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What is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant service; it evolved from the New Bing chat tool. It now includes a free chat application for individuals, as well as paid products that are integrated into Microsoft 365 office applications, enterprise data systems, and the Agent platform.

“Copilot” is not a single software product with a uniform price. Copilot for individuals, the Microsoft 365 individual subscription, Microsoft 365 Copilot for enterprises, Copilot Studio, and GitHub Copilot are designed for different users; their features, data limitations, and licensing terms cannot be mixed together.

Copilot product portfolio

Main functions of the personal Copilot

1. Online Q&A and search

Copilot can use online searches to answer current questions, and it includes citations in some of its responses. These citations help users access the original pages, but they do not guarantee that the model understands the sources accurately.

2. Writing and rewriting

Users can create emails, articles, outlines, lists, scripts, and social media posts, and they can also adjust the length, tone, and structure of these texts. However, important content still requires manual verification regarding facts, copyright issues, and brand representation.

3. Think Deeper

Think Deeper is designed for problems that require more steps of reasoning, such as comparing options, creating plans, and analyzing limitations. A longer thinking process does not guarantee that the answer will be correct; incorrect conclusions can still arise if the input conditions are incomplete.

4. Deep Research

In-depth research involves conducting multiple rounds of searches on complex topics, comparing information, and producing extended reports. It is useful for creating preliminary drafts of research and gathering relevant clues, but it should not replace a thorough examination of original documents, regulations, and data.

5. Image generation and editing

Copilot, together with features such as Designer, enables the creation and editing of images, which can be used for concept diagrams, posters, social media content, and visuals for presentations. However, the use of characters, trademarks, style imitations, and commercial applications is still subject to copyright and portrait rights regulations.

6. Copilot Voice

The voice mode allows users to ask questions, learn a language, or discuss ideas through natural conversation. Voice transcription and responses may mishear names, numbers, and technical terms; it is advisable to check the written record for the key information.

7. Copilot Vision

Vision can provide explanations and guidance on how to proceed, based on the screen content or camera feed shared by the user. This feature is subject to restrictions related to region, device, application, and subscription; caution should be exercised when granting access to sensitive content.

8. Copilot Pages

Pages allows chat responses to be converted into editable pages, supporting titles, lists, tables, links, and code snippets. Users can ask Copilot to rewrite specific parts of the content, and they can return to the saved page at any time to continue working on it.

Copilot in Microsoft 365

• Word: Drafting, summarizing, rewriting documents, and answering questions related to them.
• Excel: Analyze tables, interpret trends, create formulas, and provide visualization suggestions.
• PowerPoint: Create presentations and slides based on themes or documents.
• Outlook: Summarize email threads, draft replies, and adjust the tone.
• OneNote: Organize notes, create plans, and outline tasks.
• Teams: Summarize meetings, identify decisions, issues, and next steps.
• OneDrive and SharePoint: Retrieve and organize files to which the user has access.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot app: A unified entry point for chatting, searching, Pages, Notebooks, and Agent.

What use cases are suitable?

• Daily searches: To quickly gain an understanding of concepts, the background of events, and available public information.
• Content creation: Generating draft outlines for articles, emails, scripts, and social media posts.
• Learning assistance: Explaining concepts, creating plans, and practicing a foreign language.
• Data research: Conduct multiple rounds of searches and organize the sources and viewpoints.
• Office writing: Drafting, summarizing, and rewriting documents in Word.
• Data analysis: Understanding tables, formulas, and trends in Excel.
• Presentation creation: Convert a document or topic into a preliminary PowerPoint version.
• Meeting collaboration: Organize meeting details and action items in Teams.
• Enterprise knowledge: Connects to the data to which users in Microsoft 365 have access.
• Agent automation: Use Copilot Studio to create business assistants and workflows.

