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BallyBogey1608's avatar
BallyBogey1608
Copper Contributor
Jan 25, 2026

Copilot in MS365 not available with one account on one Mac

I am stumped as to why my wife cannot see Copilot in the menu bar of any MS 365 app on her laptop. She is part of the family plan, and I have confirmed that her subscription credentials allow her to use Copilot. 

The MS apps are at the latest version, along with macOS.

Scenario 1:

  • When my wife uses her MS credentials to log in to any MS 365 app on her laptop, Copilot does not appear in the menu bar.
  • When I log her out of MS 365 and log in with my credentials on her laptop, the Copilot appears on the menu bar.
  • She can run the standalone Copilot app on her laptop using her credentials.

 

Scenario 2:

  • When my wife uses her MS credentials to log in to any MS 365 app on my laptop, Copilot appears in the menu bar. 

I can't tell what is preventing Copilot from appearing in MS 365 on my wife's laptop when she is using her credentials.

copilot in excel
copilot in outlook
copilot in powerpoint
copilot in word

1 Reply

  • Surya_Narayana's avatar
    Surya_Narayana
    MCT
    Jan 31, 2026

    hi BallyBogey1608​ This kind of behavior usually comes down to local profile / entitlement caching on the Mac, not the license itself.

    A few observations that help narrow it down:

    • Since Copilot shows up with her account on your Mac, her license and tenant eligibility are clearly fine.
    • Since Copilot shows up on her Mac with your account, the apps and OS on her device are also fine.
    • That strongly points to something cached locally for her user profile on that Mac (Office identity, entitlement token, or privacy setting).
    • A couple of things that are worth checking / trying if you haven’t already:
    • Connected Experiences: In any Office app → Settings / Preferences → Privacy, make sure “Optional connected experiences” are enabled while logged in as her. Copilot won’t light up without that, even if the license is valid.
    • Sign out everywhere (everywhere): Have her sign out of all Office apps and the standalone Copilot app, quit all Office processes, then sign back in starting with Word or Excel.
    • Office identity cache reset (Mac-specific): Sometimes removing just the apps isn’t enough. Clearing the Office identity / licensing containers for her macOS user profile can force Office to re-evaluate entitlements.
    • macOS user profile test: If possible, create a brand-new macOS user on her laptop and sign into Office there with her credentials. If Copilot appears, you’ve confirmed it’s a corrupted or stale profile cache issue rather than anything accounts related.

    The key takeaway is that this doesn’t look like a Family plan limitation or a Copilot entitlement issue it’s almost certainly a local Office/Mac identity cache problem tied to her user profile.

    If none of the above helps, this is one of those cases where opening a Microsoft support ticket is justified, because they can force a backend entitlement refresh while you’re troubleshooting locally.

    Curious if anyone else has seen Copilot “stick” to one Mac user profile like this  feels very similar to some of the early New Outlook for Mac quirks.

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