Microsoft announced Copilot for OneDrive last week to help users streamline file management. However, this requires a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license, for which not every Microsoft 365 subscriber is willing to pay. But for those who haven't paid for the Copilot AI tool, the software giant hasn't left you empty-handed, because Microsoft's latest set of enhancements are available for all OneDrive users.

Finding the most relevant files in OneDrive has become easier than ever

Microsoft has announced the rollout of several new capabilities for OneDrive users to improve the search experience. One of the noteworthy features is what the company calls "file type filter pills." These are nothing but filter options, which essentially "narrow down your search results by specific file types." Prior to this search improvement, if you saved spreadsheets, presentations, and documents with a specific name, searching for it would give you a long list, containing all the files by that name. But now, you don't have to go through that long list to find the most relevant file, as you can click the desired filter pill, which will display only the specific file type you're looking for.

In addition to filter pills, Microsoft has also introduced a new date filter option to OneDrive to help users find files within a certain period. Date filter options available are "Today", "Last 7 Days," "Last 30 Days," "Last 3 months," and "In the last year." What's more, OneDrive now also features "Location", "Created by," and "Modified by" columns to make it easier for you to find the source origin of the files as well as who created or last updated them.

Last but not least, OneDrive is now allowing you to switch between "All Files," "My Files," "Current Folder," and "Current Library" on the search results page. So, if you've just typed the name of the file you're looking for and you know that it's in your personal folder, you should switch to "My Files" instead of allowing OneDrive to show every file that matches that name.

More OneDrive features are coming soon

These search improvements are rolling out now, and more goodies are coming soon. For example, one of the OneDrive features coming this month will allow users to open PDF files that are protected with Microsoft Purview Information Protection sensitivity labels, as well as read them using the read-only mode. We come up with a compilation every Monday, consisting of every important Microsoft 365 feature the company is currently working on. Make sure to read our Microsoft Roadmap Weekly articles to have prior information on what changes are coming to OneDrive and other Microsoft 365 apps and services.