Microsoft Teams will no longer show a shortcut to the Copilot app in the Teams chat list. The change is expected to roll out in mid-to-late October and will affect the desktop and web versions of Teams.

Right now, there are two ways to navigate to Copilot within Teams and the two entry points lead to different experiences. Microsoft explained the need for the change through the Microsoft 365 Message Center (archived here):

"Today, users can access Copilot either from the Teams chat list or from the Copilot app in the Teams app bar. Beginning in October 2026, we will remove the Copilot entry point from the Teams chat list and direct users to access Copilot through the Copilot app. The Copilot app provides access to the full set of Copilot capabilities, while the chat list entry point provides a more limited experience."

The Copilot shortcut in the Teams chat list made Copilot more visible, but that entry point led to a limited experience. My guess is that some people only knew about the Teams chat list icon and ended up using a limited version of Copilot.

After October, there will be a single entry point for Copilot in Teams and those who use it will be presented with the full experience.

The mobile versions of Teams are unaffected by this change.

Copilot in flux

Copilot finds itself in a state of flux. Microsoft just announced a massive shift in its Copilot strategy. A major update to Copilot flips the approach Microsoft is taking. Rather than have Copilot sprinkled across Microsoft 365, Copilot will act as a unified workspace that connects documents, conversations, data, and tasks.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella went as far as to call the update a new operating system. Three new landing spots for Copilot will provide new ways to interact with the tool, such as Home serving as a landing spot. Changes then permeate throughout relevant Microsoft 365 apps.

The exact features and experiences you will see will depend on what type of Microsoft 365 subscription you have.

More details about Copilot are expected at Microsoft Ignite in November. The key takeaway for now is that while Microsoft is shifting where it uses the Copilot moniker and how people access Copilot, the AI tool is very much an integral part of the company's plans.

Based on the upcoming change to Teams, it's clear that Copilot will still be accessible through apps. But Microsoft may emphasize different experiences or streamline the entry points to the tool.

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"I think we are way too self-obsessed as an industry," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a recent interview about AI shared by Alex Heath of Sound Ventures. Nadella explained that AI leaders can get caught up in the wrong parts of AI and lose touch with what people need.

"I think the real world wants to know... that this is technology that they can use for their benefit, they can control, they can have an economic future." He also talked about how people need to see that data centers can lead to an economic surplus in an area and benefit the people surrounding it.

Nadella added that tech leaders should ask "what did we get wrong in the west," alluding to recent polling data that suggested AI is viewed more favorably in other parts of the world.

He emphasized the need to earn the trust of consumers and communities as well.

Nadella concluded the snippet with a warning against celebrating technology for its own sake: "Just any amount of celebrating technology for technology's sake is not working."

Windows Central take

Nadella may want to send an internal memo to Microsoft employees reiterating his comments from the interview. Microsoft's AI leadership has often been criticized for being out of touch with everyday users.

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has shared several controversial thoughts and opinions that drew criticism.

Suleyman has shared assurances that Microsoft will never build a sex robot and talked about how superintelligence should not replace the human species.

But Suleyman has also discussed the concept of AI knowing specific users "deeply" and people not needing money in certain areas because intelligence will be a new currency (while noting cash will still be required).

While these high-concept discussions make headlines, they do little for the average person asking why their operating system needs a chatbot.

Suleyman responded to those unimpressed with AI late last year:

"Jeez there so many cynics! It cracks me up when I hear people call AI underwhelming...The fact that people are unimpressed that we can have a fluent conversation with a super smart AI that can generate any image/video is mindblowing to me."

Suleyman is far from the only AI leader to draw criticism or be accused of being out of touch with everyday users. OpenAI's Sam Altman is often called out for similar comments. I'm curious to see how AI leaders across the industry respond to Nadella's comments.

Perhaps more important than existential threats or the creepiness of an AI knowing you intimately, many people simply fail to see a real-world use for AI. Early this year, Dell said that consumers don't care about AI PCs and that "AI probably confuses them more than it helps them."

Microsoft is quietly shifting away from the Copilot+ PC brand. Despite meeting the technical qualifications to be Copilot+ PCs, the new Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch will not be branded with that term.

The Copilot+ PC brand failed for many reasons, but one factor is that many users do not see the real-world benefit of AI.

Nadella's recent comments show that he is aware of the gap between AI's capabilities and AI's everyday usefulness.

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You can't say Microsoft isn't trying everything when it comes to AI, even rolling back some consumer pushes around its PC strategy.

