Microsoft Expands Free Copilot Chat to All Office Apps for Business Users

Microsoft is rolling out free Copilot Chat features to all Microsoft 365 business users across its core Office applications. Starting today, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote now include a Copilot Chat sidebar that helps users draft content, analyze data, summarize documents, and create presentations—without requiring a separate Microsoft 365 Copilot license. “Copilot Chat is secure AI chat grounded in the web—and now, it’s available in the Microsoft 365 apps,” said Seth Patton, General Manager of Microsoft 365 Copilot product marketing. “It’s content aware, meaning it quickly understands what you’re working on, tailoring responses to the specific file you have open. And it’s included at no additional cost for Microsoft 365 users.” The free Copilot Chat can rewrite text, generate summaries, suggest slide content in PowerPoint, and assist with data interpretation in Excel. However, the full-featured Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription—priced at $30 per user per month—offers deeper integration and advanced capabilities. This includes the ability to reason across entire workloads, not just individual documents, as well as priority access to features like file uploads, image generation, and the latest AI models, including GPT-5. Users with the premium license also benefit from faster response times and greater reliability during peak usage. Microsoft previously introduced AI-powered Copilot features to consumer Microsoft 365 plans earlier this year, though those updates came with price increases. For business customers, no subscription price changes are being made with the addition of Copilot Chat. Looking ahead, Microsoft plans to bundle its specialized Copilots for sales, service, and finance into the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription this October. This integration is expected to reduce costs for businesses that depend on multiple AI tools, offering a more streamlined and affordable access path to advanced AI functionality.