Microsoft clarifies Windows 11 AI agents need explicit permission before accessing your files

Microsoft clarifies Windows 11 AI agents need permission to read your files

The permission settings apply collectively to all six folders rather than individually, giving users control over AI agent access to their personal files. Back in October, Microsoft released a new support page for Experimental Agentic Features, which details how AI agents and agent connectors work with Windows 11, Copilot, etc. Recently, that page was updated to say that AI agents would be able to access the contents of six select folders in Windows 11 -- Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Music, Pictures, Videos -- which understandably raised concerns. Now, Microsoft clarifies that you'll need to give your permission for AI agents to access the contents of those six folders. When selecting permissions, you'll have options for "Allow Always" (the agent can access these folders whenever it needs to), "Ask Every Time" (you'll be prompted when the agent needs access to the folders), and "Never Allow" (the agent will be denied the request every time). Note that it isn't possible to allow individual access settings per folder. The setting applies to all six folders or none of them. To change the setting, open the Settings app in Windows 11, then navigate to System > AI Components > Agents. Select the relevant AI agent from the list, navigate to the Files section, then select one of the three permission settings from the drop-down menu.

Microsoft explains how Windows 11's AI agents will get access to your files - but bigger worries remain

There won't be default access granted for AI agents, even if they're enabled in Windows 11, unless you specifically allow that Microsoft has provided more details on how AI agents will work in Windows 11 when it comes to permissions for accessing the files on your PC, putting to rest at least some fears around this functionality - but loftier concerns remain. In case you missed it (somehow), agents were recently revealed as the next big step forward with AI in Windows 11, and Microsoft is preparing the ground for testing them, introducing a slider to turn on 'experimental agentic features' in preview (test) builds. Some people were worried that turning this on would mean these agents could access your files by default (albeit in a limited set of folders - namely personal documents, videos, downloads and so forth). Windows Latest reports that Microsoft has clarified (in an update to a support document) that this is not the case, and that even if you have enabled experimental agents, these AI entities will not have access to said personal folders by default. They must still ask every time they want to access your files (unless you decide to permanently allow them). A permission dialog box will pop up when an AI agent requires file access for a task it has been assigned, and you'll have to explicitly allow it access for that one time, or alternatively to always have access (or you can deny it, of course). Those are the standard options in Windows when you get this kind of choice. Windows Latest further explains that it'll also be possible to customize permissions for each agent - there are multiple agents, which to begin with will include Copilot, Researcher and Analyst - which is also good to hear. It's helpful to get a bit more insight and detail into how AI agents work in terms of file permissions, and given the gravity of letting an AI loose with your files, it's really essential not to grant access by default. (Unless you want this to happen, in which case you can elect to 'always allow' access, though this option can subsequently be changed in Settings, should you later change your mind about it.) While Microsoft is making it possible to give different permissions to different AI agents, so you can allow, say, Researcher to have access, while denying all other agents, you can't adjust permissions for the folders on a granular level. It's all or nothing in this respect: you grant an agent access to every personal folder (documents, videos, pictures, downloads, music, and the desktop), or none of them. If you want to just give Researcher access to the documents folder only, for example, this isn't possible. Of course, AI agents are still in early testing with Windows 11, so Microsoft might change its mind and allow for tweaking of access to folders on an individual basis - we shall see. At any rate, at least for now we have this useful clarification that should help soothe some fears, perhaps, around how Microsoft's agentic creations will operate in Windows 11. Although that said, there are far more substantial worries floating around regarding AI agents, as you may have noticed. That includes whether Microsoft's propensity to introduce bugs to Windows 11 might also apply to these AIs - and agents going awry in such a way is a scary prospect to say the least - and Microsoft's warning on how agents can open up fresh exploits in terms of malware hasn't been all that comforting, either. Remember with all this, though, that you don't have to let AI agents onto your PC if you don't want to use them, in much the same way that you don't need to turn on Recall, another AI feature that's caused controversy and privacy concerns. If you're at all in doubt, just steer clear, frankly.