Today during its Copilot event, Microsoft announced a major update to said Copilot, and after going through the material myself, it’s clear the company is aiming for something bigger than a simple AI upgrade.

In a surprise to no one, Copilot is becoming the center of the Microsoft 365 experience. Instead of living inside individual apps (yes, we're all tired of that), it now acts as a unified workspace that connects your documents, conversations, data, and tasks. This shift shows how Microsoft wants AI to feel natural for everyday users, not just enterprise customers (even though the latter will benefit the most).

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella set the tone for this direction in his keynote. He thanked the Frontier program participants and connected Copilot’s evolution to Microsoft’s long‑standing mission “to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” He described this new era of AI as a continuation of that goal, shaped by two design principles. The first is keeping humans “in the flow of work,” and the second is helping organizations build systems that learn continuously. Nadella said the aim is to design AI so that people stay in control of their tools and use them to expand their own ambition and creativity.

He also talked about how Copilot reflects a deeper shift in how Microsoft thinks about intelligence. “AI has to be shaped in such a way that it’s working for your firm to create and retain more knowledge,” he explained. That idea of compounding human expertise is central to Copilot’s design. It treats intelligence as something that grows through use and collaboration. Nadella’s framing gives the new Copilot a clear purpose. It is meant to amplify human judgment through context, automation, and shared knowledge rather than replace it. Hearing him describe it this way makes the rest of the update feel more intentional and more connected to Microsoft’s long‑term strategy.

This brings us to the actual news with three new Copilot experiences called Home, Code, and Autopilot, each focused on a different part of work. Together they create a more complete picture of what Microsoft thinks productivity should look like in the AI era.

"Home", a place where work actually comes together

Home should be obvious. It's the new landing spot for Copilot. When you open it, you'll see your recent activity, suggestions for what to tackle next, and a clear view of the tasks Copilot can help with. It seems more like a dashboard than a chat window. You can do the usual AI stuff like asking Copilot to draft a document, summarize a meeting, or help prepare for a presentation, and everything stays connected across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams.

Microsoft is also improving how Copilot works inside those apps. PowerPoint keeps slides on brand automatically, Excel explains changes in plain language, and Word can refine a document while you collaborate with teammates. It seems to be more cohesive than before, and it makes Copilot feel like part of the workflow instead of a separate tool.

At least that's the goal here.

Home also includes a new feature called Today, which acts like a personal command center. It highlights missed emails, meetings, and tasks, and it helps you catch up quickly.

In typical Microsoft fashion, not everyone gets this on day one. Today enters private preview in October, and Microsoft plans to expand it across Outlook and Teams later this year.

"Code", a way to build without being a developer

Code is one of the most interesting additions, in my opinion. It uses the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot, but it’s designed for anyone who wants to automate something or build a simple app without writing code. Basically, I can describe what I want in plain language, and Copilot creates it inside my Microsoft 365 environment.

The result might be a dashboard, a workflow, or a lightweight app that connects to live business data.

I think this is a smart move for Microsoft because it opens up automation to people who have never touched a line of code (including myself). Developers still get deep integration with GitHub Copilot, but everyday users get a way to create tools that fit their needs. Code runs in a secure sandbox, connects to Microsoft IQ for context, and syncs with the rest of the workspace.

Basically, as noted in the event, creating apps via Code feels the same as creating (and sharing) a Word document, which is certainly intriguing.

Code enters the Frontier program later this month, with broader availability "coming soon," likely before year's end.

"Autopilot", a teammate that keeps working

Autopilot, previously known as Scout, I believe, is the most ambitious part of the new Copilot. It acts like a digital teammate that manages ongoing work. I can give it a name, a role, and a goal, and it handles tasks like scheduling meetings, managing reviews, and keeping projects moving. It sounds very Meta Muse-ish, but it's better equipped for Microsoft customers, as it works across Teams, Outlook, and other apps, and it keeps going even when you are offline.

Autopilot has its own identity inside a Microsoft 365 tenant, which means it can participate in conversations, track decisions, and follow up on action items. It understands how an organization operates, and it uses that context to make smart choices.

This kind of automation could change how teams handle routine work, freeing people to focus on strategy and creativity instead of logistics.

A smarter foundation for everything

Diving into all the nitty-gritty enterprise jargon (forgive me), we can say that all of this is powered by Microsoft IQ, a unified intelligence layer that connects data, workflows, and context across the Microsoft ecosystem.

