Mastering Microsoft Intune Explorer: Your AI-Powered Device Management Companion

Microsoft Intune has evolved significantly with the introduction of Explorer (also known as Security Copilot in Intune). This powerful feature transforms how IT administrators interact with their device fleets, replacing complex dashboard navigation with intelligent, natural language queries.

Whether you’re hunting down outdated devices, auditing privilege escalations, or troubleshooting performance issues, Explorer puts the power of AI-assisted analytics at your fingertips—without requiring you to write a single line of KQL or PowerShell.

What Is Explorer and Why Should You Care?

Explorer is a multi-device query engine that leverages Security Copilot’s AI capabilities to aggregate and analyze data across your entire Intune tenant. Unlike traditional device management views that force you to click through endless blades and filters, Explorer lets you ask questions in plain English and get actionable answers.

Key capabilities include:

• Query device inventory and update status across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Windows 365 Cloud PCs
• Review compliance posture and identify configuration drift
• Investigate Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) elevation events
• Analyze Endpoint Analytics performance trends
• Export data for reporting and create remediation groups on the fly
• Query users, groups, RBAC permissions, and audit logs

The critical distinction: Explorer isn’t a free-form chatbot. It operates within a structured framework of pre-built query templates with intelligent autocomplete. Think of it as a guided analytics layer that ensures you get accurate, optimized results without the risk of AI hallucinations or inefficient queries.

Getting Started with Explorer

Accessing the Interface

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center
2. Navigate to Devices → Explorer in the left-hand menu

You’ll see a clean interface with:

• A prominent query box at the top
• Category filters (Devices, Compliance, EPM, Advanced Analytics, Apps, Users/Groups, RBAC, Audit Logs)
• Example queries to spark ideas
• Real-time autocomplete suggestions as you type

How Querying Works

Start typing naturally. As you enter text, Explorer suggests matching pre-built queries from its library. For example:

• Type “Show devices…” and see options for outdated versions, non-compliant states, or specific OS platforms
• Type “EPM…” to surface privilege management queries
• Type “Get compliance…” for policy status inquiries

Blue highlighted text in queries indicates variables you need to configure—such as specific Windows versions, time periods, or compliance states. Click these fields to select from dropdowns or enter values.

Recent improvements now allow multi-select for platforms and enhanced numeric operators (greater than, less than, equal to), making queries more flexible than ever.

Real-World Scenario: Finding and Fixing Outdated Devices

Let’s walk through a practical example every admin faces: identifying devices that have fallen behind on updates.

Step 1: Formulate Your Query

In the query box, type:

“Show devices running older Windows versions”

Explorer suggests matching templates. Select the most appropriate option, such as “Show devices that are not on the latest version of Windows and Office.”

Step 2: Configure Variables

Click the blue variable fields to set your criteria:

• Platform: Windows 11 (now with multi-select capability)
• Update threshold: 23H2 or specific build number
• Time period: Not updated in last 30 days

Step 3: Execute and Analyze

Click the run arrow. Explorer returns:

Copilot Summary: A natural language explanation like “Found 47 Windows 11 devices not updated in the last 30 days. 12 devices are non-compliant with your update policy. These devices are concentrated in the Sales department and primarily Dell Latitude models.”

Raw Data Table: A sortable, filterable list of affected devices with properties including device name, primary user, last check-in time, current OS version, and compliance state.

Suggested Actions: Direct recommendations to create a deployment group, initiate remote actions, or review update ring assignments.

Step 4: Operationalize Immediately

From the results page:

• Export to CSV for change management documentation or compliance reporting
• Click any device name to jump to its detailed management page
• Select devices and click “Add to group” to create a static group for targeted remediation
• Use this group as the target for a new Feature Update policy or remediation script

This seamless flow from detection to remediation eliminates the traditional friction of exporting data to Excel, manually creating groups, and navigating back to policy assignment blades.

Deep Dive: Endpoint Privilege Management Integration

For organizations using Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM), Explorer provides essential visibility into elevation activities that traditional reporting struggles to surface.

