If you use Windows, the Edge browser or Word, Excel and Outlook, you’ve almost certainly run into Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant. It’s in the taskbar, in the browser, in the Office apps and on your phone. But between the free version, the Microsoft 365 subscriptions and all the different features, it’s not always easy to figure out what’s what.
In this complete guide, I explain what Copilot is, what the free version can do, and what the Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium plans add, how to use it in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, on Windows and in Edge, and how much it costs in the US. If you’re torn between several assistants, my article on the best AI tools will help you choose.
Key takeaways
- Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant, available on the web, in the Windows app, on mobile and in Edge.
- The free version lets you chat, search the web, create images, analyze files and talk out loud, with limits.
- The Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium plans add Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and higher limits.
- In the US: Personal $9.99 a month ($99.99 a year), Family $12.99 a month ($129.99 a year), Premium $19.99 a month ($199.99 a year).
- On the Family plan, AI features are limited to the subscription owner.
Information checked on September 29, 2026.
Contents
- What is Microsoft Copilot?
- Where to find Copilot
- What free Copilot can do
- What about deep research?
- Copilot Vision: show it what you see
- Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
- Microsoft 365 plans and US pricing
- Copilot on Windows and in Edge
- 8 practical ways to use Copilot
- A day with Copilot
- My tips for using Copilot better
- How to write good Copilot prompts
- Copilot at work: check which version you have
- Copilot’s limitations
- Privacy
- Copilot, ChatGPT or Gemini?
- FAQ
- The bottom line
What is Microsoft Copilot?
Copilot is a conversational assistant, like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. You type or talk to it, and it answers: it writes, summarizes, explains, searches the internet, creates images and analyzes files.
What makes it different is how deeply it’s built into the Microsoft world: Windows, the Edge browser, and above all the Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) for subscribers. If you already work with these tools, Copilot is just a click away, right inside your documents.
Where to find Copilot
- On the web: on the Copilot website, from any browser.
- On Windows: a dedicated Copilot app, preinstalled on new Windows 11 PCs. Among other things, it can search your local files and OneDrive.
- In Edge: a Copilot pane built into the browser, to summarize a page, ask a question or use your voice.
- On mobile: the Copilot app for iPhone and Android.
- In Microsoft 365: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, for Personal, Family and Premium subscribers.
Signing in with a Microsoft account unlocks chat history, more image creation, longer conversations and extended voice use.
What free Copilot can do
Without a subscription, you can already do a lot:
- chat, write, summarize, explain;
- search the web with sourced answers;
- create and edit images from a description;
- analyze files you upload;
- talk to Copilot with Copilot Voice;
- once signed in to your Microsoft account, get chat history, more image creation, longer conversations and extended voice use.
Free limits are lower than subscribers’ limits, which range from higher to heavy usage depending on the plan. Microsoft no longer publishes fixed numbers. So be wary of older articles quoting a specific number of messages or images per day: the limits changed in 2026.
Summarize this page in five bullet points, then tell me what applies to me as a renter in the US.
What about deep research?
Watch out for older guides: the Deep Research feature was removed from consumer Copilot in August 2026. Microsoft now offers Researcher, an in-depth research agent available only to Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers (and business plans). If you need free deep research, other assistants offer it, such as free Gemini.
Copilot Vision: show it what you see
Copilot Vision lets you share your screen, a window, an Edge page or your phone’s camera, and ask Copilot out loud about what it sees. Handy for getting walked through a piece of software, understanding a document or identifying an object.
Heads-up: Microsoft’s current support page says a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium subscription is required for Copilot Vision in the consumer version.
Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
This is the main selling point of the subscriptions. With Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium, Copilot is built into the desktop apps.
In Word
Write a first draft from a few ideas, summarize a long document, reword a paragraph, suggest an outline. Ideal for letters, reports and meeting notes.
Write a first draft of meeting minutes from these notes, including the decisions made, who’s responsible and the deadlines.
In Excel
Copilot can analyze your data: spot trends, suggest formulas, create a table or chart, explain what the numbers show. No need to know every formula by heart anymore.
Analyze this expense sheet: which categories have gone up the most since January? Suggest a chart to show it.
In PowerPoint
Turn a document or notes into a presentation, suggest a slide structure, summarize an existing deck.
In Outlook
Summarize a long email thread, suggest a reply, help you write a message with the right tone. For the writing method, see also my guide on how to write an email with AI.
Microsoft 365 plans and US pricing
| Plan | Price | People | Storage | Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 | 5 GB OneDrive | Basic Copilot, standard limits |
| Personal | $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year | 1 | 1 TB | Copilot in the apps, higher limits |
| Family | $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year | Up to 6 | 6 TB (1 TB per person) | AI features for the owner only |
| Premium | $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year | Depends on the plan | See plan details | Highest limits, Researcher and Analyst, more image use |
Personal and Family already give you Copilot in the apps and plenty of chat usage. Premium adds higher usage tiers, advanced capabilities like the Researcher (deep research) and Analyst (data analysis) agents, and heavier image creation use.
An important point for families: on the Family plan, AI features are limited to the subscription owner. Other members get the apps and storage, but not Copilot.
Copilot on Windows and in Edge
The Windows app
On Windows 11, the Copilot app often comes preinstalled. Besides chat, it lets you use Vision and search your local files and OneDrive: “find the plumber’s estimate I saved last month.”
