We’re sharing an update of upcoming changes Microsoft is making to Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Copilot Chat users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. These updates are aimed at improving user experience and clarifying the difference between Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

What’s changing

Starting April 15, 2026:

Organizations with 2,000+ Microsoft 365 seats
Copilot will no longer be available inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for users who do not have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Organizations with fewer than 2,000 Microsoft 365 seats
Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint remains available for Copilot Chat users without a license, subject to standard access policies (availability may vary during periods of high demand).

What’s not changing

The following capabilities remain fully available for all customers:

Secure, web grounded Copilot Chat in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app (including access to Word/Excel/PowerPoint agents)
Copilot in Outlook with inbox and calendar grounding
No changes for customers who already have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license

How will this change take into effect?

Beginning April 15, 2026, these updates will take effect. No admin action will be required.
We are also adding labels in-product to help end users and admins identify the user experience

“Copilot Chat (Basic)” for unlicensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users with 2,000 seats or more of Microsoft 365
“M365 Copilot (Basic)” for unlicensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users with fewer than 2,000 seats of Microsoft 365

What partners need to know

At this time, no proactive customer outreach is required. We have provided a partner FAQ below to help you respond if customers have questions about these changes.
Customers will receive in‑product notifications where applicable.
If questions arise, partners should work with the customer’s Microsoft account team to assess licensing and determine the right next steps.

Resources:

Use this partner FAQ to respond to customer questions: https://aka.ms/CopilotChatUpdateFAQ
Overview deck for summary of changes and reactive customer conversation: https://aka.ms/CopilotChatUpdate_PartnerDeck

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Update: Effective April 15, 2026