Copilot is learning to check your PC’s pulse
Microsoft is quietly testing a new Copilot feature called PC Insights, and it could change how you troubleshoot your computer. Instead of digging through Task Manager or Settings, you’d simply ask the AI assistant a natural language question about your hardware or storage. That’s the pitch, anyway.
According to a Microsoft support document spotted by Windows Latest, the feature will let you ask things like, “Do I have enough space for a 100GB game?” Copilot would then check your available storage and give you a straight answer. You could also inquire about CPU usage, battery health, and other diagnostics to pinpoint what’s slowing things down.
What Copilot can actually see
PC Insights is expected to read CPU, RAM, and GPU usage, calculate free storage space, and even check folder sizes for things like your Downloads or Documents folders. That’s a lot of visibility. It will also be able to see connected USB devices, external drives, printers, webcams, and the status of your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections.
Here’s the kicker: the feature is reportedly opt-in. Microsoft says Copilot will ask for your permission each time you ask a hardware-related question, unless you switch it to “Always allow.” That’s a smart privacy move, especially given how much system data the assistant would be able to access.
What Copilot won’t do
There are limits, though. Copilot won’t be able to open individual files. And for now, it appears limited to flagging problems rather than actually fixing them. So it’s more of a diagnostic tool than a repair tech. You’ll still need to roll up your sleeves for the actual fixes.
There’s a big catch: Copilot is a resource hog
Here’s where the irony kicks in. The app promising to flag what’s slowing down your PC has been found to be a resource hog itself. In its testing, Windows Latest found that the current Copilot app uses up to 1GB of RAM at idle. That’s not nothing. It also takes up a fair chunk of storage because it ships with its own private copy of Microsoft Edge.
So while PC Insights could be genuinely useful for less tech-savvy folks, it’s hard to fully trust a tool for spotting resource problems when it’s contributing to them itself. It’s like asking a mechanic with a broken arm to fix your car — good intentions, but maybe not the best candidate.
What this means for everyday users
For the average person, PC Insights could be a real time-saver. Instead of opening Task Manager and trying to decode which process is eating your RAM, you’d just ask Copilot. That’s a much lower barrier to entry. And for people who don’t know their way around system settings, it could make troubleshooting feel less intimidating.
But there’s a bigger question here: should you trust an AI that’s part of the problem? If Copilot is using 1GB of RAM at idle, that’s a significant chunk of your system’s resources. On a machine with 8GB of RAM, that’s over 12% of your memory gone before you even start asking questions.
The bottom line on Copilot PC Insights
PC Insights is still in testing, so we don’t know exactly when it’ll roll out to the public. But the direction is clear: Microsoft wants Copilot to be your go-to for everything, including system diagnostics. That could be great for accessibility, but it also raises a few eyebrows.
If you’re curious about how to get the most out of your PC, you might also want to check out our guide on how to check RAM usage on Windows or our tips on freeing up disk space in Windows. And if you’re worried about Copilot’s resource usage, you can always disable Copilot on Windows 11 until Microsoft sorts out the performance issues.
For now, PC Insights feels like a promising feature with a nagging caveat. It’s a bit like having a personal tech support agent — one that occasionally eats your lunch. We’ll be watching to see if Microsoft tightens up Copilot’s own resource usage before this goes live. Otherwise, the tool meant to diagnose your PC’s problems might just be the newest one.
