Microsoft Copilot: What It Is And How To Use It

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant. You can ask it anything in plain language, and it answers, writes, summarizes, searches the web, creates images and, with a qualifying subscription or work account, works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The basic version is free with a Microsoft account, and paid Microsoft 365 plans add higher limits and Copilot inside the Office apps.

This October 2026 update reflects the biggest changes since the guide first appeared: Copilot Pro has been discontinued, and in August 2026 Microsoft merged its consumer and Microsoft 365 Copilot apps into one.

Microsoft Copilot at a glance:

• Copilot is one app for personal, work and school accounts, available on the web at copilot.com, in Windows, on macOS, iOS and Android, and in Microsoft Edge.
• The free version covers chat, web answers with sources, file uploads and image creation, subject to capacity and limits. Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium add more usage and Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• For organizations, Copilot Chat is included with eligible Microsoft 365 work licenses, while a Microsoft 365 Copilot license ($30 per user per month, paid yearly) connects Copilot to your company’s email, files, meetings and chats.

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered assistant that helps you with a wide range of tasks through natural language conversation. The name describes the role: Merriam-Webster defines a copilot as a pilot “who assists or relieves the pilot but is not in command”, and Microsoft uses the word to make the point that you stay in control while the AI helps.

Copilot started in February 2023 as Bing Chat, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, and was renamed Copilot in November 2023. Today there are two main experiences under one name:

• Copilot for personal use: the free AI assistant you reach at copilot.com or in the Copilot app, signed in with a personal Microsoft account. Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium subscribers get more usage and Copilot inside the Office apps.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot for work: the business version, used with a work or school account. Copilot Chat is included with eligible Microsoft 365 licenses, and the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license lets Copilot work with your organization’s email, documents, calendar, meetings and chats.

Since August 2026 both experiences live in one Copilot app. The account you sign in with decides what Copilot can see, and personal and work data stay separate. Microsoft reported more than 30 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats in July 2026.

You can use Copilot in these places:

• On the web: at copilot.com, where the older copilot.microsoft.com address now leads.
• In Windows 11: through the Windows Copilot app on the taskbar or Start menu, which you can also open with the Copilot key, Windows key + C or the wake word “Hey Copilot”.
• On mobile and Mac: through the Copilot app for iOS, Android and macOS.
• In Microsoft Edge: through the Copilot button, which can work with the page you are viewing.
• Across Microsoft 365 apps: in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, with a qualifying personal subscription or work license.

How does Microsoft Copilot work?

When you ask Copilot something, your prompt goes to a large language model that runs in Microsoft’s cloud. Before answering, Copilot decides whether it needs extra information. For a question about current events it searches the web with Bing and adds the sources it used as citations. With a work account it can also retrieve your emails, files, meetings and chats through Microsoft Graph and Work IQ, but only content you already have permission to open. The model then writes the answer, or takes an action such as drafting a document.

Copilot does not rely on one model. For Microsoft 365 Copilot, OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 has been the preferred model since July 2026, and licensed users can also choose Anthropic’s Claude models in several features. Microsoft also uses its own MAI models, for example to generate images.

Is Microsoft Copilot the same as Bing Chat?

Yes, Microsoft Copilot is the same assistant as Bing Chat under the name Microsoft introduced in November 2023. Its own copilot.com page says that Bing AI and Bing Chat “have evolved into Microsoft Copilot”. Copilot still uses Bing to search the web, so its answers about recent events draw on the Bing search index.

What can Microsoft Copilot be used for

Microsoft Copilot is a general-purpose assistant. These are the main Microsoft Copilot features and their most common uses:

Writing and editing. Copilot drafts emails, reports, social media posts and other text from a short prompt, for example “Write a polite email to thank the team for their work on the project.” It can also rewrite text you paste in to make it shorter, more formal or easier to read.

Asking questions and doing research. You can ask Copilot anything, from “What is the difference between a heat pump and a gas boiler?” to “Summarize the main findings of this report.” For current topics it searches the web and shows its sources, so you can check them. You can also upload a PDF or a long document and ask questions about it.

Summarizing. Copilot condenses long articles, documents, email threads and meeting transcripts into the main points.

Creating images. Copilot can generate images from a text description, such as “Create an image of a futuristic city at sunset.” It originally used OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 for this; Microsoft is now rolling out its own MAI-Image models in Copilot and in Bing Image Creator.

