New Year, New Momentum: Here are three Copilot updates to get you started into 2026

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It's a new year, so I thought I'd start the year by mentioning three features already released, or soon going to be released. One of the features improves the workflow of sharing files with comments, the other improves the application specific Copilot, and the last feature makes it easer to find the nest available timeslot for a 1:1 meeting. As with all of my other posts, timelines can shift, and the timelines in this post is as written in the Message Center at the time of posting. AI-Summary experience when sharing files. With this new feature, copilot intent to help users share files with clearer context in just a few steps. Users will get the capability to generate a concise summary of a file and include it when sharing from the File Explorer share dialog or the OneDrive activity center. This will make it easier to share the context of a file and giving the receiver a faster understanding of what a document or file contains before they open it. General Availability announced...

Microsoft Copilot coming to Teams and Outlook for users with Entra accounts

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Microsoft is expanding the Microsoft Copilot for users with Entra licenses, and the distinctions between the different versions are becoming increasingly blurred. Initially, when Copilot was released, there was the "Bing/Chat" version for commercial use. This version did not necessarily protect company data from being harvested or used for training purposes. Microsoft also released the enterprise-protected Copilot version for all users with an M365 E5 license about the same time. Although this version did not integrate searches or features with company data, it at least promised to keep data and queries private to the organization when used.

Subsequently, Microsoft revised the requirements for accessing the enterprise-protected version of Copilot, making it available to everyone with an Entra User License, effectively including virtually anyone within an M365 tenant.

Now, further changes are on the horizon for this group of users. Starting mid-January, Microsoft will enhance this offering even further. Soon, users will be able to access Copilot directly from Teams and Outlook, in addition to the existing web interface (BizChat). This is mentioned in Roadmap ID 420330

While I believe this is a positive development, it may cause confusion among users who might assume they now have Copilot licenses. Therefore, it is important to train and inform your users about the differences in behavior of these apps and integrations for users with and without a Copilot license. For instance, explaining why they might experience different results based on the actual license and version of Copilot they are using is essential.

If you want to help your users find the app, an admin can follow this guide to pin the app for the endusers. Or you can let them find it and pin it for themselves.