What situations are not very suitable

• Tasks that require absolutely accurate answers and do not allow reference to the original sources.
• Use AI to make final decisions in areas such as medicine, law, investment, or human resources.
• Enter unauthorized confidential data into the personal version of Copilot.
• All platforms and regions are required to have exactly the same functions.
• Need full Office AI capabilities without a Microsoft 365 license.
• Use personal and family subscriptions for organizational-level data governance and compliance tasks.
• Teams that require fully open-source models and local, private deployment.

Microsoft Copilot usage guide

Complete a reliable online Q&A session

1. Clarify the problem, time frame, location, and the desired output format.
2. Copilot is required to distinguish between confirmed facts, deductions, and unknown information.
3. Have the answer list the key sources, publication date, and scope of application.
4. Open the original page to verify the numbers, citations, and context.
5. Continue to ask questions about the conflicting information and demand explanations for the discrepancies.
6. Refer to it again after deleting erroneous or unverifiable content.
7. Leave medical, legal, and financial matters to professionals for verification.

Use Copilot Pages to organize content.

1. Generate outlines, plans, or research results in Copilot chats.
2. Select Edit Response or Create Page to transfer the content to Pages.
3. Rename the pages and establish a clear hierarchy of titles.
4. Directly modify facts, figures, and personal judgments.
5. Select a portion of text so that Copilot can expand it, condense it, or change its tone.
6. Add tables, lists, and code snippets to improve readability.
7. Check permissions and sensitive content before final export or sharing.

Using Copilot in Office

1. Verify that the account, region, application version, and subscription meet the requirements.
2. Open the target file in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
3. Describe the task, target audience, desired length of the output, and the data that must be used.
4. Only files and emails to which the current account has access are referenced.
5. Check the formulas, numbers, links, and formatting generated by Copilot.
6. Keep track of the revision history, and have the person in charge of the document approve it.
7. Organization administrators should configure sharing, retention, and compliance policies.

Individual subscription price in China

As of August 19, 2026, the Microsoft Store in mainland China offers for sale the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family editions; both include Copilot and AI capabilities within their office applications. The AI features of the Family edition are available only to the subscription owner and cannot be shared with family members.

Subscriptions are renewed automatically, and users can cancel them through their Microsoft account to prevent charges in the subsequent period. The AI quota, model priority, and certain features may vary; it is necessary to check the current benefits available in one’s region before making a purchase.

Reference for international individual packages

International prices do not mean that accounts in the Chinese mainland can purchase the same products or enjoy the same features. Fees, currency types, availability in different regions, and any promotions are subject to the details on the payment page.

Current status of Copilot Pro

The standalone Copilot Pro individual subscription is no longer available for new users, and support for existing subscriptions will end on August 1, 2026. The current options for individual users are the Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, and Premium plans.

Old articles still often mention Copilot Pro at a price of $20 per month; this is no longer an appropriate rate for new users today. The relevant sections should be labeled as historical options, rather than being presented as current packages that can be purchased immediately.

Corporate packages and prices

The Enterprise edition typically requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 base license. The official U.S. website shows combined packages and additional Copilot Business licenses on the verification date; promotions, user limits, and availability may vary.

During verification, the $18 promotion for Copilot Business is valid until September 30, 2026; after that, the regular price may apply again. For organizational purchases, it is also necessary to take into account the costs of the basic Microsoft 365 licenses, the amount of Agent required, as well as the costs associated with implementation, governance, and training.

Differences between free Copilot Chat and enterprise Copilot

Data, permissions, and privacy

The Enterprise version of Copilot can only access data to which the current user has permission; it does not automatically bypass the permissions set in Microsoft 365. The real risks usually arise from excessive sharing within an organization, incorrect permissions, and uncontrolled public links.

• Scan for excessive sharing in SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams before deployment.
• Use the minimum required permissions and regularly review members of sensitive groups.
• Set labels and policies for confidential, personal, and regulated data.
• Distinguish between personal Microsoft accounts and work or school accounts.
• Do not paste corporate secrets onto unapproved personal services.
• It records the connectors, operations, and external systems that the Agent can call.
• Manual approval and audit logs are reserved for high-risk outputs.

