Free Copilot: What you can do without paying (2026)
This guide was published on October 24, 2026, and is based on official Microsoft documentation (microsoft.com/fr-fr pricing pages, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft support) accessed that day. Microsoft rolls out its changes in phases and by country: check your own account for details.
Yes, Copilot exists in a free version, and even in two versions. The first is the consumer version of Copilot: it can be used on the web, in Edge, or in the Microsoft Copilot app, with or without a personal Microsoft account. The second is Copilot Chat, included at no extra cost in Microsoft 365 for all business accounts. Both can write, summarize, and analyze a file you provide, and search the web. Neither can work autonomously with your emails, files, and meetings, nor can either provide continuous assistance in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint: for that, a subscription or license is required. This guide covers what you can do without paying and when paying becomes necessary.
Free Copilot in five lines
- For individuals : Copilot is free on the web, in Edge, and in the Microsoft Copilot app (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android). Signing in with a Microsoft account adds history, image creation, longer conversations, and voice.
- For employees: Copilot Chat is included in Microsoft 365 business subscriptions, with enterprise data protection.
- What free services do well: write, rephrase, summarize an attached document, analyze a table, respond by citing the web, create a simple agent.
- What he doesn't do: read your emails, files and meetings on its own, assist you as you write in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, launch Researcher, Analyst or Cowork.
- Its limitations: usage is capped according to available capacity, without a published numerical quota, and priority is given to subscribers when demand is high.
The two free Copilot options: which one is yours?
Since August 2026, Microsoft has merged its two Copilot applications into one, "Microsoft Copilot." A switch allows you to switch between a personal and a work account, and the data remains separate between the two. Therefore, your Copilot account is determined by the account you are logged into.
| Copilot for the general public | Copilot Chat | |
|---|---|---|
| Account used | None, or a personal Microsoft account (Outlook.com, Hotmail) | Professional account managed by your organization |
| Mention displayed under your name | “Personal” | "Work", with the label "Copilot Chat (Basic)" |
| where to find it | copilot.microsoft.com, Edge, Microsoft Copilot app | copilot.cloud.microsoft, Microsoft Copilot app, Teams, Outlook, Edge |
| Corporate data protection | No | Yes: your interactions are not used to train the models |
| Professional use | Not recommended for working documents | Designed for this |
| Price | Free | Included in Microsoft 365, at no extra cost |
The practical rule can be summed up in one sentence: for any working document, always use your work account. The consumer version of Copilot does not offer the same level of confidentiality guarantees that your organization has negotiated with Microsoft.
Free Copilot with a personal account: what's included
Without any subscription, the consumer version of Copilot covers the essentials of a conversational assistant:
- The conversation to write, find ideas, rephrase, translate and summarize.
- Answers taken from the web, with the sources cited.
- File and image analysis that you drop into the conversation.
- Image creation, once connected with a Microsoft account.
- The voice and the vision : talk to Copilot, show him what your phone's camera sees.
- Copilot in Edge : summarize the open page, compare several tabs, memory of previous exchanges.
- The mode of in-depth reflection for questions that require multi-step reasoning, with more limited use than with a subscription.
Microsoft refers to a "limited free version of Copilot, depending on available capacity." No specific quota is published: the number of messages circulating on the internet per day does not come from Microsoft. In practice, Microsoft 365 subscribers have priority access during peak demand hours, and the most expensive features (image generation, voice, vision) are capped more quickly for free accounts.
Three features disappeared for everyone during the app merge on August 18, 2026: Copilot podcasts, advanced consumer search (Premium subscribers retain the Researcher agent), and group chats. If an old tutorial shows you these features, it's normal that you can no longer find them.
This remains reserved for subscribers
- Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote : a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium or Pro subscription is required, and only the subscription holder can benefit from it.
- Researcher, Analyst and Cowork : reserved for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro. Cowork The general public version is only available in the United States and Canada.
- Higher usage of voice, vision, and image creation.
Details of the offers and their prices are in our article. Copilot Pro, Copilot Premium, Microsoft 365 Premium: differences and prices.