Available EPM queries include:

• “Show approved elevated applications”
• “Show unapproved applications that were elevated”
• “Find EPM rules in conflict and source profiles”
• “Show elevation frequency by user or device”

Practical use cases:

Audit least privilege compliance: Run “Show unapproved applications that were elevated” to identify users bypassing security controls. One organization discovered a department-wide pattern of unauthorized software installations that their standard reporting had missed.

Detect policy conflicts: Query “Find EPM rules in conflict” to identify where elevation rules contradict other configuration policies, causing unpredictable behavior or security gaps.

Risk assessment: Analyze elevation frequency patterns to spot anomalies—such as a user suddenly elevating dozens of applications after months of minimal activity, potentially indicating compromised credentials.

Endpoint Analytics and Cloud PC Performance

Explorer extends beyond traditional device management into Endpoint Analytics, offering natural language access to performance and reliability data.

Sample queries:

• “Show devices with poor startup performance”
• “Show devices with frequent application crashes”
• “Find Cloud PCs with connectivity issues”
• “Identify devices with high resource utilization”

The Cloud PC advantage: With Windows 365 integration, you can now query Cloud PC-specific metrics including connection quality, provisioning status, and license optimization opportunities. This unified view eliminates the need to switch between Intune and Windows 365 admin centers for hybrid environments.

Instead of navigating through Startup Performance, App Reliability, and Resource Performance workbooks separately, a single query like “Show devices with user experience issues” aggregates relevant signals across all analytics areas.

Device-Level Copilot: Granular Troubleshooting

While Explorer excels at fleet-wide analysis, Security Copilot also operates at the individual device level for deep-dive troubleshooting.

Device Summarization

Navigate to Devices → All Devices → [Select Device] → Summarize with Copilot

Copilot generates a comprehensive overview:

• Device health state and risk indicators
• Compliance status with specific failure details
• Assigned policies and their effectiveness
• Installed applications and versions
• Recent inventory changes and anomalies

Device Comparison

One of the most powerful troubleshooting features is device comparison. When users report issues that don’t affect their colleagues, comparing configurations quickly isolates root causes.

Process:

1. Open the problematic device
2. Click “Compare with another device”
3. Enter a known-good device name or ID
4. Copilot analyzes differences in policies, updates, settings, and applications
5. Review the comparison report highlighting discrepancies

Real-world example: A user’s laptop couldn’t access corporate Wi-Fi despite identical policies. Device comparison revealed the problematic laptop had an older Wi-Fi driver version not captured in standard policy reports. The fix took minutes rather than hours of manual checking.

Policy Intelligence and Impact Analysis

Security Copilot integrates directly into policy management workflows, helping administrators understand configuration impacts before deployment.

Policy Summarization

Open any configuration or compliance policy and click “Summarize with Copilot” to receive:

• Plain-language explanation of what the policy does
• Current assignment scope and target groups
• Identified risk areas or misconfigurations
• Optimization suggestions based on tenant data patterns

Setting-Level Guidance

While editing policies, each setting displays a Copilot icon. Click for:

• Detailed explanation of the setting’s purpose and security implications
• Clarification of complex “double negative” scenarios (e.g., “Disable this setting to enable that feature”)
• Microsoft-recommended values based on industry benchmarks
• Estimated tenant-wide impact if changed

Conflict Detection

Before deploying changes, ask Copilot:

• “Does this setting conflict with another policy?”
• “Is this setting already configured elsewhere?”
• “What is the tenant-wide impact of this change?”

Copilot evaluates assignment overlaps, scope tag conflicts, and setting contradictions across your policy estate—preventing the common scenario where a new policy inadvertently overrides critical existing configurations.

Balancing Security and User Experience

Compliance policies include specific prompts for security impact versus user experience impact. This distinction helps administrators make informed decisions:

• Security impact: How the policy affects organizational risk posture
• User experience impact: Potential productivity disruptions, help desk call volume, and user friction

This dual perspective supports change management planning and helps avoid the “secure but unusable” trap.

KQL Generation for Advanced Analytics

Device Query (part of Intune Advanced Analytics) uses Kusto Query Language (KQL) for deep data exploration. For administrators without KQL expertise, Copilot bridges the gap.