Voice and vision. You can talk to Copilot instead of typing, and with Copilot Vision you can share your screen or camera so it can see what you are looking at and help with it.

Coding help. Copilot explains code, suggests fixes for error messages and writes small scripts. For serious software development, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft’s separate tool for developers, is the better choice; read our guide to GitHub Copilot for the differences.

Work in Microsoft 365. This is where Microsoft focuses most of its effort. With a qualifying license, Copilot works inside the apps you already use:

• Word: drafts a document from a prompt or from other files, summarizes long documents and rewrites sections.
• Excel: analyzes data, explains trends, writes formulas and builds charts when you describe what you want.
• PowerPoint: creates a presentation from a document or an outline and summarizes existing decks.
• Outlook: summarizes long email threads and drafts replies.
• Teams: summarizes meetings, lists decisions and action items, and answers questions about what was said.

Since April 2026 Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint can also take multi-step actions inside the document itself, such as restructuring a report or building a model across several sheets. Microsoft 365 Copilot users also get agents, AI assistants that carry out a task: Researcher for in-depth research and Analyst for data analysis (both also in Microsoft 365 Premium), and Copilot Cowork, which handles complex, long-running tasks across several apps. In September 2026 Microsoft also announced a redesigned Copilot for work, built around Home, Code and Autopilot.

Copilot is useful, but it is not perfect. It can misread a question or state something incorrect with confidence, so check its output before you use it in anything important.

How much does Microsoft Copilot cost?

Is Copilot free? Yes, Microsoft Copilot is free to use with a Microsoft account. You only pay for more usage, for Copilot inside the Office apps, or for the business version. Prices were checked on Microsoft’s website on 6 October 2026.

Copilot (free). Anyone with a free Microsoft account can chat with Copilot, ask questions, upload files and create images at no cost. Microsoft states that the free tier is “subject to available capacity and limits”, so at busy times you may have to wait.

Microsoft 365 Personal and Family. These subscriptions ($9.99 and $12.99 per month in the US) include Copilot with higher usage than the free version, plus Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Only the subscription owner can use the AI features in a Family plan.

Microsoft 365 Premium. This plan ($19.99 per month or $199.99 per year in the US) is Microsoft’s main paid AI plan for individuals. It adds image creation at the highest tier and the Researcher and Analyst agents.

What happened to Copilot Pro? Copilot Pro, the $20-per-month plan launched in January 2024, is no longer available for purchase, and support for existing subscriptions ended on 1 August 2026. Microsoft points former subscribers to Microsoft 365 Premium.

Microsoft 365 Copilot for business. Organizations have three options:

• Copilot Chat: included with eligible Microsoft 365 work licenses at no extra cost. Employees get web-grounded chat, file uploads and agents with enterprise data protection. Because they have no Copilot license, their access depends on available capacity.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Business: for small and medium-sized businesses, listed at $21 per user per month and offered at $18 at the time of writing, paid yearly.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot: the enterprise license at $30 per user per month paid yearly, or $31.50 paid monthly with an annual commitment. It requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft 365 E7, available since May 2026 at $99 per user, bundles Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot and the Agent 365 management tools.

The table below compares the three options for individuals.

Feature	Copilot (free)	Microsoft 365 Personal or Family	Microsoft 365 Premium
Price (US)	$0	$9.99 or $12.99 per month	$19.99 per month
Chat and web answers	Yes, subject to capacity and limits	Extensive use, with priority access	Extensive use, with priority access
Image creation	Yes, with limits	Standard usage	Extensive use
Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook	No	Yes	Yes
Researcher and Analyst agents	No	No	Yes

Are there image generation limits? Yes, but Microsoft no longer publishes fixed numbers. The old system of 15 fast image “boosts” per day for free users and 100 for Copilot Pro is gone. Microsoft’s usage overview now lists image creation as “Standard usage” on Personal and Family and “Extensive use” on Premium, while free users create images within capacity limits.

In short, the free version suits occasional use, Personal or Family is the cheapest way to get Copilot in Word and Excel, and Premium suits heavy daily use. Organizations usually start with Copilot Chat and license Microsoft 365 Copilot for the roles that gain the most.