Copilot Chat: the free Copilot for businesses
If your company uses Microsoft 365, you most likely already have Copilot Chat, even if no one has told you about it. It's the free version that really matters for work, because it operates within your organization's security perimeter. According to Microsoft's official pricing page, it includes:
- Supported answers from the web and on the files you send or mention in the conversation.
- Memory and personalization Copilot remembers your preferences from one conversation to the next.
- Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents launched from the conversation, which produce a document from a request.
- The creation of agents with Agent Builder and Copilot Studio.
- Copilot in Outlook with standard access, which responds to your inbox, your calendar and your meetings.
- Copilot Pages, if your organization has a SharePoint license.
- Corporate data protection and administrator controls.
Three features are offered in a limited version (Notebooks, search and Edge's Copilot mode) and two are billed on a usage basis if the administrator activates them: agents that read company data, for example a SharePoint library, and connectors to external sources.
What Copilot Chat does not do
- It doesn't read your work data on its own. Work IQ, the layer that connects Copilot to your emails, OneDrive and SharePoint files, meetings, and Teams conversations, is only available with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. With Copilot Chat, you need to attach or paste what Copilot needs to read.
- It does not assist you in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for accounts labeled "Copilot Chat (Basic)", since April 15, 2026. Microsoft documents an intermediate label, "Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic)", which retains standard access in these applications for certain organizations.
- It does not grant access to Researcher, Analyst, or Coworknor to meeting summaries in Teams.
The complete, function-by-function comparison is in our article. Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot.
How do you know which Copilot you have?
- Open copilot.cloud.microsoft or the Microsoft Copilot application.
- Look at the bottom of the sidebar, under your name. "Personal" means the consumer Copilot account; "Work" means a business account.
- With a business account, read the label: "Copilot Chat (Basic)" for the free version, "M365 Copilot (Premium)" if you have the license.
- Another clue: with the license, a Work IQ button appears above the input area, and two tabs, Chat and Cowork, at the top of the sidebar.
Free or paid: the summary table
| Function | Free public copilot | Copilot Chat (pro, included) | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversation, writing, summarizing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Answers sourced from the web | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Analysis of an attached file | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Creation of images | Yes, account connected, limited usage | Standard access | Extended or priority use |
| Corporate data protection | No | Yes | Yes (professional license) |
| Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint | No | No to "Copilot Chat (Basic)" | Yes |
| Independent reading of emails, files, meetings | No | No, except for standard access in Outlook. | Yes, Microsoft 365 Copilot license |
| Agents | No | Yes, free if they rely on the web; charged on usage based on company data. | Included with the license |
| Researcher, Analyst | No | No | Yes |
| Cowork | No | No | Yes, with consumption billed on a usage basis. |
Six useful features without paying
The free version already provides real benefits, provided you give it the necessary information. Here are six uses we practice in Copilot Chat training, with an example request for each.
1. Summarize a long document
Attach the PDF or Word file, then ask: "Summarize this document in ten lines for a manager who doesn't have time to read it. Conclude with the three decisions they must make and the figures that justify them."
2. Drafting or revising a sensitive email
Paste your draft: "Rewrite this email for a dissatisfied customer. Be courteous and firm, acknowledge the delay without apologizing twice, and propose a delivery date. Less than 150 words."
3. Prepare a meeting using notes
Paste your notes together: "Based on these notes, propose a 45-minute agenda, including the time allotted for each item, the question to be decided, and the person who should prepare each topic."
4. Analyze an Excel spreadsheet
Without a license, Copilot won't open in Excel, but it will read the attached file from the conversation: "Here are our sales by region over twelve months. What are the three main trends? It will flag any abnormal values and provide a chart for the direction." Always verify the figures it cites in the source file.
5. Conduct source monitoring
"What are the obligations of the AI Act for a company that deploys an AI assistant to its employees? Cite only official sources, with their date." Open the cited links: Copilot may make a mistake when summarizing a source.