Accessing Device Query

Single device: Devices → All Devices → [Select Device] → Monitor → Device Query
Multiple devices: Devices → Device Query

Natural Language to KQL

Click “Query with Copilot” and describe what you need:

Example requests:

• “Show devices with low disk space”
• “Which devices aren’t encrypted?”
• “Show me TPM 2.0 devices”
• “What are the top 10 processes using the most memory?”
• “Show last 5 app crash events on this device”

Generated KQL with explanation:

Request: “Show devices without BitLocker encryption”

Generated query:

DeviceInfo
| where OnboardingStatus == "Onboarded"
| join kind=leftanti (DeviceInfo | where BitLockerStatus == "Encrypted") on DeviceId
| project DeviceName, OSPlatform, BitLockerStatus

Explanation: “This query finds onboarded devices where BitLockerStatus is not ‘Encrypted’ by using a left anti-join to exclude encrypted devices from the results.”

Supported operations include count, distinct, join, order by, project, take, top, and where. New join types (leftsemi, rightsemi, leftanti, rightanti) are rolling out, expanding query possibilities.

Pro tip: Save successful generated queries to your ITSM knowledge base. This builds a library of proven queries that Level 1 and 2 technicians can use without repeatedly consuming AI credits.

Best Practices for Maximum Value

1. Start specific, then broaden. Narrow queries return faster, more actionable results than tenant-wide fishing expeditions.
2. Trust but verify. Use Copilot summaries as guidance, not gospel. Spot-check results against known device states, especially before mass remediation actions.
3. Leverage autocomplete. The suggested queries represent Microsoft-tested, optimized patterns. They’re usually more efficient than trying to force natural language into unsupported structures.
4. Export everything. Raw data exports serve audit trails, change management documentation, and executive reporting needs that AI summaries alone cannot satisfy.
5. Act immediately. Create remediation groups directly from query results while context is fresh. The friction between finding a problem and fixing it has never been lower.
6. Monitor consumption. Explorer queries consume Security Compute Units (SCUs). While included in most Security Copilot licenses, complex queries or overage scenarios can incur costs. If you can get the same data through standard Intune blades, Graph API, or simple KQL, evaluate whether the AI convenience justifies the compute cost.
7. Stay current. Explorer’s query library expands regularly. Check release notes for new query templates that might replace your manual workarounds.

Current Limitations and Considerations

Structured templates only. Explorer won’t answer arbitrary questions outside its supported query library. If you see “Explorer might not know about your question yet,” your specific query pattern isn’t available—yet.

Data freshness varies. Single-device queries operate in real-time, perfect for active troubleshooting. Multi-device queries refresh daily, making them suitable for reporting and trend analysis but not immediate incident response.

Cost awareness. SCU consumption varies by query complexity. Simple device counts consume minimal resources; complex cross-entity analytics with multiple joins consume more. Plan accordingly for large-scale automation.

Not a replacement for expertise. AI assists decision-making but doesn’t replace understanding of Intune architecture, Windows internals, or security principles. Use it to accelerate work, not bypass learning.

The Road Ahead: AI Agents and Automation

Microsoft is expanding beyond query assistance into autonomous AI agents currently in preview. These capabilities promise to:

• Automatically remediate vulnerabilities without admin intervention
• Intelligently offboard devices based on usage patterns and compliance states
• Self-heal policy configuration conflicts
• Proactively optimize Cloud PC sizing and licensing

The line between “querying your environment” and “managing your environment” continues to blur. Administrators who master today’s Explorer capabilities will be best positioned to leverage tomorrow’s autonomous management features.

Final Thoughts

Explorer represents a fundamental shift in device management philosophy—from navigating complex interfaces to conversing with your data. For organizations already invested in Microsoft Intune and Security Copilot, it offers immediate productivity gains. For those considering expansion, the combination of natural language querying, integrated remediation workflows, and expanding AI capabilities makes a compelling case for the Intune Suite.

The future of endpoint management isn’t just about managing more devices with fewer people—it’s about making every administrative action smarter, faster, and more contextual. Explorer is a significant step toward that future, available today.