M365 Copilot and Copilot Chat for Outlook

M365 Copilot for Outlook offers individual time-savings, especially for executives and program managers; however, it may not impact business outcomes like other Office apps. The upgrade to use Copilot Chat in Outlook (Sept. 2025) makes many of these benefits available to all M365 subscribers without an M365 Copilot license. 

Copilot Chat

Copilot Chat (unlicensed) in the task pane lets users summarize the current e-mail, ask questions, and draft new messages or meetings in natural language, but it requires copying content into an e-mail or invite. Users can attach files for context, but Copilot Chat only works with the current e-mail, so for example, users cannot search their inbox. It can use only Web content for grounding, and users require PAYG billing to access agents. Copilot Chat also enables sharing conversations across the Office and M365 Copilot apps for collaboration, but some previous features may no longer be available.

M365 Copilot

M365 Copilot licensed users receive additional capabilities. Copilot Chat, with an M365 Copilot license, leverages both Web and work content (enabling plain language inbox searches) and provides access to agents without PAYG. In the application pane, users can generate a summary of the current e-mail or use the Copilot context menu to draft new e-mails and receive feedback from the Coach feature. Users can also set draft preferences like tone, length, and greetings. With Meeting Insights enabled in the tenancy, Copilot can summarize meeting materials to prepare users. Automatically prioritizing e-mail is also rolling out.