6. Create a first simple agent
With Copilot Chat, an agent that relies solely on instructions and public websites is free. For example, a "Proofreader" agent that always applies the same proofreading checklist to your texts. The instructions are in our guide. Copilot Studio: Create your first agent step by step.
Precautions to take with the free version
- Do not put company data into the consumer version of Copilot. With a personal account, you operate outside the contractual framework of your organization. Copilot Chat, with your professional account, is designed for this purpose.
- Respect your organization's charter. Some companies limit the files that can be attached, or disable web search. What you see in Copilot Chat depends on your administrator's settings.
- Check before you broadcast. The free version is just as flawed as the paid version: incorrectly copied figures, poorly summarized sources, and hasty reasoning. Proofread everything that is sent to a client or manager.
- Keep the agents under control. A free agent that only reads the web poses no risk to your data; as soon as an agent reads shared documents, usage becomes paid and must be validated by the administrator.
When to switch to a paid plan?
The move to a paid model is justified by a change in usage, not by the quality of the responses, which is similar between the two versions. Three warning signs should alert you:
- You spend all your time copying and pasting. Emails, reports, and documents are included in the conversation. The Microsoft 365 Copilot license allows you to read them directly, within the limits of your access rights.
- You produce a lot of documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and you want help as you write. Our step-by-step guides show you how. Word, Excel, Power point, Outlook et teams.
- You want to delegate entire tasksFrom research to deliverable: that's the role of Copilot Coworkreserved for the license.
In large organizations, the most common model is a hybrid one: Copilot Chat for everyone, and licenses for teams with proven daily usage. In fact, our users often start with the free version. Copilot training courses for businesses : we learn how to formulate our requests properly before investing in licenses.
F.A.Q
Is Copilot really free?
Yes. The consumer version of Copilot is free on the web, in Edge, and in the Microsoft Copilot app, with usage capped based on available capacity. Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost for Microsoft 365 business accounts. Only Copilot in Office applications, standalone access to work data, Researcher, Analyst, and Cowork require a subscription or a license.
Do I need a Microsoft account to use Copilot for free?
Not for a simple conversation. A personal, signed-in Microsoft account adds conversation history, image creation, longer conversations, and voice.
Can Copilot be used for free in Word or Excel?
Not directly within the application. With a personal account, you need a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium, or Pro subscription. With a business account, you generally need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. However, you can attach a Word or Excel file to a free Copilot chat to summarize or analyze it, and Copilot Chat's Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents will generate documents upon request.
Is there a message limit in the free version?
Yes, but Microsoft doesn't specify the amount: they talk about limited usage based on available capacity. Subscribers are given priority during peak hours. The daily quotas mentioned on some websites don't come from an official source.
Is Copilot Chat free for all businesses?
It is included for any Entra ID business account with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription, at no extra cost. However, the administrator can restrict certain functions, and agents that read company data are billed on a usage basis if enabled.
Do students and teachers have access to Copilot for free?
Yes: Copilot Chat is included for institutional staff and for students aged 13 and over with a Microsoft 365 Education A1, A3 or A5 license, with corporate data protection.
Is the free Copilot equivalent to the free ChatGPT?
For an employee, the decisive advantage of Copilot Chat isn't the quality of the responses but the framework: it's already included in Microsoft 365, with your organization's data protected. To compare assistants, see our comparison. Claude or ChatGPT and the page Which AI tool should I choose?
Sources
- Microsoft Support understand the different Microsoft Copilot experiencesUpdated September 9, 2026.
- Microsoft, Copilot offers for individuals, accessed October 24, 2026.
- Microsoft, comparison of Microsoft 365 offers for individuals.
- Microsoft Support Microsoft 365 subscription AI credits and limitsUpdated October 8, 2026.
- Microsoft, Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing and comparison, accessed October 24, 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, Introducing Microsoft Copilot ChatUpdated October 21, 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, Copilot Chat featuresUpdated October 19, 2026.
- microsoftedge, New features of Edge on desktop and mobile, May 13, 2026
- Microsoft, Copilot in education.