In this guide · 8 sections
- 01What Microsoft announced in September and October 2026
- 02New names and a new address for Copilot
- 03Who gets Office in Copilot, and when
- 04Admin controls worth knowing
- 05Check file permissions before staff ask Copilot about shared folders
- 06Should a small business change anything now?
- 07Do it yourself or get help?
- 08Frequently asked questions
Short answer
Office in Copilot lets users create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files inside the Copilot app, beside the chat. It began rolling out on 9 October 2026 to Frontier customers only, which requires Copilot licences and an admin opt-in. Everyone else keeps using the normal Office apps for now.
What Microsoft announced in September and October 2026
Microsoft's 25 September 2026 post on the new Copilot introduced a redesigned Copilot app with a Home page where Chat and Cowork sit together, plus Office in Copilot. The detailed Office in Copilot announcement followed on 9 October 2026 and says it is "rolling out today for Frontier customers in Chat and Cowork".
| Change | What it means for staff |
|---|---|
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint open inside the Copilot app | Ask Copilot for a draft, then edit the file beside the chat |
| Co-authoring, comments and sharing in the same view | Colleagues can work on the file live, as in the normal apps |
| Library shows recent Office files, pages and AI images | One list of recent work across apps |
| Files saved to OneDrive | Same permissions, version history and sensitivity labels |
| Model choice or Auto | Users can pick a model or let Copilot choose |
Microsoft says you can switch to the standalone Word, Excel or PowerPoint app at any point without losing context. Nothing about the normal Office apps is being removed.
New names and a new address for Copilot
Microsoft's Copilot admin page now states that Microsoft 365 Copilot is named Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is named Microsoft Copilot Chat. The main web address for the updated app is copilot.cloud.microsoft, and old addresses redirect there.
Users may also see labels such as Copilot Chat (Basic), Copilot (Basic) or Copilot (Premium), depending on their licence. That is useful to explain in advance, because staff will see the same app but different features and will ask why a colleague has more buttons.
Who gets Office in Copilot, and when
For now, only organisations in the Frontier programme. Microsoft's Frontier admin guide describes Frontier as opt-in preview access to features before general availability, managed at the tenant level, with features that are preview and subject to change.
| Your setup | Office in Copilot today | What you have instead |
|---|---|---|
| Business Basic, Standard or Premium, no Copilot licence | No | Free Microsoft Copilot Chat; normal Office apps |
| Copilot licence, not enrolled in Frontier | Not yet; no general date announced | Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams |
| Copilot licence and Frontier enabled by admin | Rolling out since 9 Oct 2026 | Preview features, which can change |
Copilot Chat itself stays included at no extra cost for users signed in with a work account on qualifying plans, which Microsoft lists as including Business Premium, Business Standard and Business Basic. If you are still deciding whether the free chat is enough, our comparison of Copilot Chat free vs ChatGPT free at work covers the data protection differences.
Admin controls worth knowing
Most small businesses do not need to do anything for Office in Copilot today. If you do want early access, or want to keep things tidy as features arrive, these are the controls Microsoft documents.
Decide whether to join Frontier
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, search the Copilot settings for "Frontier". You need the AI Admin, Security Admin or Office Apps Admin role, and users need the relevant Copilot licences. Microsoft says features can take about three hours to appear.
Limit Frontier to a pilot group
Frontier lets you choose which users get preview features. Start with one or two people who are comfortable with change, not the whole company.
Set the web search policy
The Allow web search in Copilot policy, in Cloud Policy or the Copilot Control System page, controls whether Copilot sends web queries to Bing. If you do not configure it, web search is on by default.
Block personal accounts on work devices
Use Tenant Restrictions v2 so staff cannot paste company files into a personal Copilot session.
Watch usage-based features
Cowork requires a Copilot licence and admin-enabled usage-based billing, charged per task. Set budgets before turning it on.
Microsoft says it does not support managing Copilot by blocking domains, URLs or IP addresses at the network level, because Copilot is built into the Office apps and blocking can break them. Use the admin center settings instead.
Should a small business change anything now?
For most small offices on Business Basic, Standard or Premium without Copilot licences, nothing changes yet beyond the new names. Staff keep using Word, Excel and PowerPoint as before, with free Copilot Chat available.
Worth trying if
- Fewer steps from a chat draft to a finished file
- Files keep OneDrive permissions, version history and labels
- Co-authoring works the same as in the normal apps
Wait if
- Frontier only, so preview features may change or break
- Needs Copilot licences; Cowork adds usage-based charges
- Makes overshared files easier to find
If you are weighing a plan upgrade at the same time, our review of whether Microsoft 365 Business Premium is worth it covers the security features, such as sensitivity labels, that make AI rollouts safer.
Do it yourself or get help?
A tenant with a handful of users and a few SharePoint sites can do the permission review in an afternoon. It takes longer when sharing has grown over years, guests were never removed, or nobody is sure which settings are on.
Our Microsoft 365 / Google Security Lockdown (S$590) reviews sharing, guest access, MFA and admin settings so AI tools only see what they should. IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience. You pay upfront, send your brief in writing through the site chat or contact form, and follow progress on your order page.
Frequently asked questions
It is Word, Excel and PowerPoint built into the Microsoft Copilot app. You can ask Copilot to draft a document, spreadsheet or presentation, and the file opens beside the conversation for direct editing, comments and co-authoring. Files are stored in OneDrive. Microsoft began rolling it out on 9 October 2026 to customers in its Frontier preview programme.
Right now, yes. Office in Copilot is rolling out through the Frontier programme, and Microsoft's Frontier documentation says users need licences for the products being previewed, which means Copilot licences. Users with only Business Basic, Standard or Premium still get free Microsoft Copilot Chat and the normal Office apps.
Microsoft renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot to Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat to Microsoft Copilot Chat. The main web address for the app is copilot.cloud.microsoft, and older addresses redirect automatically. Microsoft says the security, compliance and privacy controls stay unchanged. Users may see labels such as Basic or Premium depending on their licence.
No. Microsoft says Copilot only uses data that the signed-in user already has permission to open. The risk is files that were shared too widely in the past, such as folders open to everyone in the company. Copilot makes those easier to find, so review SharePoint and OneDrive sharing before rolling out AI tools widely.
Microsoft recommends using admin center settings rather than blocking Copilot domains or IP addresses on the network, which it says can break Office apps. You can control pinning, web search, Frontier access and personal-account sign-in through the Microsoft 365 admin center, Cloud Policy and Tenant Restrictions v2.