Basically, Copilot now understands not just your documents, but your business environment. With Fabric IQ and Work IQ, it can pull insights from Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and other systems, which helps break down silos and reduce the need to switch between apps.

Microsoft is also introducing a plugin registry that lets IT teams and developers extend Copilot with custom or partner-built integrations. It’s similar to an app ecosystem, but built for AI. This gives organizations more control and flexibility, and it helps Copilot adapt to different industries and workflows.

Since AI costs are becoming a real concern, Microsoft is adding FinOps for AI, a framework for managing and optimizing AI spending. Businesses can choose between fixed-cost subscriptions or usage-based billing. Copilot’s Auto mode selects the best option for each task based on accuracy, speed, and cost. It’s a practical way to keep AI powerful and predictable.

Why This Matters

After reading through everything, it’s clear that Microsoft is treating Copilot as the future of its productivity ecosystem. I think we've always known that was the goal here, but it's taken Microsoft a few iterations and market maturity for AI/LLMs to get to this next level, based on customer feedback.

The company is blending creativity, automation, and collaboration into one experience that feels more personal and more capable than before. For small businesses, this means the same AI that powers enterprise workflows will soon feel approachable and useful in everyday tasks. For Microsoft, it’s a strategic shift that positions Copilot as the centerpiece of its long-term vision, which, let's be honest, is the right move.

What about regular non-business consumers? Well, you'll get access to some or all of this based on your M365 Premium or Pro subscription. Whether you make use of it all depends on your goals.

We’ll see more of this at Microsoft Ignite in November, but even now, the direction is obvious. Copilot is becoming the place where work happens, and Microsoft is building the tools to make that feel natural for everyone.

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The Microsoft Copilot app will soon include a built-in browser for more users. Microsoft started testing the feature back in March, but the broader rollout of the built-in browser will begin in late November.

The idea is that when you click a link within the Copilot app, you'll stay within Copilot rather than jump into your default browser.

Microsoft described the feature through its message center (archived here):

"Microsoft Copilot app now supports in-app browsing on Windows and Mac, allowing users to open websites side-by-side with chat. Available via admin opt-in now, with broader rollout in late November 2026. Users can manage tabs, toggle full-screen, or open links externally. Data is stored locally, similar to Edge."

Copilot's behavior is similar to what you see in Microsoft Teams. It's normal to see apps open in their own browser. X, Reddit, and other popular sites do the same thing.

The question is whether Copilot having a built-in browser will change workflows. Will people start a session by asking Copilot a question and stay in the app, or will they stick with their preferred browser and use Copilot inside it?

It may seem like a distinction without a difference, but getting someone to change their default habit is a massive challenge. Google has had some luck in this area on mobile devices. I often find myself using Gemini and then browsing the web, which effectively gets me to use a different browser. I'm sure Microsoft would love to get people to do the same thing with Copilot on their PCs.

Microsoft may have better luck retaining users who already use Copilot than trying to convert Edge users by forcing Copilot into the Sidebar. The actual experiences are quite similar, but the entry points are different.

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Microsoft Copilot will soon support Grok models from xAI. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint users in the Microsoft Frontier Program can test Grok models now, with general support expected to roll out in the future.

Grok models are being added to Microsoft's Online Services Subprocessor list. By offering different models as subprocessors, Microsoft can give customers access to those models without people having to switch away from the overall Copilot experience.

For example, Researcher Agent in Microsoft Copilot works with Claude AI models from Anthropic. Other Copilot experiences may use multiple AI models to complete tasks.

"Our multi-model strategy gives customers access to leading AI models while maintaining the trusted Copilot experience," said Microsoft in a Tech Community post.

For different models to appear as options, admins need to enable them through the settings of their respective organization.

During the testing period, Grok models will not be available in the European Union, European Free Trade Association, or the United Kingdom.

What is a subprocessor?

Subprocessors are third-party providers that help Microsoft deliver online services. Microsoft has an expansive list of subprocessors used for everything from powering data centers to completing tasks in Copilot.

Using Grok as a subprocessor helps Copilot tackle different tasks and provides redundancy that protects against outages or issues with other subprocessors. But users should not expect the witty or irreverent tone and style that Grok has become known for on X.

Subprocessors sit under Microsoft's system prompts and enterprise guardrails, so the generated responses will still be professional. Essentially, you get the benefit of Grok's multi-step logic and mathematical prowess but within Copilot.

Once an admin enables the integration, you can set Copilot in apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to automatically pick the best model for a task, or manually pick between GPT, Claude, or Grok directly from a drop-down menu in the interface.

