Computerworld.com reported that “Microsoft is set to remove Copilot Chat access within Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for large M365 commercial customers starting April 15 — a “mystifying backtrack,” according to one technology industry analyst.” The March 25, 2026 article entitled ” Microsoft backtracks on Copilot Chat access in M365 apps” (https://www.computerworld.com/article/4150022/microsoft-backtracks-on-copilot-chat-access-in-m365-apps.html) included these comments:
Copilot Chat is essentially a freemium version of the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot, which costs $30 per user per month for larger customers, and $21 per user per month for businesses with 300 or fewer users. Using Copilot from within the M365 apps used to require a separate Microsoft 365 Copilot license, but in September 2025, Microsoft made Copilot Chat available at no extra cost to Microsoft 365 customers.
With Microsoft 365 customers unconvinced of the value of the paid version — only around 3% pay for the fully-featured version, Microsoft revealed in January — Copilot Chat has proven a more attractive option for businesses to try out the AI assistant.
Copilot Chat provides access to many of the same features as the paid version, with certain limitations: it’s grounded in web data rather than work information such as emails, files, and other data a customer has connected to Microsoft 365.
Microsoft has also expanded Copilot Chat functionality in recent months, rolling it out in Microsoft 365 apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote — via a side panel, closing one of the gaps with the paid version.
However, Microsoft now plans to remove this functionality for Microsoft 365 customers with more than 2,000 users, and place usage restrictions for others.
“Starting April 15, 2026, Copilot will no longer be available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for Copilot Chat users,” Microsoft said via a message sent to those large customers in the Microsoft 365 admin message center, according to a copy of the message archived on a third-party mirror. This access will instead require a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Access to Copilot Chat will remain in Outlook for these customers, however.
The situation is different for customers with fewer than 2,000 users. Here, Microsoft will restrict rather than remove access to Copilot features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Copilot Chat users. This means Copilot Chat will users will have “standard access” to features, with reduced quality and performance at certain points during the day, subject to service capacity. Copilot Chat users may also see “in-product notifications” for the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Microsoft said in a separate message to admins at smaller enterprises.
What do you think?
First published at https://www.vogelitlaw.com/blog/you-may-be-losing-access-to-microsoft-copilot-chat