Microsoft has quietly begun rolling out an experimental new feature called PC Insights that lets Windows 11 users ask Copilot about their computer’s health in plain English. The tool can report on everything from CPU usage to antivirus status, but early testing reveals the Copilot app can consume upwards of 560 MB of RAM while idle—potentially undercutting its own utility.

What PC Insights actually does

PC Insights is an opt-in, natural-language bridge between a user’s questions and Windows’ own diagnostic data. According to Microsoft’s support documentation, once enabled, it accepts queries like “What is my current CPU usage?”, “What graphics card do I have?”, “Is my antivirus running?”, or even “Do I have enough space for a 100 GB game?” Copilot then requests permission to retrieve the relevant device or file information and returns an explanation.

The feature can report on device specifications, battery health, BIOS version, connected USB devices, network adapters, storage and external drives, printers, webcams, and selected files or folders. Microsoft stresses it is read-only: PC Insights cannot change Windows settings, run repair actions automatically, or continuously monitor the machine in the background. It may suggest a next step—like pointing to where a setting can be changed—but it won’t terminate a runaway process, clear disk space, update a driver, or restart a service on anyone’s behalf.

Access is permission-based. Copilot asks for approval before tapping into system or file data for a question, and users can grant one-time access, permanently allow similar requests, or decline. Permissions can be revoked from the Copilot privacy settings. Microsoft also says PC Insights does not access corporate Microsoft 365 email, Teams chats, calendars, or organization documents.

What it means for you

For everyday users

If you’ve ever stared blankly at Task Manager or Device Manager, PC Insights translates technobabble into conversational answers. Instead of hunting through multiple Settings menus to find battery health or check if a printer is connected, you can just ask. It’s designed to make basic diagnostics less intimidating—a sort of tech-support companion that never rolls its eyes.

The catch? Answers are not guaranteed to be complete or accurate. Microsoft labels the feature experimental, and it’s being deployed gradually, so it won’t appear on every Windows 11 PC immediately. Treat its replies as helpful pointers, not definitive diagnoses.

For power users, admins, and developers

If you already know your way around Win+R, perfmon, and PowerShell, PC Insights looks like a feature you didn’t ask for. It adds a natural-language layer over telemetry that experienced users can fetch more quickly—and more reliably—using built-in tools. The bigger concern is the app’s own resource footprint.

As first reported by Windows Latest and confirmed by PC Gamer, the current Edge-based Copilot client can be a memory hog. In one test, the app sat at 791.7 MB of RAM while idle; PC Gamer’s own machine saw around 560 MB, making it the third most RAM-heavy application at the time. On a system with 8 GB of memory, that’s a significant slice—and it doesn’t account for what Copilot might consume when it’s actively querying system information.

For IT professionals, this creates an awkward scenario: a tool promoted to help identify resource pressure might itself rank among the largest memory consumers. Most admins will continue to reach for Task Manager, Resource Monitor, or their management consoles when they need repeatable measurements or actual remediation.

How we got here

Microsoft’s push to embed Copilot across Windows has been relentless. The Copilot app transitioned to a web-based Edge wrapper with a cloud-backed AI model, which increased its resource requirements sharply compared to earlier native integrations. Earlier this year, the company publicly committed to making Windows 11 “leaner and meaner” after user feedback, but the OS still carries plenty of bloat.

PC Insights arrives as part of a broader strategy to make Windows diagnostics more accessible. It builds on existing telemetry and system APIs, essentially offering a conversational interface over data points that have been buried in administrative tools for decades. The careful permission model and read-only guardrails suggest Microsoft is wary of overreach, especially after criticism of earlier AI features that pushed boundaries on data access or automated changes without clear user consent.

What to do now

If you’re curious about the feature, here’s what you can do:

  • Check for availability: The rollout is gradual. Open Copilot and ask a system question—if the feature is live for your device, Copilot will prompt you to grant permission.
  • Manage permissions: When you first use it, you can choose “Allow once” or “Permanently allow for this type of question.” Visit Copilot’s privacy settings later to review or revoke these permissions.
  • Watch your own memory usage: Keep Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) open occasionally to see how much RAM Copilot is using. If your system feels sluggish and Copilot is near the top of the list, simply closing the app can reclaim that memory.
  • Don’t uninstall Copilot recklessly: The app is deeply integrated; removing it may break other workflows. If it’s a persistent resource drain, consider ending the task manually when you don’t need it.
  • Take answers with a grain of salt: Use PC Insights as a starting point, not a final word. For critical hardware questions, double-check with Device Manager or a dedicated tool.

Outlook

Microsoft will almost certainly tune PC Insights based on telemetry and user feedback. The memory footprint of the Copilot wrapper may shrink as the Edge runtime matures, or the company might move toward a lighter native interface. A self-aware Copilot that can report on its own resource consumption would be a fitting—and slightly ironic—improvement.

The feature also signals where Microsoft is headed: a Windows that increasingly interprets user intent and surfaces system information proactively. For now, PC Insights is a cautious experiment, valuable mostly to those who find Task Manager impenetrable. For everyone else, it’s a reminder that the tools we use to diagnose problems can sometimes be part of them.