What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

  • 5 minutes

Microsoft 365 Copilot represents a new paradigm in work, where employees collaborate with AI for increased productivity. Copilot addresses the modern challenge where the pace of work is overtaking our ability to keep up. Microsoft 365 Copilot is designed to transform how we work in the digital age. Powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and utilizing your business data from Microsoft Graph, Copilot aims to spark creativity, boost productivity, and foster new skills. This innovative tool integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft 365 suite, including popular applications like Teams, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and more to elevate productivity and creativity in the workplace.

Examples of Microsoft 365 Copilot in action may include:

  • Outlook. Summarize the content of a large email thread.
  • PowerPoint. Create a PowerPoint slide presentation based on a report.
  • Word. Rewrite a paragraph in a different tone or style.
  • Teams. Summarize meetings and chat threads.

Microsoft 365 Copilot can help change the way that we work, transforming our everyday tasks into opportunities for growth and innovation.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot system

Microsoft 365 Copilot is more than OpenAI’s ChatGPT embedded into Microsoft 365. In fact, Copilot is a sophisticated orchestration engine and processor. It melds the strengths of LLMs with Microsoft 365 apps and your proprietary business data that you as an individual user have access to within Microsoft Graph.

Additional viewing. For more information, watch the following short video for a high-level overview of Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Trusted data security

Anchored in the heart of your business data lies the strength of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which maintains a firm commitment to security, compliance, and privacy. Operating with real-time access to your content and context within Microsoft Graph, Copilot has the capacity to generate responses deeply ingrained in your business content to provide relevant answers and insights. When paired with your ongoing work context - whether it's the meeting you're currently in, recent email exchanges, or last week's chat conversations - Copilot delivers precise, pertinent, and contextually aware responses.

Furthermore, Copilot rests on Microsoft's comprehensive approach to security, compliance, and privacy. Since Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365, it automatically aligns with your company's robust security, compliance, and privacy policies and processes, establishing itself as a reliable AI solution that you can trust.

Be Microsoft 365 Copilot ready

Before you can access Microsoft 365 Copilot, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Microsoft Entra ID. Users must have Microsoft Entra ID accounts. You can add or sync users using the onboarding wizard in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing. Microsoft 365 Copilot is available as an add-on to Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans. For more information on the licensing prerequisites, see Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing.
  • Microsoft 365 Apps. Desktop applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Copilot is available in the web versions of the apps when a license is assigned, and the apps are accessed through a supported browser. To get started with the implementation process, see Deployment guide for Microsoft 365 Apps.
  • OneDrive Account. Some features in Microsoft 365 Copilot, such as file restore and OneDrive management, require that users have a OneDrive account. You can use the OneDrive setup guide in the Microsoft 365 admin center to enable OneDrive for your users.
  • Outlook for Windows. For seamless integration of Microsoft 365 Copilot with Outlook, the new Outlook version (Windows, Mac, Web, Mobile) is recommended. Copilot does support the classic version of Outlook for Windows as well, but the new Outlook for Windows is recommended for seamless integration. For more information, see Getting started with the new Outlook for Windows.
  • Microsoft Teams. You can use the Microsoft Teams setup guide in the Microsoft 365 admin center to configure popular Teams settings, including external access, guest access, team creation permissions, and more. Copilot in Teams is available on Windows, Mac, web, Android, and iOS. To enable Copilot in Teams to reference meeting content after a meeting ends, transcription or meeting recording must be enabled. To learn more about configuring transcription and recording, see Configure transcription and captions for Teams meetings and Teams meeting recording.
  • Microsoft Loop. To use Microsoft 365 Copilot with Microsoft Loop, you must have Loop enabled for your tenant. You can enable Loop in the Microsoft 365 admin center or the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center under Customization | Policy Management. For more information, see Manage Loop workspaces in Syntex repository services and Learn how to enable the Microsoft Loop app, now in Public Preview.
  • Microsoft Whiteboard. To use Microsoft 365 Copilot with Microsoft Whiteboard, you must have Whiteboard enabled for your tenant. To learn more about Microsoft Whiteboard, see Manage access to Microsoft Whiteboard for your organization.
  • Office Feature Updates task. The Office Feature Updates task is required for ensuring the proper installation and functionality of core Copilot experiences in apps such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. This task should be allowed to run on its regular schedule and allowed to access the required network resources. For more information about the Office Feature Updates task, see Office Feature Updates task description and FAQ.