Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant. It was born in 2023 as Bing Chat and today runs across the whole Microsoft ecosystem: it has its own website and app, lives in Windows and Edge and is built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
The free version is for chatting, web search, writing and creating images. It really shines if you already pay for Microsoft 365: then it works inside your documents to summarise, draft, build presentations or analyse spreadsheets. For businesses there is Microsoft 365 Copilot, which can also query the organisation’s data.
It might suit you if…
People who already use Word, Excel and Outlook; companies in the Microsoft ecosystem; free, occasional use from Windows.
Try a concrete use case.
In Word, ask for a draft based on a specific file (you can reference it with /): it will start from your own data instead of making things up and you only need to polish it.
What to check.
The branding is a mess (free Copilot, Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium, Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot). On Personal and Family, AI runs on monthly credits and only for the subscription owner.
Pros and cons
Pros
- It is where you already work: Windows, Edge and Office, even with a Copilot key.
- In Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook it genuinely saves time.
- Generous free version: chat, sourced web search, voice and images.
- Included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family (60 AI credits a month).
Cons
- Confusing plans and branding.
- In raw answer quality it usually trails ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.
- Windows and Edge integration many find intrusive.
Plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot (free) | €0 | Chat, web search, voice, vision and images with a Microsoft account. |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | €10/month or €99/year | Office for 1 person, 1 TB and Copilot in the apps with 60 AI credits a month. |
| Microsoft 365 Family | €13/month or €129/year | Up to 6 people with 1 TB each; Copilot for the owner only. |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | €22/month or €219/year | Family plus the highest Copilot limits and the Researcher and Analyst agents. Replaces Copilot Pro. |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (business) | ≈ $30/user/month | Business licence that can use organisational data. |
Official prices checked on 4 November 2026. They may vary by country, tax and billing period.
Current models
Combines OpenAI models with Microsoft’s own models (MAI family).
Where to use it
Web, Windows app and Copilot key, Edge, Bing, iOS, Android, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
Privacy and data
When signed in you can stop your conversations being used for training under Privacy > “Model training”. What you do with Copilot inside Word, Excel or PowerPoint on home plans is not used to train the base models, according to Microsoft.
Sources checked
⏱ Quick start
Get started in 5 minutes
- Go to copilot.microsoft.com, open the Copilot app on Windows or press the Copilot key if your keyboard has one.
- Sign in with your Microsoft account (Outlook, Hotmail or Xbox) to keep your conversations.
- Type or dictate your request, or upload an image or file for it to analyse.
- If you have Microsoft 365, also open it inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook to work on your own files.
- In Privacy > “Model training” you decide whether your conversations are used for training.
Example prompts
Draft a [document type] based on [file] with this structure: introduction, 3 sections and conclusion. [Tone] tone, about [n] pages long.
My sheet has [column description]. Give me the formula for [calculation I need], explain how it works and how to apply it to the whole column.
Help me reply to this email: accept [what I accept], suggest [alternative] for [what I can’t do] and close with a specific question. Friendly and brief. [paste the email]
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