Microsoft Copilot assistant can now access your Google account—if you let it

Microsoft Copilot Connectors
(Image credit: Microsoft)
  • Microsoft Copilot can now access Gmail, Google Drive, and other third-party services
  • Users can search across personal data with a single prompt
  • A new native document export feature allows Copilot to instantly generate Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF files from user commands

Microsoft Copilot is making friends with Google thanks to a new Windows update that lets it tap directly into your Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, and OneDrive accounts. The same update lets the AI assistant export content into Word docs, PowerPoint decks, and PDFs at your request.

The update is rolling out now to Windows Insiders via the Microsoft Store. Though subtle, it's a huge leap for Copilot’s integration into new platforms. For users who opt in, Microsoft Copilot can now access and search across personal data from a growing list of services, including Google’s, in a notable expansion beyond the Microsoft ecosystem.

With a single prompt like “What’s Sarah’s email address?” or “Find my school notes from last week,” Copilot will sift through connected inboxes, drives, calendars, and contacts to surface the right information.

In this regard, at least, Microsoft has decided against competing with Google head-to-head on services. Instead, Copilot is learning to play nice, albeit inside a Windows-shaped sandbox. Given how much data Copilot could potentially have access to once linked – your emails, your contacts, your documents, your schedules – it’s also a test of how much digital trust the average user is willing to extend to a chatbot.

AI sharing

You can ask it to export ideas into a Word doc, build an Excel sheet from a text-based table, or slap your notes into a PowerPoint presentation, all without lifting a finger to open another app. Longer responses, anything over 600 characters, now come with a built-in export button to instantly ship that content into a file format of your choice.

The more Copilot becomes a one-stop shop for creation and export, the less users have to bounce between apps, something Microsoft has made clear is a long-term goal.

Microsoft Copilot Connectors

(Image credit: Microsoft)

This feature also suggests Copilot’s ambitions are more than just conversational. It’s not trying to win you over with small talk or trivia; it’s trying to be the center of your productivity universe.

And while the rollout is limited for now, Microsoft plans to expand it more broadly after more testing. Eventually, this could mean you'll simply ask your computer to, “Summarize my week and send it to my boss as a PDF,” and you won't have to write a whole report.

Whether this future excites or unnerves you probably depends on how you feel about your AI assistant having a backstage pass to your digital life. But the convenience is hard to ignore.

But, while the export features are impressive, Copilot’s long-form generation still has its share of quirks and hallucinations. This is still an AI tool, not a mind reader. You’ll need to proofread those Word docs before sending them off with your signature.


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Eric Hal Schwartz
Contributor

Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.

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