Copilot+ PC Features List: Every Exclusive, Explained (2026)

Copilot+ PCs unlock a set of on-device AI features that ordinary Windows 11 laptops don’t get. The headliners are Recall, Cocreator, Live Captions with translation, Click to Do, and Windows Studio Effects. This guide lists every exclusive, says what each one does, and draws the line between features that need the 40-TOPS NPU and features any PC already has.

The split matters when you’re shopping. Plain Copilot chat works everywhere. The features below are the ones that actually justify the Copilot+ badge.

#What Counts as a Copilot+ PC Feature?

A Copilot+ feature is one that runs locally on the NPU and stays locked unless your laptop clears the certification bar. According to Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs differences page, that bar is an NPU “capable of at least 40 TOPS,” paired with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, on a machine running Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer.

Anything that runs in the cloud, like the main Copilot chatbot, is not in this list. Those work on any PC. The features here are the on-device ones Microsoft gates behind the NPU. We tracked this lineup as Microsoft expanded the program from Snapdragon to Intel and AMD silicon, and the exclusives stayed consistent across all three.

Here’s the full list, with what each does and whether it needs the NPU.

#The NPU-Exclusive Features in Detail

Recall keeps a timeline of what’s been on your screen, including web pages, documents, and images, so you can jump back by describing what you remember. Microsoft’s three must-try features page states that Recall is optimized for 6 languages today: English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, as listed in its Copilot+ feature guide. It ships as a preview and runs entirely on the device.

Cocreator lives in Paint. You type an idea, optionally add a rough sketch, and it generates image options in styles like comic book or soft watercolor. Photo Restyle is its sibling, applying art presets to your own photos. Microsoft confirms Photo Restyle “runs locally on your Copilot+ PC” without a cloud round trip.

Click to Do is the newest of the bunch. It surfaces smart actions on whatever text or image is on screen, like summarizing a paragraph or removing a photo background, without opening a separate app.

#How Live Captions and Studio Effects Work

Live Captions with translation is the feature most people notice first. Microsoft states it can translate live or recorded audio from over 40 languages into English captions, on the device, with no internet needed. In our testing on a Copilot+ machine, the captions appeared with very little lag during a recorded video, which is the payoff of running on the NPU instead of the cloud.

Windows Studio Effects is the webcam bundle. It blurs your background, corrects your gaze so you appear to look at the camera, and cleans up your voice. Microsoft describes it as “intelligent lighting, gaze correction, and voice clarity.” Because it runs on the NPU, it can stay on through a long call without spinning the fan.

Both features show the real point of the NPU: small, always-on AI that’s private and instant. For a deeper look at the chip behind them, see our guide to what an NPU actually does.

#Is Recall Safe to Use?

Recall drew the loudest privacy criticism of any Copilot+ feature, and Microsoft reworked it before launch. According to Microsoft’s Recall privacy and control page, the feature is now opt-in: if you don’t proactively turn it on during setup, snapshots are never taken. Microsoft also states you must confirm with Windows Hello every time you open Recall, and the snapshots are always encrypted with keys protected by the TPM.

You stay in control after that. You can pause capture, filter out specific apps and websites, and delete snapshots at any time. The processing happens locally on the device, never in the cloud.

So Recall is safer than the early reports suggested, but it’s still your call whether to enable it. In our testing on a Copilot+ machine, Recall stayed off until we explicitly opted in, which matches Microsoft’s stated default.

#The Copilot+ Features That Run on Any PC

The big one is Copilot chat, the general AI assistant. It’s not a Copilot+ exclusive at all. It runs on any Windows 11 PC because the model lives in the cloud, not on your NPU. If you’ve used Copilot to draft an email or answer a question on a normal laptop, you’ve already seen this.

That’s the most common point of confusion. People assume a Copilot+ PC is the only way to get Copilot, but the chatbot is everywhere. Our walkthrough on how to use Copilot in Windows 11 covers the assistant that ships on every machine, Copilot+ or not, and the snapdragon vs Intel vs AMD breakdown shows which chips clear the NPU bar.

The exclusives are the on-device features in the table above. Everything cloud-based is free game for any PC.

#Whether You Need the Copilot+ Features

For most buyers, the deciding feature is Studio Effects or Live Captions. If you live on video calls, the webcam cleanup and on-device captions are useful every day, and they’re the features the NPU clearly improves. Recall and Cocreator are nice extras, but few people build a buying decision around them.

If you mostly want the Copilot chatbot, you don’t need a Copilot+ PC at all. That runs anywhere. Our piece on whether you need an AI PC and the AI PC vs regular laptop comparison lay out exactly when the upgrade pays off.

#Bottom Line

Buy a Copilot+ PC if Live Captions or Windows Studio Effects fit your daily routine, since those two on-device features are the strongest reason the 40-TOPS NPU exists and the ones you’ll actually use on calls. Skip the upgrade if you only want the Copilot chatbot, because that runs on any Windows 11 machine. Match the exclusive features to your real work before you pay the premium.

#Frequently Asked Questions