Microsoft has just announced an exciting feature for OneDrive that changes the way you store and find your photos. The company is rolling out a brand new Windows app alongside an intelligent photo search feature that uses AI to help you locate specific memories in seconds. If you’ve ever spent ages scrolling through thousands of photos trying to find that one picture from a family gathering or vacation, this update is going to make your life much easier.
The star of the show is what Microsoft calls the Photos Agent. Think of it as a smart assistant that lives inside your OneDrive and understands what’s in your photos. Instead of manually sorting through endless folders or relying on dates alone, you can now simply ask questions in plain English and get instant results. Want to find all the photos from your cousin’s wedding last year? Just ask. Looking for pictures of your cat? The AI will find them for you. It’s like having a conversation with your photo library, and it actually understands what you’re looking for.
This isn’t just basic keyword matching. The Photos Agent actually analyses the content of your images to understand what’s happening in them. It can recognize faces, places, objects, and even activities. So when you search for something like “beach sunset” or “birthday cake,” it knows exactly what you mean and surfaces the right photos. This kind of smart search has been available on some other platforms, but Microsoft is bringing it to OneDrive users in a way that feels natural and effortless.
For now, the Photos Agent is available to people who subscribe to Microsoft 365 Copilot or Premium plans. But the good news is that Microsoft plans to make this feature available to everyone by next summer. That means even if you’re using the free version of OneDrive, you’ll eventually get access to this powerful photo search capability.
Alongside the AI photo search, Microsoft is launching a completely redesigned OneDrive app specifically for Windows 11 users. The new app looks and feels like a modern photo gallery rather than just another file storage tool. You’ll find a clean, organized interface that makes browsing through your photo collection enjoyable rather than tedious.
The new app includes features like easy album creation, the ability to tag people in photos, and quick access to your favourite images. Everything is designed to work smoothly with Windows 11, matching the operating system’s sleek design and intuitive navigation. If you’ve been using OneDrive mainly as a backup solution, this new app might convince you to make it your primary photo hub.
Mobile users aren’t being left out of the fun either. Microsoft has updated the OneDrive app for both iPhone and Android devices with some impressive new features. You can now edit photos directly within the app, transforming ordinary snapshots into artistic creations or cleaning up blurry images. The app also includes a handy tool that automatically detects and removes duplicate photos, freeing up valuable storage space without you having to manually hunt down copies.
Microsoft has bigger plans for OneDrive’s AI capabilities. The company is working on custom AI assistants that can be tailored to specific tasks and shared with teams. These assistants will be able to access your OneDrive files and help automate various workflows, whether you’re organizing documents, preparing presentations, or collaborating with colleagues. It’s all part of Microsoft’s broader vision to make cloud storage more intelligent and helpful.
Storage capacity is also getting a major boost. By the end of this year, Microsoft will introduce new storage options including 5TB and 10TB plans. Currently, the maximum available storage is 2TB, so these new tiers will be welcome news for anyone with massive photo collections, video libraries, or large work files. While Microsoft hasn’t announced pricing for these higher capacity plans yet, they’ll provide much-needed flexibility for heavy users.
As these features roll out over the coming months, OneDrive users can look forward to a much more exciting experience. Whether you’re someone who takes thousands of photos or just wants an easier way to manage important documents, these updates make OneDrive a more valuable option in the competitive world of cloud storage.