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Google Gemini now competes with Microsoft Copilot for space on your keyboard. Google just released Gemini for Windows, and that app uses the same keyboard shortcut as Copilot (Alt + Space).

That shortcut is popular and those hoping to use Gemini may have to remap some shortcuts to perform other tasks. In addition to summoning Copilot, Alt + Space opens PowerToys Run.

The Gemini app is available for both Windows 11 and Windows 10. You can download it through Google's website.

The general functionality of the Gemini app is similar to Gemini's web experience. One key difference is that you can summon the AI tool with a keyboard shortcut, which allows you to launch it quickly.

The macOS version of Gemini supports sharing your screen and other native capabilities, such as dictating by pressing both Command keys. Google explains that more native features will ship to the Windows version of Gemini in the future.

I prefer Gemini over Copilot for many tasks. I recently swapped to Google's AI tool for a month to see how it performed as an editor. While Copilot felt more personal, Gemini was often more accurate when it came to correcting tasks.

"In my specific use case, Gemini felt like an upgraded Microsoft Editor while Copilot felt like a modern Clippy," I said a couple months ago.

Both Copilot and Gemini have their strengths and weaknesses, but Google's option is better for my workflow. Our readers disagreed.

21% of those who voted in our poll about proofreading with AI use Microsoft Editor. Another 29% of participants use Microsoft Copilot. Only 11% of voters rely on Gemini to proofread documents.

Of course, Gemini and Copilot can do a lot more than proofread documents. Google recommends the new Gemini app for fact-checking documents, coming up with titles for a presentation, and creating images and videos.

For more complex tasks, you can hand things off to Gemini Spark within the app.

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Hey Copilot, what's the definition of ironic?

I'm not sure Microsoft Copilot would feed me this post from LinkedIn and Office EVP Ryan Roslansky, but maybe it should.

Earlier in the year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella bemoaned the term "AI slop" and hoped 2026 would be the year everyone started lying down and accepting AI as inevitable. So far, that hasn't happened. And what's worse, Microsoft's own senior employees seem increasingly annoyed by the tech.

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We've seen Xbox CEO Asha Sharma repeatedly use the phrase "AI slop" to describe subpar experiences like Microsoft's ill-fated "gaming Copilot," and LinkedIn itself deleted its "enhance with AI" post button, and replaced it with an "AI slop" report feature to try to boost the "quality" of its miserable, self-aggrandizing content algorithm.

Speaking of the hellscape that is LinkedIn, former CEO now Microsoft EVP Ryan Roslansky recently dropped this musing that I found to be particularly comical given what Microsoft has unleashed on the world.

Roslansky lamented, "AI slop isn't happening just on social networks ... it's happening in the day to day of work. Someone sent me what was clearly an AI generated doc. I read it, realized it was AI, had my AI summarize it, and ended up with nothing that brought new thinking to the idea ... This is a doom loop."

The phrase "no shit" comes to mind. Roslansky is speaking to a workplace irritation, but unwittingly touched on one of the AI industry's most self-destructive problems. One of the hilarious consequences of Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, and other content-theft platforms is that they're trained entirely stolen human-made content. AI data sets post 2023 are doomed to rely on cannibalizing AI-generated content, creating an incestuous data "doom loop" Roslansky spoke of here. Researchers have described this as "model collapse" previously, as human content creators get put out of business by Google's AI summary box. Reddit is reportedly thinking of cancelling its AI training contracts with Google, after realizing that Google's content theft engines are killing Reddit's entire business. Reddit recently blocked ChatGPT from accessing its content, as the platform seeks to insulate its business from theft.

"If we're not careful, we'll end up with a very expensive way to avoid writing and reading in an ocean of sameness, genericness ... Let's not do that." Roslansky pleads, "Let's go another way where AI helps us to do things, to learn things, to create things, but in ways that we enhance and advance with our distinct perspectives and unique experiences!"

Lol. Lmao even.

The post was liked by Microsoft President Brad Smith, who I've noticed has been desperately trying to whitewash Microsoft's data center expansionism across his own LinkedIn recently. Microsoft, unlike other big tech firms, seems far more concerned with how badly AI is battering its public image. Microsoft's data centers are increasingly dealing with protests across the world. The destruction of local communities is uniting regular folk across the political spectrum in ways we haven't seen in years.

Microsoft unleashed this mess. Perhaps take some responsibility?