Accuracy of content and citations

• Online responses may still reference low-quality, outdated, or duplicated pages.
• Quotation marks do not guarantee that a sentence is fully supported by its source.
• The model may invent book titles, papers, characters, dates, and statistical figures.
• Summaries in Office may omit attachments, comments, or context.
• Excel formulas and analyses need to be verified in the copied data.
• A meeting summary cannot replace official resolutions and the identification of responsible parties.
• Important conclusions should be reviewed by individuals with expertise in the field.

Platform support

Product advantages

• You can use online Q&A, writing, and image functions by just chatting for free.
• It is closely integrated with Bing Search and Microsoft’s service ecosystem.
• It offers various interaction methods such as voice, visual, depth sensing, and Pages.
• It can be used to assist with work directly in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• The Enterprise version allows access to the emails, files, and meeting data for which the user has permissions.
• It supports Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
• Copilot Studio enables the creation of custom Agents that connect to business systems.
• There are corresponding solutions for individuals, families, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large organizations.

Usage restrictions and precautions

• Copilot is a family of products, and the functions and prices available through different entry points vary greatly.
• Independent Copilot Pro is no longer available; new users should not purchase it at the old price.
• Both the free version and individual subscriptions have limits on the amount of AI usage.
• Family version AI benefits can only be used by the subscription owner.
• Premium and some advanced features are not available in all markets.
• Enterprise Copilot also requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription license.
• Models may produce factual errors, fictitious citations, and unsafe recommendations.
• Vision, Voice, and Agent involve the screen, camera, voice, and external operation permissions.
• Organizing the existing excessive sharing will expand the range of data that Copilot can detect.
• GitHub Copilot is a separate developer product and is not included in the regular Copilot chat.

GitHub and the open-source status

The Microsoft Copilot service, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and their underlying business models are not made fully open source. Microsoft has made a large number of SDKs, examples, extensions, and documentation available on GitHub, but these items cannot be used as a basis for considering the Copilot products to be open source.

Although GitHub Copilot has a similar name, it is not an open-source model; rather, it is a separate coding subscription service provided by GitHub. Organizations that need to host the models themselves or have access to open-weight models should consider other options.

Basic information

Recommendation score

4.7 / 5. Microsoft Copilot covers free chatting, online research, multimodal interaction, and Microsoft 365 work scenarios, offering a comprehensive ecosystem; however, the product naming, regional benefits, AI usage quotas, and enterprise licenses are quite complex, so it is necessary to carefully consider the different options before making a purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Microsoft Copilot free?

Personal Copilot chat is available for free, but there are limits on the usage of features such as model priority, images, research, and others. The full version of Copilot in Office requires a corresponding Microsoft 365 subscription.

What is New Bing called now?

New Bing Chat was later renamed Bing Chat, and it was further integrated into Microsoft Copilot. The product name that should be used in this entry is Microsoft Copilot.

Is Copilot Pro still available for purchase?

Independent Copilot Pro is no longer available for sale to new users, and subscription support will end on August 1, 2026. Individual users should consider Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or the Premium version available in their region.

Can the family version allow six people to use AI?

No. The apps and storage in Microsoft 365 Family can be shared, but the Copilot and AI credits are available only to the subscription owner.

Will the Enterprise version show me files for which I don’t have access?

The design does not bypass existing permissions, but if there is excessive sharing within an organization, Copilot may be able to detect such situations more easily. It is necessary to manage the permissions for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams before deployment.

Is Copilot’s response reliable?

The answers may be incorrect or contain inaccurate references. When dealing with topics related to news, academia, policy, healthcare, law, and investment, it is necessary to consult the original sources and have them reviewed by professionals.

Is Microsoft Copilot the same as GitHub Copilot?

They are different. Microsoft Copilot is designed for chatting, searching, and office tasks, while GitHub Copilot is a separate coding tool intended for software development, available as a subscription service.

Is Microsoft Copilot open source?

The core online services and models are not fully open-source. The Microsoft SDKs, examples, and documentation available on GitHub are not equivalent to the source code of the product.