Microsoft is merging Copilot and Copilot 365 into one unified app - and retiring 3 features

Why it matters

Microsoft is consolidating its two separate Copilot apps into a single unified application, addressing long-standing confusion among users who had to juggle a consumer-oriented Copilot and an organization-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot. The unified app, rolling out in mid-September, will let people sign in with personal, work, or school accounts and switch between them, while Microsoft promises that work and personal data remain fully separated. Microsoft 365 subscribers keep higher usage limits and direct access to Word, Excel, Outlook, and their files, while free users retain standard features such as image creation, file uploads, and voice or text chat. The consolidation comes at a cost: group chats, podcasts, and Deep Research mode are being retired, and users must save that content before the cutoff if they want to keep it. Deep Research reports remain viewable, but only Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers can continue producing in-depth reports through the Researcher tool. The piece frames the merger as a sensible simplification of an unwieldy product lineup, though the transition's smoothness remains to be seen.