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been instrumental in turning around Microsoft's gaming brand in recent months, boosting perception of the platform with a flurry of consumer-friendly features and promises. It doesn't seem like other Microsoft departments got the memo, yet.

Linux adoption among consumers is gradually increasing, as gamers, tech enthusiasts, and even nation states seek to escape Microsoft's poor handling of Windows. AI buttons everywhere, unwanted bloatware, poor performance, and a collapse in trust has made Windows look more vulnerable than ever — and competitors are lining up to take advantage.

Microsoft is the undisputed monarch of AI slop. Watching its execs cry about the technology they themselves foisted on the world is a master class in obliviousness and responsibility avoidance. Microsoft isn't fooling anyone, except perhaps themselves, and it's miserably sad.

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I got into this business inspired by the innovations Microsoft was exploring a decade ago. Microsoft led cloud convenience and digital platform synergy, its hardware innovations across Surface even gave Apple pause. But it has become consumed by AI psychosis in recent years, and while shareholders are undoubtedly happy, consumers in Microsoft's "legacy" business are looking for the exit.

Whether it's data centers destroying local communities, AI bull cluttering up Windows, or Microsoft's harvesting of tech components blowing up consumer prices ... perhaps Microsoft's senior execs need to read the room, sit down, and take some responsibility for the chaos they've unleashed on the world.

A crazy idea — that didn't require any input from AI, by the way.

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The big AI era isn't going as some might've hoped.

OpenAI and other big companies are losing billions chasing artificial intelligence technology, and it's only clever accounting and circular investments keeping the entire industry afloat. OpenAI specifically is in hot water, with spending commitments through to 2030 coming scarily close to $1 trillion dollars, and is operating purely on the basis of handouts from the likes of SoftBank, NVIDIA, Oracle, and Microsoft. OpenAI is looking to spend $50 billion in compute alone in 2026 on roughly $25~ billion in revenue, revenue which is also made up at least in part with IOUs.

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Despite the scary numbers, OpenAI is trucking along on faith and fumes alone, as companies' belief in the tech keeps the firm alive, for now.

Yet, even Sam Altman is having doubts about the impact of large language models. In a new podcast, Altman lamented "economic inertia" for the lack of adoption, and also called out the AI industry for making the tech seem "scary."

"A lot of the people building AI have been off saying there's a 25% chance we're going to destroy the world ..."

Altman effectively blamed those pesky humans for not adopting ChatGPT and other AI products, lamenting that "people keep using their tools in the same way" they had previously been using them.

"I thought when we got to [ChatGPT]-4, which was back in 2023, I thought very quickly after that there'd be much more disruption, with the software business up for grabs right away. I was wrong about a few things, one of them, in terms of the speed ... the economy just has so much inertia. People keep doing the same things they're doing, they keep buying from the same company, they keep wanting to use their tools in the same way ..."

Altman implied that the "slow" pace of change would make the "transition" to AI "smoother." Elsewhere in the podcast, Sam Altman remarked that AI leaders had "not done a very good job" explaining AI tech, referring to the broad backlash to the technology.

"I also think a lot of the people building AI have been off saying there's a 25% chance we're going to destroy the world ... and yeah, we're going to race ahead and do it because otherwise those bad guys will do it first. Or it's like, 'man, this thing is going to be really terrible, and 50% of the jobs are going to go away in the next year, and we hope you are all okay,' but it seems really scary.

We have not, as a field, done a very good job of explaining to people what the benefits are and how the downsides can be mitigated. We certainly have not done a good job ... even if people have had answers like, 'well, there's going to be universal basic income, or work will be optional', or whatever. There's been very little discussion from people about how and why it's important that people have more power and freedom in the world, not less."

My take: Altman just doesn't get it

I think the key issue with this AI tech is that most people just don't find it very useful. I work in an industry that, at least on paper, should benefit from some kind of automagical writing tool. The problem is that it loses so much nuance and accuracy that, even if I wanted to use it for work, I literally can't.

I think a lot of these very technical, mathematically-inclined dudebros pushing this format have little knowledge or understanding about how and where this technology should be applied. Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, gaming platforms, and other services are actively trying to filter out AI content, as it is repeatedly proven to decrease engagement — users actively hate it. Companies that are using tokens to try to boost productivity are finding that they're actually just boosting costs, and that they're simply finding a new bottleneck in the finite amount of addressable customers.

LLMs undoubtedly have uses, but when 90% of the compute is being spent on utterly unproductive use cases, the economics simply seem primed to implode. If you're spending tokens for the sake of spending tokens, and it doesn't lead to any discernible increase in sales — what is the point? You could use AI to make hundreds of slop video games, but people already have more than enough to play built by an ironically more affordable human workforce.

