Summary
Details
Updated September 17, 2025: We have added additional information to the "Admin action" bullet in the "Chat history transition" section.
[Introduction]
As announced in MC1096218, we are making Copilot Chat available as a side-by-side experience in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote to help users access AI in their flow of work. Users can open Copilot Chat from the app ribbon. Copilot Chat in the apps will respect the most recent user state (open or closed) when opening a file. During this transition, some previous Copilot Chat features available to licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users in Word and PowerPoint will be improved, retired, or temporarily unavailable as we create a more unified Copilot Chat experience.
[When this will happen:]
- See MC1096218 for the latest on rollout of the new Copilot Chat experience.
- Feature availability in the new Copilot Chat experience in Word and PowerPoint varies by platform and capability. See the feature breakdown below.
[How this will affect your organization:]
Word features:
| Feature | Availability/Timeline | How to access/Where available |
| Use your work data as a source in your prompt | Available now | Available in Copilot Chat. In addition to files, meetings, and emails, users can include other work sources like people, Teams chats, websites, and more. |
| Generate an audio overview of your document | Available starting in October | Will be available via a button located in the top of document summary - see Image 5 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Have a voice conversation about your document in real-time | Available starting October or November | Will be available in Copilot Chat via a voice activation button |
| Access previous in-app chat history | Not available | See "Chat history transition" section below for more details |
PowerPoint features:
| Feature | Availability/Timeline | How to access/Where available |
| Find and insert a brand image | Web: Available starting late September, Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the PowerPoint ribbon (not in Copilot Chat) |
| Translate a presentation | Web: Available starting late September Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 1 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Add speaker notes to current presentation | Web: Available starting late September Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the PowerPoint ribbon (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 2 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Create a presentation in the current presentation | Available today | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 3 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Add a slide to the current presentation | Available today | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 4 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Access previous in-app chat history | Not available | See "Chat history transition" section below for more details |
Chat history transition
The new Copilot Chat experience in apps introduces shared memory and unified chat history across Microsoft 365 apps and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, creating a more consistent experience. With this update, previous in-app chat history will not be accessible in the new experience.
- What's changing: Chat history from the previous in-app chat experience in Word and PowerPoint will no longer be accessible.
- Why: The experience improvements are built on a new system and chat history will start fresh.
- Admin action: If needed, tenant admins may use audit logs to retrieve previous chat history in the apps, which they can find by searching the audit log. Users cannot download or save the previous in-app chat history themselves.
- New experience: Copilot Chat will maintain its own history, shared across all supported apps.
User experience images
Image 1: PowerPoint - Translate a presentation
Image 2: PowerPoint - Add speaker notes to current presentation
Image 3: PowerPoint - Create a presentation in the current presentation
Image 4: PowerPoint - Add a slide to the current presentation
Image 5: Word - Generate an audio overview of your document
[What you need to do to prepare:]
No admin action is required to reenable these features once they become available. You may want to update user materials to reflect these changes.
Change History
[Introduction]
As announced in MC1096218, we are making Copilot Chat available as a side-by-side experience in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote to help users access AI in their flow of work. Users can open Copilot Chat from the app ribbon. Copilot Chat in the apps will respect the most recent user state (open or closed) when opening a file. During this transition, some previous Copilot Chat features available to licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users in Word and PowerPoint will be improved, retired, or temporarily unavailable as we create a more unified Copilot Chat experience.
[When this will happen:]
- See MC1096218 for the latest on rollout of the new Copilot Chat experience.
- Feature availability in the new Copilot Chat experience in Word and PowerPoint varies by platform and capability. See the feature breakdown below.
[How this will affect your organization:]
Word features:
| Feature | Availability/Timeline | How to access/Where available |
| Use your work data as a source in your prompt | Available now | Available in Copilot Chat. In addition to files, meetings, and emails, users can include other work sources like people, Teams chats, websites, and more. |
| Generate an audio overview of your document | Available starting in October | Will be available via a button located in the top of document summary - see Image 5 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Have a voice conversation about your document in real-time | Available starting October or November | Will be available in Copilot Chat via a voice activation button |
| Access previous in-app chat history | Not available | See "Chat history transition" section below for more details |
PowerPoint features:
| Feature | Availability/Timeline | How to access/Where available |
| Find and insert a brand image | Web: Available starting late September, Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the PowerPoint ribbon (not in Copilot Chat) |
| Translate a presentation | Web: Available starting late September Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 1 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Add speaker notes to current presentation | Web: Available starting late September Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the PowerPoint ribbon (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 2 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Create a presentation in the current presentation | Available today | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 3 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Add a slide to the current presentation | Available today | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 4 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Access previous in-app chat history | Not available | See "Chat history transition" section below for more details |
Chat history transition
The new Copilot Chat experience in apps introduces shared memory and unified chat history across Microsoft 365 apps and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, creating a more consistent experience. With this update, previous in-app chat history will not be accessible in the new experience.
