, and how organisations manage them. It uses Microsoft's own support articles, Microsoft Learn documentation and Windows blog posts, and is written for buyers, IT administrators, privacy teams and Windows developers.
Last checked: 2026-11-15.
This is an independent reference page from NHI Mgmt Group based on public provider documentation; it is not sponsored or endorsed by any provider. It is based on Microsoft's public documentation as of November 2026. Product features change, so confirm settings against Microsoft's current documentation.
Key takeaways
- Four hard minimums. An approved processor with an NPU of 40+ TOPS, 16 GB of DDR5 or LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB or more of SSD or UFS storage, on top of the standard Windows 11 requirements.
- Three processor families named by Microsoft. Microsoft Learn lists AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, Intel Core Ultra 200V series and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors; the first devices in June 2024 used Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus.
- Features run locally on the NPU. Click to Do's text actions use the Phi Silica small language model on the NPU, improved Windows search runs locally, and Recall stores encrypted snapshots on the device.
- Recall is opt in and removed by default on managed devices. Snapshot saving is off until the user turns it on, and on work or school devices Recall is removed until an administrator allows it.
- Availability varies by market. Microsoft footnotes that Copilot+ PC experiences vary by device and market, with several Click to Do actions unavailable in the European Economic Area and China.
What is a Copilot+ PC?
Microsoft Learn describes Copilot+ PCs as a class of Windows 11 hardware powered by a high performance NPU, a specialised chip for AI-intensive work such as real-time translation and image generation, able to perform more than 40 TOPS. The NPU runs deep learning operations more efficiently than the CPU or GPU, which Microsoft links to battery life. Many newer Windows AI features require this NPU, so a PC without it does not get them even if it runs the same Windows 11 version.
| Field | Value (as of 2026-11-15) |
|---|---|
| Owner of the specification | Microsoft |
| Announced | 20 May 2024, with pre-orders opening the same day |
| First devices shipped | 18 June 2024, from 999 US dollars (Microsoft launch figure) |
| Launch device makers | Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft Surface, Samsung |
| Operating system | Windows 11 |
| NPU minimum | 40+ TOPS |
| Memory minimum | 16 GB DDR5 or LPDDR5 |
| Storage minimum | 256 GB or larger SSD or UFS |
| Processor families listed on Microsoft Learn | AMD Ryzen AI 300 series; Intel Core Ultra 200V series; Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite |
| Hardware key | A dedicated Copilot key (launch announcement) |
| Price of AI features | Included in Windows; some Click to Do actions require a subscription |
What are the Copilot+ PC hardware requirements?
Microsoft's support article on next generation AI device requirements lists the following, added on top of the standard Windows 11 minimum requirements. Individual features add their own conditions, shown in the second table.
| Component | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Processor or SoC | On Microsoft's approved list, which only includes processors or SoCs with NPUs of 40+ TOPS |
| NPU | 40+ TOPS |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR5 or LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 256 GB or larger, SSD or UFS |
| Feature | Extra requirements Microsoft lists |
|---|---|
| Recall | Copilot+ PC meeting the Secured-core standard; 8 logical processors; at least 50 GB free space to enable (saving pauses below 25 GB); Device Encryption or BitLocker on; Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security with at least one biometric sign-in enrolled |
| Click to Do | Copilot+ PC or eligible Cloud PC with a 40 TOPS NPU, 16 GB RAM, 8 logical processors and 256 GB storage; Snipping Tool 11.2411.20.0 or later for the Snipping Tool entry point |
| Click to Do intelligent text actions | English as the default language, at least 10 selected words, and sign in with a Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra account |
TOPS figures are published by each chip maker using its own measurement conditions, so a higher number on one vendor's datasheet is not directly comparable with another's. The What Is an NPU? TOPS, AI PC Chips and What the Numbers Mean page explains how to read them.
Which chips power Copilot+ PCs?
