Microsoft announced that Copilot Chat is being integrated directly into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Not as a separate app or add-in you need to enable but directly integrated into the apps. That means less switching around, less copying and pasting and no you no longer need to have the full licensed version of Copilot to interact with the content that is active in the app.
When you open a document, spreadsheet, presentation, or note, you now also have Copilot Chat available in a side pane. The chat understands the content you are working on and adapts its responses to that context. If you want to bring in another file, you can simply use “/” to search across your documents, and the system will even suggest recent files to save you time.
The chat experience itself has also been improved. You can upload multiple images directly into the chat, write longer prompts in a bigger input box, and quickly reach features such as image generation or agents.
You will still get answers that are based on the web with the same strong security that Microsoft is known for. Copilot Chat inside the apps works just like the regular Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. The big change is that everything is now brought together in one smooth experience, right inside the apps you already use every day. You no longer need to copy/paste or upload documents to Copilot Chat to reason with the content.
In my view, this also makes things more secure for any organization. Since the data is processed where it already resides is instead of being moved around it reduces the risk of exposure and strengthens the overall security posture. It is also a great way to get people to start using Copilot in their daily work. When it is available directly inside the tools they already work in it becomes a natural part of their daily workflow.
