Microsoft Is Merging Its Two “Copilot” Apps (and Dropping These Three Features).
Microsoft’s Copilot service is somewhat confusing. Unlike ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, the company’s AI service isn’t a one-size-fits-all product. Instead, there’s “Copilot”—AI for consumers, directly competing with the AI apps mentioned above—and “Microsoft 365 Copilot”—AI for professional use within Microsoft’s productivity suite. If you’re not fully immersed in Microsoft’s AI culture, you might naturally be confused about Copilot and which features and pricing plans apply to which AI version. Fortunately, you don’t have to be confused anymore.
This week, Microsoft announced its plans to combine the Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365 platforms into a single app. If you use Copilot like ChatGPT or Gemini, you’ll use this app. If you use Copilot with Word and Excel for work or school, you’ll use this app. Essentially, if you use Microsoft AI for any reason, this will be your app of choice. This may not seem particularly important to those who only use one version of Copilot, but if you have to switch between Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365, you’ll immediately understand the benefit of not having two different Copilot apps on your screen at the same time, as The Verge notes .
What’s new in Microsoft’s unified Copilot app?
Since Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365 are two different apps, the changes you’ll see in the new Copilot app will depend on which app you’re currently using. Microsoft Copilot 365 users will only need to update their existing app, and Microsoft says they can expect minor navigation changes during the transition. A new app icon will also appear, along with direct access to Copilot chat from the new app.
It appears the biggest changes will impact Copilot users who use Microsoft’s AI with their personal accounts. On desktop computers, you’ll likely be switching to the new app, while mobile users will be able to do so via an app update. Either way, Microsoft says your chats and content will migrate with you. If you use both apps, all your chats and content will be combined in the new app, though each will be tied to the specific account you created them with.
What Copilot features is Microsoft dropping?
Perhaps the most important news here is what won’t be carried over to the new app. Microsoft says it’s deprecating three legacy Copilot features as part of this transition: podcasts, deep dives, and group chats. Microsoft will discontinue support for all three features on August 18th, so you don’t have much time left to continue using them.
If you use the Copilot group chat feature, be sure to copy all messages and images from your chats before the deadline, as access to chats will be closed after August 18th. The same applies to podcasts: you won’t be able to create new podcasts or access them after the deadline, so export them in advance. Any reports created using Deep Research will be available after August 18th, but you won’t be able to use this feature unless you are a Microsoft 365 Premium subscriber.
You don’t have to look far to find replacements for these features. Google’s ” Gemini Notebook ” (formerly NotebookLM) can create podcasts using AI , and nearly every other major AI platform offers its own “Deep Learning” feature . However, Microsoft isn’t the only company to ditch some features: OpenAI shut down its AI-powered video generator, Sora , earlier this year, as well as ChatGPT Atlas , its short-lived AI browser. Microsoft appears particularly focused on consolidating its AI offerings, as the company is also removing “unnecessary” Copilot features from Windows .