The Edge pane
In the Edge browser, the Copilot pane lets you summarize the open page, ask a question about its content, and use voice, Vision or assisted browsing, depending on your plan and the feature.
Summarize this article and list the three most important takeaways, including the numbers mentioned.
8 practical ways to use Copilot
- Summarize a long Word document before a meeting.
- Analyze an Excel sheet for a family budget or sales.
- Turn notes into a PowerPoint presentation.
- Answer a tricky email in Outlook.
- Summarize a web page in Edge.
- Create an image for an invitation or a social post.
- Find a file on your PC or OneDrive from the Windows app.
- Get talked through a piece of software with Vision (subscribers).
A day with Copilot
To make this concrete, here’s how a Microsoft 365 Personal subscriber might use Copilot over a workday.
8:30 a.m., in Outlook. Thirty unread emails since yesterday. Copilot summarizes the longest threads and flags the ones that need a reply. For one of them, it drafts a response, which you tweak before sending.
10 a.m., in Word. You need to put together a memo for your manager. From your scattered notes, Copilot writes a structured first draft, which you rework paragraph by paragraph.
11:30 a.m., in Excel. The quarterly sales sheet is waiting. You ask Copilot which regions are growing, which are slipping, and for a chart for the meeting. You double-check the key numbers before using them.
2 p.m., in PowerPoint. Copilot turns the Word memo into an eight-slide presentation, which you customize with your own visuals.
5 p.m., in Edge. A long article about a regulatory change in your industry: Copilot sums it up in five points and lists what changes for you.
In the evening, on your phone. With Copilot Voice, you prep out loud for next week’s annual review.
With the free version, you could do the Edge part and the voice conversation, but not the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook integration.
My tips for using Copilot better
- Be specific: name the document, the time period, the recipient and the format you want.
- Work in steps: a first draft, then targeted tweaks.
- Check the numbers in Excel before presenting them.
- Proofread anything that goes out: emails, documents, presentations.
- Pick the right plan: if you’re the only one in your household using AI, Personal is enough; Family is mostly worth it for shared storage and apps.
How to write good Copilot prompts
Copilot works like other assistants: the more specific your request, the better the result. Four elements make the difference:
- The goal: what you want to get (a summary, a draft, a chart, an analysis).
- The source: the open document, the selected email, the web page, the spreadsheet.
- The context: for whom, why, with what constraints.
- The format: five bullet points, one paragraph, a table, one slide per idea.
In this document, find the commitments our company has made, with their dates, and put them in a three-column table: commitment, date, owner.
To dig deeper into the method, my article on how to write a good prompt applies to Copilot just as much as to ChatGPT.
Copilot at work: check which version you have
If your employer provides Microsoft 365, you’re probably using a business version of Copilot, with rules, features and privacy terms set by your organization. This guide covers the consumer version tied to a personal Microsoft account. If in doubt, ask your IT department which features are turned on and what you’re allowed to share.
Copilot’s limitations
- Limits vary by plan and feature, and changed in 2026: don’t rely on old numbers.
- Vision and the Office app integration require a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium subscription.
- Copilot can get things wrong, like any assistant: check the numbers, especially in Excel, and any important information.
- It’s less useful if you don’t live in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Privacy
Copilot can access your documents, emails and files depending on the features you use. A few good habits: check the privacy settings on your Microsoft account, don’t share sensitive information unless you need to, and on a work account, follow your organization’s rules, since it often uses a version of Copilot with different terms.
Copilot, ChatGPT or Gemini?
The choice mostly depends on your setup:
- Copilot is the most convenient if you work with Windows, Word, Excel and Outlook;
- Gemini is the most integrated with Gmail, Docs and Drive: see my guide to using Gemini with Gmail, Docs and Drive;
- ChatGPT is a versatile assistant that doesn’t depend on any ecosystem: see my complete ChatGPT guide.
Lots of people use the free version of several assistants and only pay for the one that plugs into the tools they use every day.
FAQ
Is Copilot free?
Yes, Copilot has a free version on the web, Windows, Edge and mobile. Microsoft 365 subscriptions add Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Vision and higher limits.
How much does Copilot with Microsoft 365 cost in the US?
Microsoft 365 Personal costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, Family $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year, and Premium $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year.
Is Copilot included in Microsoft 365 Family for everyone?
No, AI features are limited to the owner of the Family subscription.
Is Copilot Vision free?
According to Microsoft support, Copilot Vision in the consumer version requires a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium subscription.
Does Copilot work on Mac and iPhone?
Copilot is available on the web from any browser, and there’s an app for iPhone and Android.
Do you need Windows 11 to use Copilot?
No. The Windows app is convenient, but Copilot is also available on the web from any browser, in Edge and on mobile.
Can Copilot create images for free?
Yes, creating and editing images is available for free, with lower limits than for Microsoft 365 subscribers. Premium offers the heaviest usage.
What’s the difference between Personal and Premium?
Personal already gives you Copilot in the apps and plenty of chat usage. Premium adds higher limits, the Researcher and Analyst agents and more image creation.
The bottom line
Microsoft Copilot is especially worth it if you already rely heavily on Microsoft’s ecosystem: free for chatting, searching, creating images and talking, and built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook with a Microsoft 365 subscription starting at $9.99 a month. Pick the plan that fits your needs, and keep in mind that on the Family plan, only the owner gets the AI.
To go further, check out the best free AI tools and how to write a good prompt.