Processor families are listed alphabetically by chip maker; the order is not a ranking.
| Chip maker | Family named by Microsoft | Copilot+ status history |
|---|---|---|
| AMD | Ryzen AI 300 series | Added to the Copilot+ PC line-up on 3 September 2024; AI experiences delivered by free Windows updates from November 2024; Live Captions translation, Cocreator, Restyle Image and Image Creator expanded on 31 March 2025 |
| Intel | Core Ultra 200V series | Added to the Copilot+ PC line-up on 3 September 2024; AI experiences delivered by free Windows updates from November 2024; same March 2025 feature expansion; Surface Laptop and Surface Pro for Business with Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) available from 18 February 2025 |
| Qualcomm | Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus | The launch platform on 18 June 2024; Click to Do text actions rolled out first to Snapdragon X Series devices in April 2025 |
Microsoft Learn names example devices including Microsoft Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, HP OmniBook X 14, Dell Latitude 7455, XPS 13 and Inspiron 14, Acer Swift 14 AI, Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and ThinkPad T14s, Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, and ASUS Vivobook S 15 and ProArt PZ13. The Copilot+ label on a retailer listing is the practical check; the spec sheet should show the NPU TOPS, RAM type and storage type above.
Which features are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs?
| Feature | What it does | Status and dates (Microsoft sources) |
|---|---|---|
| Recall | Takes encrypted snapshots of the screen every few seconds and when content changes, so the user can search past activity | Announced May 2024; labelled preview in the April 2025 rollout; opt in |
| Click to Do | Identifies text and images on screen and offers actions: summarise, bulleted list, rewrite, visual search, blur background, erase objects, remove background | Preview from April 2025; image actions on all Copilot+ PCs, text actions first on Snapdragon then AMD and Intel |
| Improved Windows search | Describe what you are looking for in File Explorer, the Windows Search box or Settings; runs locally on the NPU | Available from April 2025; optimised for English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese and Spanish |
| Live Captions with translation | Translates audio from over 40 languages into English subtitles, including offline; translation into Chinese (Simplified) from 27 languages added in 2025 | Launch feature on Snapdragon; expanded to AMD and Intel on 31 March 2025 |
| Cocreator in Paint | Generates and refines images on the device from ink strokes plus a text prompt | Launch feature; expanded to AMD and Intel on 31 March 2025 |
| Restyle Image and Image Creator in Photos | Restyles photos and generates images from prompts | Expanded to AMD and Intel on 31 March 2025 |
| Windows Studio Effects | Camera and audio effects such as portrait light and eye contact teleprompter | Launch feature |
| Voice Access (descriptive command language) | More flexible natural language voice commands | First on Snapdragon X Series; AMD and Intel announced for later in 2025 |
Microsoft's consumer Copilot+ PC page names Click to Do and improved Windows search as headline experiences, with footnotes that experiences vary by device and market and that some may need updates still rolling out.
Recall in detail
- Off by default: snapshot saving starts only when the user turns it on in Settings, Privacy & security, Recall & snapshots, or when first opening Recall.
- Local and encrypted: Microsoft states snapshots are encrypted, stored locally and not shared with Microsoft, third parties or other Windows users on the same device.
- Filtering: sensitive information filtering (for example passwords and credit card numbers) is on by default; users can exclude apps and websites. Private browsing is filtered in supported browsers.
- Storage defaults: 25 GB on a 256 GB device, 75 GB on 512 GB and 150 GB on 1 TB or larger, unless policy sets a cap.
- Removal: uncheck Recall in Turn Windows features on or off and restart, which deletes existing snapshots; Reset Recall clears data without removing the feature.
Click to Do in detail
- Open it: Windows key plus mouse click, Windows key plus Q, right swipe on touch screens, the Snipping Tool menu, or Windows Search.
- Local processing: screen analysis runs on the device only while Click to Do is engaged, does not analyse minimised apps, and keeps no screen content after an action. Content goes online only for Search the web, Open website or visual search with Bing.
- Turn it off: Settings, Privacy & security, Click to Do. It is on by default on Copilot+ PCs and cannot be uninstalled.