- What's changing: Chat history from the previous in-app chat experience in Word and PowerPoint will no longer be accessible.
- Why: The experience improvements are built on a new system and chat history will start fresh.
- Admin action: If needed, tenant admins may request previous in-app chat history via support. Users cannot download or save the previous in-app chat history themselves.
- New experience: Copilot Chat will maintain its own history, shared across all supported apps.
User experience images
Image 1: PowerPoint - Translate a presentation
Image 2: PowerPoint - Add speaker notes to current presentation
Image 3: PowerPoint - Create a presentation in the current presentation
Image 4: PowerPoint - Add a slide to the current presentation
Image 5: Word - Generate an audio overview of your document
[What you need to do to prepare:]
No admin action is required to reenable these features once they become available. You may want to update user materials to reflect these changes.
Updated September 17, 2025: We have added additional information to the "Admin action" bullet in the "Chat history transition" section.
[Introduction]
As announced in MC1096218, we are making Copilot Chat available as a side-by-side experience in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote to help users access AI in their flow of work. Users can open Copilot Chat from the app ribbon. Copilot Chat in the apps will respect the most recent user state (open or closed) when opening a file. During this transition, some previous Copilot Chat features available to licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users in Word and PowerPoint will be improved, retired, or temporarily unavailable as we create a more unified Copilot Chat experience.
[When this will happen:]
- See MC1096218 for the latest on rollout of the new Copilot Chat experience.
- Feature availability in the new Copilot Chat experience in Word and PowerPoint varies by platform and capability. See the feature breakdown below.
[How this will affect your organization:]
Word features:
| Feature | Availability/Timeline | How to access/Where available |
| Use your work data as a source in your prompt | Available now | Available in Copilot Chat. In addition to files, meetings, and emails, users can include other work sources like people, Teams chats, websites, and more. |
| Generate an audio overview of your document | Available starting in October | Will be available via a button located in the top of document summary - see Image 5 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Have a voice conversation about your document in real-time | Available starting October or November | Will be available in Copilot Chat via a voice activation button |
| Access previous in-app chat history | Not available | See "Chat history transition" section below for more details |
PowerPoint features:
| Feature | Availability/Timeline | How to access/Where available |
| Find and insert a brand image | Web: Available starting late September, Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the PowerPoint ribbon (not in Copilot Chat) |
| Translate a presentation | Web: Available starting late September Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 1 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Add speaker notes to current presentation | Web: Available starting late September Desktop: Available starting late October | Available through the PowerPoint ribbon (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 2 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Create a presentation in the current presentation | Available today | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 3 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Add a slide to the current presentation | Available today | Available through the Copilot menu on the slide (not from Copilot Chat) - see Image 4 in the "User experience images" section. |
| Access previous in-app chat history | Not available | See "Chat history transition" section below for more details |
Chat history transition
The new Copilot Chat experience in apps introduces shared memory and unified chat history across Microsoft 365 apps and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, creating a more consistent experience. With this update, previous in-app chat history will not be accessible in the new experience.
- What's changing: Chat history from the previous in-app chat experience in Word and PowerPoint will no longer be accessible.
- Why: The experience improvements are built on a new system and chat history will start fresh.
- Admin action: If needed, tenant admins may use audit logs to retrieve previous chat history in the apps, which they can find by searching the audit log. Users cannot download or save the previous in-app chat history themselves.
- New experience: Copilot Chat will maintain its own history, shared across all supported apps.
User experience images
Image 1: PowerPoint - Translate a presentation
Image 2: PowerPoint - Add speaker notes to current presentation
Image 3: PowerPoint - Create a presentation in the current presentation
Image 4: PowerPoint - Add a slide to the current presentation
Image 5: Word - Generate an audio overview of your document
[What you need to do to prepare:]
No admin action is required to reenable these features once they become available. You may want to update user materials to reflect these changes.
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