Possible Alternatives

Copilot is not the only AI assistant. These are the main alternatives, and all of them have a free tier:

ChatGPT by OpenAI. ChatGPT is the chatbot that started the AI assistant boom in late 2022. It runs on OpenAI’s newest models, which since September 2026 include GPT-6 Astra on Plus and higher plans, and ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month. Copilot uses models from the same OpenAI family, but ChatGPT works on any platform and does not depend on Microsoft 365. Read our comparison of ChatGPT vs Copilot for the details.

Google Gemini. Gemini is Google’s AI assistant, formerly known as Bard. It is built into Google Search, Android and Google Workspace, where it replaced Duet AI, and it is included in Workspace business plans. For organizations that work in Gmail and Google Docs, it is the logical counterpart to Copilot. Learn more in our article on Google Gemini.

Claude by Anthropic. Claude is known for strong writing, analysis and coding, and for handling very long documents. It offers a free plan and a Pro plan at $20 per month. Claude is also available inside Microsoft 365 Copilot for licensed business users.

Other options include Perplexity for search-style answers and Mistral’s Vibe (formerly Le Chat) as a European alternative. For a broader comparison, see our overview of the top 10 AI chatbots.

How to get started with Microsoft Copilot

Learning how to use Copilot takes only a few minutes. Follow these steps:

1. Open Copilot. Go to copilot.com in any browser, open the Copilot app in Windows 11, or download the Copilot app for iOS, Android or macOS.
2. Sign in. Use a personal Microsoft account or your work or school account. Copilot is free with a signed-in Microsoft account, and signing in saves your history and unlocks the features of your plan.
3. Ask your first question. Type your question or task in the message box and press Enter. You can ask Copilot anything, from a quick fact to “Help me plan a three-day trip to Lisbon.” The answer appears in the chat, often with sources you can click.
4. Ask follow-up questions. Copilot remembers the context of the conversation, so you can refine the answer step by step, for example “Make it shorter” or “Put this in a table.”
5. Use voice, images and files. Click the microphone to talk instead of type, attach a photo or document for Copilot to analyze, or describe an image you want it to create.
6. Use Copilot in your other tools. In Windows, press the Copilot key or Windows key + C to open Copilot quickly. In Edge, click the Copilot button to ask questions about the page you are reading. In Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, select the Copilot button in the ribbon if your subscription or work license includes it.

In an organization, Copilot inside the Office apps only appears after an administrator assigns a license in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and it can take up to 24 hours before it shows up for users.

For better results, describe your goal, audience and format, and point Copilot to the source it should use, such as a file or an email thread. “Write a funny 200-word story about a spaceship and a chocolate factory” works better than “Write a story.” Always check facts and citations before you use the output.

How will Microsoft Copilot handle my data?

Microsoft applies different data rules to personal and work accounts. For a fuller explanation, read our guide to Microsoft Copilot data privacy.

Personal Microsoft accounts. According to Microsoft’s privacy FAQ for Copilot, Microsoft uses conversations with Copilot to train its AI models, “except for certain categories of users or users who have opted out”. You can opt out at any time in your Copilot settings. Conversations are stored for 18 months by default, and you can delete individual conversations or your full history.

Work and school accounts. Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot come with enterprise data protection. Microsoft states that prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train its foundation models, and that Copilot only shows organizational data a user already has at least view permission for. For customers in the EU, Copilot is an EU Data Boundary service, which means Microsoft commits to storing and processing customer data within the EU, with limited exceptions. One of them concerns Anthropic’s Claude models, which currently fall outside the EU Data Boundary and are switched off by default for customers in the EU, EFTA and UK until an administrator enables them.

The biggest practical risk in organizations is oversharing: if files are shared too widely in SharePoint or Teams, Copilot can surface them to people who should not see them. Review your sharing settings and sensitivity labels before you roll out Copilot.

Now you know Microsoft Copilot, what it is, and how to use it

Microsoft Copilot has grown from Bing Chat into one AI assistant across the web, Windows and Microsoft 365. Microsoft changes it quickly, so check the current features and prices before you choose a plan.

Whether you want to introduce Copilot in your organization through a Microsoft Copilot Workshop, build your skills in our Microsoft Copilot Masterclass, or get help with licenses, governance and rollout through our Microsoft Copilot Consultancy, DataNorth AI can help.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)