Understand Microsoft Copilot Chat
Microsoft Copilot Chat is enterprise-ready AI chat available at no additional cost to your Microsoft 365 subscription. It's your AI assistant for work, combining the power of the latest large language models (LLMs) with web-based insights to help you with tasks like summarizing, brainstorming, writing, coding, and searching. It provides intelligent suggestions and automates repetitive tasks to make your work easier. In supported experiences, Chat also reasons over your work data for even more tailored results.
Important
Your experience with Microsoft Copilot may differ from what is presented in this training based on your version. See What Copilot License do I have? for reference.
Copilot Chat includes:
Secure, AI chat grounded in the web and, in supported experiences, your organizational content, powered by models including GPT-5 and GPT-5.2.
Pay-as-you-go agents accessible from chat, and priced on a metered basis.
IT controls, including enterprise data protection and agent management.
Features like Copilot Pages, Notebooks, file upload, and image generation.
With Chat, you put these capabilities to work on everyday tasks:
| Task | What Chat can do |
|---|---|
| Research | Summarize web information and answer questions on a topic. |
| Create content | Brainstorm ideas, and draft or refine documents and emails. |
| Analyze files | Summarize an uploaded file, visualize data, or generate images. |
| Write code | Generate, explain, or troubleshoot code. |
| Collaborate | Turn a response into a shared, editable page with Copilot Pages. |
| Automate | Use an agent to handle a repeatable task. |
To learn more about putting these capabilities to work, see Work smarter with Microsoft Copilot Chat.
Note
File upload and image generation limits may apply. A SharePoint license is required to use Copilot Pages.
Tip
Grounding refers to the data sources Copilot uses to generate a response. A later unit compares web and work grounding and explains when to use each mode.
Know when to use Chat
Chat works well for tasks grounded in public web information or in content you provide directly — researching a topic, brainstorming ideas, drafting a first version of an email or document, or summarizing a file you upload or paste into the conversation. You can also reference content you have open directly in Outlook and Teams. In Outlook, Chat can also answer questions across your emails, calendar, meetings, and chats without you supplying them each time.
Get more from your work data
With a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Chat:
- Reasons more broadly across your files, sites, and other Microsoft 365 content through Work IQ.
- Gets priority access to models and Copilot capabilities.
- Includes deeper, more comprehensive integration across Microsoft 365 apps and workflows.
- Unlocks advanced agents, including Researcher and Analyst.
The Chat skills you build in this module apply whether or not your organization has added this license. To learn what Chat can do once it's connected to your work data, see Enhance business workflows with AI.
Note
Copilot experiences in Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can vary based on your organization's licensing and tenant configuration. Talk to your IT administrator to find out what's available to you.
Get more personalized help with Copilot Memory
Chat can remember your preferences and work context so you don't have to repeat instructions like "use bullet points" or "keep it professional" in every prompt. Once you set a preference, Copilot applies it automatically to future responses, making each conversation feel more tailored to how you work.
You can view or delete these memories anytime from Settings > Personalization. If you'd rather keep a conversation from being remembered, switch to a temporary chat first. Copilot Memory is available whether or not you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, and it follows the same enterprise data protection safeguards as the rest of your Copilot Chat experience.