- Work devices: show Ask Microsoft Copilot instead of Ask Copilot, which needs a Microsoft 365 licence.
Where are Copilot+ features available?
| Market or language | What Microsoft states (as of 2026-11-15) |
|---|---|
| European Economic Area | Click to Do: visual search with Bing, Ask Copilot, Teams actions, Reading Coach, Immersive Reader, Draft with Copilot in Word and advanced Paint image features are not available. Recall: EEA users can export their snapshots, and resetting Recall generates a new export code; Recall and Click to Do were announced for the EEA later in 2025. |
| China | Click to Do: search may use local engines; Ask Copilot, Draft with Copilot in Word, Summarise, bulleted lists and the formal and refine rewrites are not available. Phi Silica features are not available in China. |
| Languages | Recall and improved Windows search are optimised for English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese and Spanish. Click to Do intelligent text actions need English as the default language. |
How much does a Copilot+ PC cost?
Microsoft gave a launch starting price of 999 US dollars in May 2024. Device prices are set by each manufacturer and are not published by Microsoft as a current figure. The Copilot+ features themselves are part of Windows 11 and arrive through Windows updates; Microsoft notes that some Click to Do actions require a subscription, and that Ask Microsoft Copilot on work or school devices requires a Microsoft 365 licence.
What can developers build for Copilot+ PCs?
Microsoft groups its local AI stack as Microsoft Foundry on Windows, with three parts.
| Component | What it is | Needs a Copilot+ PC? |
|---|---|---|
| Windows AI APIs | Ready to use models shipped through the Windows App SDK: Phi Silica language model, Image Description, Image Foreground Extractor, Image Generation, Image Object Erase, Image Object Extractor, Image Super Resolution, Semantic Search, Text Recognition (OCR), Video Super Resolution | Most do; Phi Silica (GPU), Speech Recognition and Video Super Resolution also run on other Windows 11 PCs meeting recommended specifications |
| Foundry Local | Ready to use LLMs and speech to text models | No, Windows 10 and later |
| Windows ML | ONNX Runtime based framework for your own models; downloads the right execution provider (for example QNN for Qualcomm NPUs, OpenVINO for Intel NPUs) and falls back to GPU or CPU | No, Windows 10 and later; Microsoft recommends it for NPU inference |
- Phi Silica access: a Limited Access Feature that needs an unlock token. Microsoft's documentation states it is being replaced by Aion Instruct, which needs no token: rollout to Windows Insider devices in November 2026 and to retail devices in January 2027, when Phi Silica is removed. These are announced plans and may change.
- Quantisation: NPUs usually need lower precision integer formats such as INT8, so FP32 models must be converted; Microsoft points to Olive for this.
- Measurement: Task Manager shows NPU utilisation, and Windows Performance Recorder includes a Neural Processing profile analysed in Windows Performance Analyzer.
Microsoft's Phi model family is covered in Microsoft MAI and Phi Models.
Is AI output on Copilot+ PCs labelled?
Microsoft's Phi Silica documentation states that, starting October 2026, some text API output includes an invisible AI-generated watermark, and that developers are responsible for meeting AI content marking requirements before removing it. Labelling of images from Cocreator, Restyle Image or Image Creator is not stated by Microsoft in the pages listed under Standards and references. For how Content Credentials work, see the AI Content Provenance and C2PA Guide.
How do organisations manage Copilot+ features?
Recall has the most detailed policy set. On managed devices it is disabled and removed by default, and administrators cannot start snapshot saving on a user's behalf.
