Technology
Danish Kapoor
Danish Kapoor

New Features Coming to Microsoft OneDrive: Advanced Search and Mobile App Updates

Microsoft is preparing to introduce a number of new features and improvements for its cloud storage service OneDrive. According to the company, these innovations include a more advanced search experience, colorful folders, new mobile application updates and artificial intelligence-supported tools. While these features aim to make file and photo management more user-friendly, new Copilot support will also be offered to Microsoft’s commercial customers.

With the updates, Microsoft is especially improving the search function so that OneDrive users can access their files faster and more efficiently. Company officials state that this new search experience offers more detailed results and users can find the file or folder they need faster. It is also stated that this advanced search engine works not only on users’ own OneDrive accounts, but also on shared libraries and folders from teammates.

Improved search experience and colorful folders

Among the innovations brought to Microsoft’s cloud storage service, the advanced search function stands out. According to company officials, thanks to this new feature, search results become faster and more detailed. Microsoft’s Vice President of Product Jason Moore states that with new filtering controls and more detailed results, users will be able to find exactly the file or folder they are looking for faster. This improved search system aims to make both personal and business file management more efficient for OneDrive users.

Besides this, Windows File Explorer now also supports designated colored folders in OneDrive. Folders that were previously marked in color in the web version can now be viewed through File Explorer. Colorful folders aim to help users better organize their files and folders and make file management more intuitive. This feature makes it easier to find files and offers great convenience, especially for users working with large data sets.

microsoft onedrive

Additionally, Microsoft plans to further improve OneDrive’s document library experience by mid-2025. With this update, improvements will be made such as filtering large data sets, creating custom views, and making file management faster. This will provide a significant advantage for those who use OneDrive in the business world.

New mobile applications and Copilot support

Microsoft is working on new updates that also improve the mobile experience of OneDrive. An updated OneDrive app for Android and iOS platforms will offer an interface that highlights users’ photos. The new mobile application will make navigation easier with categories such as albums, contacts and favorites, and will allow users to search in natural language with artificial intelligence-supported photo search. In this way, users will be able to quickly access the photos they want by searching in everyday language such as “dog on a boat”.

microsoft onedrive

The new mobile app will also make it easier to transfer files from different cloud services to OneDrive. Photos, videos and documents from services such as Google Drive, Google Photos and Dropbox can be moved to OneDrive. This new app is available for Android users starting today, while it will be available for iOS users in November. Additionally, the photo search feature will be available to Microsoft 365 subscribers first and will be available to all users by summer 2025.

Copilot support is also coming to OneDrive for Microsoft’s commercial customers starting today. Copilot will be offered as an artificial intelligence-supported tool that aims to help users in file and folder management. This feature will provide great convenience, especially for users working with complex file structures.

These new features that Microsoft has brought to OneDrive not only make the cloud storage experience faster and more accessible, but also make file management more intuitive and user-friendly. These new features will be a great advantage for users working with large data sets and files, especially in the business world.

OneDrive’s future plans include personalized views that automatically group files and photos by memories, collections or hobbies. Additionally, AI-powered features such as one-click file summarization and comparison are expected to be integrated into Windows File Explorer and macOS Finder soon. With these innovations, Microsoft aims to position OneDrive as not only a storage space but also a powerful business management tool.

Danish Kapoor