File Share Microsoft 365 Copilot connector

The File Share Microsoft 365 Copilot connector allows users in your organization to search on premises Windows file shares. After you configure the connector and index data from the file path, end users can search for that content in Microsoft Search and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

This article is intended for Microsoft 365 administrators who are responsible for configuring, running, and monitoring the File Share Copilot connector. It supplements the general instructions provided for setting up Microsoft Copilot connectors in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Capabilities

• Ask natural language questions about on-prem files content in Copilot, such as summarizing the document, with enhanced search capabilities.
• Perform natural language queries for accurate responses using Semantic Search support.
• Content of the following formats can be indexed and searched: DOC, DOCM, DOCX, DOT, DOTX, EML, GIF, HTML, JPEG, JPG, MHT, MHTML, MSG, NWS, OBD, OBT, ODP, ODS, ODT, ONE, PDF, PNG, POT, PPS, PPT, PPTM, PPTX, TXT, XLB, XLC, XLSB, XLS, XLSX, XLT, XLXM, XML, XPS, and ZIP. Only the textual content of these formats is indexed, and all multimedia content is ignored. For multimedia and other file types, only metadata is indexed.

Limitations

• The maximum supported file size is 100 MB. Files that exceed 100 MB aren't indexed. The maximum post-processed size limit is 4 MB. Processing stops when a file's size reaches 4 MB. Therefore, some phrases present in the file might not work for search.
• You can index up to twenty different file shares in a single connection. Enter one file share per line in the file shares text box area.

Prerequisites

Install the Microsoft Graph connector agent

To index your Windows file shares, you must install and register the connector agent. See Install the Microsoft Graph connector agent to learn more.

Get Started

Choose display name

The display name helps users easily recognize the associated file or item in Copilot, signifying trusted content. Display name is also used as a content source filter. A default value is present for this field, but you can customize it to a name that users in your organization recognize.

File Share on-premises URL

Enter the path to the file share and select your previously installed Microsoft Graph connector agent. Enter the credentials for a Microsoft Windows user account with read access to all the files in the file share.

Limits for file indexing

You have the ability to limit files and folders from indexing based on file type, modified date, and location.

Based on file types

For these file formats, only the text is indexed: DOC, DOCM, DOCX, DOT, DOTX, EML, HTML, MHT, MHTML, MSG, NWS, OBD, OBT, ODP, ODS, ODT, ONE, PDF, POT, PPS, PPT, PPTM, PPTX, TXT, XLB, XLC, XLSB, XLS, XLSX, XLT, XLXM, XML, XPS. For multimedia and other file types, only metadata is indexed.

Based on the last modified date or the number of days since the last modification

Use these selections to only index files modified within a specified number of days or since a specific date.

Full network path or regular expression

In the network path, use the escape character (\) before special characters like \. Example: For the path \\CONTOSO\FILE\SHAREDFOLDER, correct way to input is \\\\CONTOSO\\FILE\\SHAREDFOLDER

For information about writing regular expressions, see Regular Expression Language Quick Reference.

You also have the ability to create an exception to the limit rule. The priority of the exception rule will supersede limit rules. Exception rules can be defined by entering folder or file paths for the items you want to include in indexing.

Preserve last access time

When the connector attempts to crawl a file, the "last access time" field in its metadata is updated. If you depend on that field for archiving and backup solutions and you don't want to update it when the connector accesses it, select this option.

Custom setup

You can enrich your indexed data by creating custom properties based on the connector's default properties.

To add a custom property:

1. Enter a property name. This name appears in the search results from this connector.
2. For the value, select Static or String/Regex Mapping. A static value is included in all search results from this connector. The string/regex value varies based on the rules you add.
3. Select Edit value.
4. If you selected a static value, enter the string you want to appear.
5. If you selected a string/regex value:
   • In the Add expressions section, in the Property list, select a default property from the list.
   • For Sample value, enter a string to represent the type of values that could appear. This sample is used when you preview your rule.
   • For Expression, enter a regex expression to define the portion of the property value that should appear in search results. You can add up to three expressions. To learn more about regex expressions, see Regular expression language quick reference or search the web for a regex expression reference guide.
   • In the Create formula section, enter a formula to combine the values extracted from the expressions.

Property labels

Follow the general setup instructions.

Manage schema

Follow the general setup instructions.

Manage search permissions

You can restrict the permission to search for any file based on Share Access Control Lists or New Technology File System (NTFS) Access Control Lists, by selecting the desired option on the Manage search permissions page. The user accounts and groups provided in the Access Control Lists must be managed by Active Directory (AD). If you're using any other system for user accounts management, you can select the 'everyone' option, which lets users search for all the files without any access restrictions. However, when users try to open the file, access controls set at the source apply.

Windows by default provides 'Read' permission to 'Everyone' in Share ACLs when a folder is shared on the network. By extension, if you're choosing Share ACLs in Manage search permissions, users can search for all the files. If you want to restrict access, remove 'Read' access for 'Everyone' in file shares and provide access only to the desired users and groups. The connector then reads these access restrictions and applies them to the search.

You can choose to share ACLs only if the share path you provided follows UNC path format. You can create a path in UNC format by going to 'Advanced Sharing' under the 'Sharing' option.

Synchronization

The refresh interval determines how often your data is synchronized between the data source and the Copilot connector index. There are two types of refresh intervals – full crawl and incremental crawl. For more details, click here. You can change the default values of the refresh interval from here if you want to.

Review and test your connection

• Follow the general setup instructions.
• Search and validate your indexed content and permissions using Index browser.
• Find answers to common questions in our FAQ section.

For Microsoft Search, if you need to customize the search results page. To learn about customizing search results, see Customize the search results page.

Troubleshooting

After publishing your connection, you can review the status in the Connectors section of the admin center. To learn how to make updates and deletions, see Manage your connector.

You can find troubleshooting steps for commonly seen issues here.

If you have issues or want to provide feedback, contact Microsoft Graph | Support.