| Policy (CSP name) | Effect | Edition scope |
|---|---|---|
| AllowRecallEnablement | Makes Recall available, or removes it and deletes snapshots | Not edition limited in Microsoft's listing |
| DisableAIDataAnalysis | Controls whether users may choose to save snapshots | Not edition limited in Microsoft's listing |
| SetMaximumStorageSpaceForRecallSnapshots | Caps storage at 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 or 150 GB | Enterprise and Education |
| SetMaximumStorageDurationForRecallSnapshots | Retention of 30, 60, 90 or 180 days | Enterprise and Education |
| SetDenyUriListForRecall and SetDenyAppListForRecall | Filters listed websites and apps from snapshots | Enterprise and Education |
| SetDataLossPreventionProvider | Names a DLP provider; Microsoft Purview is currently the only supported provider | Not edition limited in Microsoft's listing |
| AllowRecallExport | Lets users export their snapshots | EEA devices only |
Policies sit under ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/WindowsAI/. Deliver them through Intune or Group Policy; see the Microsoft Intune Guide. Recall depends on BitLocker or Device Encryption, covered in the BitLocker guide. Click to Do has its own management documentation from Microsoft, and users can turn it off in Settings.
When were Copilot+ PCs released, and how have they changed?
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 20 May 2024 | Copilot+ PCs announced; 40+ TOPS NPU; Recall, Cocreator, Live Captions and Windows Studio Effects named |
| 18 June 2024 | First Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus devices ship |
| 3 September 2024 | AMD Ryzen AI 300 and Intel Core Ultra 200V join the line-up; experiences promised from November via free updates |
| 18 February 2025 | Surface Copilot+ PCs for Business with Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) available |
| 31 March 2025 | Live Captions translation, Cocreator, Restyle Image and Image Creator expanded to AMD and Intel |
| 25 April 2025 | Recall (preview), Click to Do (preview) and improved Windows search roll out through the April 2025 non-security preview update |
| October 2026 | Invisible watermark added to some Phi Silica text API output |
| November 2026 to January 2027 (announced) | Aion Instruct replaces Phi Silica, Insider devices first |
What are the limits?
- Hardware gate: the features need the 40+ TOPS NPU; upgrading RAM on an older PC does not qualify it.
- Staggered rollout: features often reach Snapdragon devices before AMD and Intel, and arrive through controlled feature rollout over weeks.
- Language optimisation: Recall and search are optimised for six languages; intelligent text actions need English.
- Market gaps: EEA and China restrictions apply to several actions.
- Storage use: Recall needs 50 GB free to enable and reserves up to 150 GB by default on large drives.
- Accuracy: summaries and rewrites from a small on-device model can be wrong; review before sending.
Where identity and security fit
Recall ties access to Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security with a biometric, so the strength of device sign-in directly protects the snapshot store. Intelligent text actions and Ask Microsoft Copilot depend on Microsoft account or Entra sign-in, which brings work identity and licensing into scope. The wider risks of local models and the data they create are covered in the On-Device AI Security Guide.
Practitioner checklist
- Check every candidate device for all four minimums: approved 40+ TOPS processor, 16 GB DDR5 or LPDDR5, 256 GB SSD or UFS, Windows 11.
- Do not compare NPU TOPS across chip makers as if they were measured the same way.
- Decide a Recall position before deployment; it stays removed on managed devices until AllowRecallEnablement is set.
- If Recall is allowed, set storage, retention and app and URI deny lists, and confirm BitLocker and Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security are in place.
- Review Click to Do defaults, which are on, and decide whether to leave web and Bing actions available.
- Record EEA and China feature gaps for affected users.
- Developers: plan the move from Phi Silica to Aion Instruct and build fallbacks for
NotSupportedOnCurrentSystem. - Recheck Microsoft's pages before purchase or rollout decisions; features and chip lists change with Windows updates.
Standards and references
- Microsoft Support: Windows next generation AI device minimum system requirements
- Microsoft Learn: Copilot+ PCs developer guide
- Microsoft Support: Retrace your steps with Recall
- Microsoft Learn: Manage Recall
- Microsoft Support: Click to Do
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Foundry on Windows overview
- Microsoft Learn: Phi Silica
- Microsoft: Introducing Copilot+ PCs
Related NHI Mgmt Group resources: On-Device AI and AI PCs Hub · What Is an NPU? TOPS, AI PC Chips and What the Numbers Mean · On-Device AI Security Guide · Microsoft Intune Guide