Microsoft is combining its consumer Copilot app with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, creating a single product for personal, work, and school accounts. The transition starts this month and will also remove several consumer features, including Group Chat, Podcasts, Deep Research, and Mico.
Microsoft said in its official support documentation that the updated app will combine Copilot chat and image creation with access to Microsoft 365 tools such as Word, Excel, Outlook, files, email, calendars, and cloud storage. Personal and work accounts will remain separate, with their existing security and privacy boundaries preserved.
Users who currently have both consumer Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot will have their personal chats and content merged into the updated app. Files shared with or generated by the stand-alone Copilot app will move to OneDrive.
Several Consumer Features Will Disappear
Microsoft will begin retiring Group Chat, Podcasts, and Deep Research for consumers on August 18. Group Chat histories will remain as individual conversations with Copilot, but users will no longer be able to continue them as group discussions or access content created by other participants.
AI-generated Podcasts will no longer be available after August 18, although users can download existing episodes beforehand. Deep Research will also be removed from the consumer app, while paying Microsoft 365 users can access Researcher as a similar tool.
Mico, Microsoft’s animated character used in Copilot voice interactions, is also being removed from the main Copilot experience. GeekWire reports that Microsoft expects the character to remain in some education features.
Microsoft Prepares a Broader Copilot Super App
The consolidation is separate from a larger Copilot “Super App” that Microsoft plans to release this quarter. GeekWire reports that the future app is expected to combine chat, AI coding, Cowork, and new AutoPilot agents in one interface.
The overhaul follows an internal push to simplify Copilot under executive vice president Jacob Andreou. The Information reported in July that Andreou told employees Microsoft needed to remove features that were not working and “earn and respect the right to exist” in customers’ lives.
Microsoft 365 Copilot has meanwhile surpassed 30 million paid seats, according to figures cited by GeekWire, up from 20 million in April. Microsoft does not disclose consumer Copilot usage, although Sensor Tower estimated about 38.5 million monthly users in July.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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