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In the future, I think we'll find AI probably ends up as a tool of governments in things like law enforcement and medical fields. Specific industries will benefit from tools that can parse and summarize large, complex data sets, albeit with the unfortunate knowledge of LLMs' penchant for hallucinations and outright lies. Just yesterday I asked Copilot to find some links to some old Windows Central articles I did. It just straight up lied and gave me some completely made-up links instead. Extrapolate these simple mistakes to medical fields or military applications, where lives are literally at stake ... is it worth the risk?

Perhaps the issue is that AI's inaccuracy renders it only viable in low-stakes businesses ... and those low-stakes businesses simply won't see a real return over doing things the "old way," which Altman describes as economic "inertia."

Perhaps it's not inertia. Perhaps the AI business model is just not the disruptor it was cracked up to be.

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Less than one year after being launched in preview and before leaving testing, the COPILOT function in Excel is going away. The function never shipped to general availability, but it could be used by Frontier and Insider users since August 2025.

The COPILOT function allowed users to use natural language to place prompts into spreadsheets. For example, you could use it to summarize text or categorize feedback. The function could also look up information from the web.

While useful, the function had serious limits. Microsoft stated that people should not use the COPILOT function for numerical calculations, responses that require context from other parts of a workbook, or any tasks with "legal, regulatory or compliance implications."

Considering how many people use Excel for important work and calculations, those limits are quite restrictive.

Microsoft's explanation of why the feature is going away lacks details. Instead, it primarily focuses on the fact that Copilot in Excel is still available in the side pane:

"Beginning September 14, 2026, the =COPILOT function in Microsoft Excel will no longer be available. This function is currently offered as a preview feature through the Insider and Frontier programs.

Customers can continue using Copilot in Excel through the Copilot side pane, which provides many of the same AI-powered capabilities, including summarizing text, classifying data, generating content, and retrieving information from the web. This change helps streamline the Copilot experience within Excel while continuing to provide AI assistance through a supported interface."

Users will not be able to create new formulas using the COPILOT function after September 14, 2026.

Windows Central take

It appears Microsoft may be reining in Copilot a bit. The AI tool is still part of the company's plans, but in a more controlled manner.

Microsoft has a unified Copilot experience that merges Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot. We've also seen some Copilot features go away or be limited over the last few months.

Earlier this summer I argued that the free version of Copilot is starting to feel like a tech demo designed to push paid tiers. I still think that's the case, but if Microsoft is going to push Copilot, it's best to do so with a plan.

Since the launch of Copilot, it's felt like Microsoft threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. The Copilot brand was diluted and there were dozens of different apps with Copilot in the name. Anything even remotely related to AI was attached to Copilot in some way, making the term almost meaningless.

Whether it's because Microsoft decided that strategy was a mistake or it's just had enough time to assess what properly stuck, the next wave of Copilot feels more targeted.

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When does a bug become a feature? Microsoft needs to answer that question now that classic Outlook may hide the Copilot button and stop other Copilot features from working.

A bug that appears with build 20026.20182 of classic Outlook prevents access to Copilot Chat and removes Copilot entry points within the app.

"After classic Outlook for Windows updates to build 20026.20182 and higher, you no longer have Copilot Chat or Copilot entry points in Outlook," reads a Microsoft support document. "This issue happens if you have a Copilot Chat (Basic) license or a paid M365 Copilot (Premium) account."

While it's easy to joke about Copilot going missing being "addition by subtraction," the bug is likely frustrating for those that rely on Copilot within classic Outlook.

If your system is affected by the bug, the Copilot button could be missing from the top-right area above the ribbon. The Copilot icon can also go missing in the left app bar or the More Apps area.

Even if you see the Copilot icon in the Add Apps section, selecting "Open" may not do anything at all. Even if you've added Copilot through ribbon customization, the option may appear grayed out or unavailable.

Only classic Outlook is affected, meaning Copilot still appears and works as usual within the web version of Outlook and other versions. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app and web experience are also working normally, though it's worth noting Microsoft has a new unified Copilot experience rolling out.

If you need to use Copilot immediately, Microsoft suggests switching to Outlook on the web or the new Outlook app. While standard fixes like creating a new Outlook profile, clearing local cache data, re-signing into Office, or restarting Windows have been tried, Microsoft notes they don't consistently restore the missing buttons.

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