M365 Copilot requirements explained!
Why do you need a OneDrive account? What for a MS Entra ID account to use M365 Copilot? If you're wondering about these questions and more, read on. I will briefly explain the technical requirements for M365 Copilot. What is M365 Copilot? Skip this if you're already familiar with it. M365 Copilot is a conversational AI tool that can help you with your tasks at work. M365 Copilot includes access to: Copilot Chat Seamless integration in M365 Apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, more... Creation and usage of Copilot Agents A key feature of M365 Copilot is Enterprise Data Protection or EDP. EDP does not limit M365 Copilot users. Instead it is a relief to use the advantages of AI at work knowing, that your organizational data is protected and secured by the terms of the Data Protection Addendum and the Product Terms. EDP ensures, for example, that your data isn't used to train foundation models or that your data remains within the boundaries of the EU, supporting regulatory and compliance requirements such as GDPR. M365 Copilot Prerequisites I enjoy having conversations about various topics with different people. Here and there, I get asked about M365 Copilot. And here and there, I confirm how organizations want to bake the cake without first gathering all the ingredients. A: Let's deploy Copilot. B: Sure! Have you already adopted OneDrive? A: No, we are still using our file server. Why? An optimal usage of M365 is a prerequisite for enabling M365 Copilot. Happy M365 users = happy M365 Copilot users. It is harmonized with the technical prerequisites. Even if technically, your users have a OneDrive account available. It counts as checked if they are using OneDrive regularly for saving and sharing their work files. An eligible base license Microsoft 365 Copilot is an add-on license, therefore to assign the add-on, there needs to be a base license first. Eligible base licenses include: - M365 Apps for enterprise or M365 Apps for business - M365 Business Basic, Business Standard or Business Premium - M365 E3, E5, F1, or F3 - M365 A1, A3, or A5 for faculty - Office 365 A1, A3, or A5 for faculty or higher education students aged 18+ And more. MS Entra ID account Formerly Azure Active Directory, MS Entra ID is the cloud-based identity and access management service. Users must have MS Entra ID account. Why? As the motor for identity and access control and management in M365, Microsoft Entra ID plays a key role in Enterprise Data Protection. In other words, without MS Entra ID account, there's no chance within M365 architecture to ensure Enterprise Data Protection. OneDrive account Have you tried to see what happens if you use M365 Copilot without a OneDrive account? I haven't myself, if you've tried, share your experience with me, send me a message. 👇 Some features in M365 Copilot require users to have a OneDrive account, like uploading a file from your device to enrich a prompt. Uploading a file to a Copilot Chat prompt will send a copy to that location OneDrive/my files/Microsoft Copilot Chat Files on your OneDrive for Business account. Microsoft 365 Apps Cloud-based Microsoft 365 Apps are required. Make sure there's no device-based licensing for M365 Apps for enterprise, since Copilot isn't available in such a case. M365 Copilot also integrates in the web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. To ensure a good user experience, make sure thrid-party cookies are enabled. Update Channel To ensure your users receive the latest M365 Copilot features, make sure you set up as M365 Apps update channel either the Current or Monthly Enterprise Channel. Outlook Have you tried to use M365 Copilot in Outlook Classic? M365 Copilot works in both, the new and classic versions. In the Outlook classic version, it loses the interactivity features, which I personally love. Teams If your users are licensed with M365 Copilot, then let them try the M365 Copilot integration in MS Teams. Copilot in Teams can help people summarize Teams messages as well as take notes during meetings. Make sure to configure transcription and captions for Teams meeting and Teams meeting recording.Copilot no longer supports image uploads
Copilot is no longer allowing image uploading/uploading. Neither in web mode nor in work mode. Does anyone know if they took away the resource for good or if it is some instability? The official documentation mentions that at least in web mode it should be supported. Document Reference: File formats supported by Copilot - Microsoft SupportCopilot Chat vsus. Microsoft 365 Copilot What's the difference?
While their names sound similar at first glance - Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat - they differ in several aspects. And more importantly, one can't be without another. What is Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat? First since first. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is also called Copilot Chat. Copilot Chat generates answers based on web content, while Microsoft 365 Copilot is also grounded on users' data, like emails, meetings, files, and more. Since January 15, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is available for everyone. Everyone in organizations. Also customers with a Microsoft 365 Business Basic subscriptions can enjoy using Copilot Chat securily. The screenshot below shows how Copilot Chat looks like and highlights its main capabilities. Note that EDP - Enterprise Data Protection is available. What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? Microsoft 365 Copilot is an add-on available for specific Microsoft 365 Subscriptions: Microsoft 365 E3, E5, A3, A5, and Business Standard & Premium. It includes Copilot Chat in addition to other Copilot features: Microsoft 365 Copilot also includes a chat grounded on users' meetings, emails, chats, and documents. It integrates into Microsoft 365 apps, like Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and more. It brings the capability to create agents and additional Copilot management features such as SharePoint Advanced Management and Copilot Dashboard. The screenshot below shows how the Copilot chat experience for those users who got the Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Note that EDP - Enterprise Data Protection is available here too. Copilot Chat can be pinned in MS Teams and MS Outlook as App. How can I access Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat? Copilot Chat is nowadays accessible via m365copilot.com using your Entra account. In contrast to Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat users cannot see, by default, Copilot Chat pinned on the Microsoft 365 homepage. Microsoft 365 Copilot Administrators will have to pin the chat in the admin center so it is easy for Copilot Chat users to access it. What's the difference? There are some aspects, such as licensing requirements, subscription fees, data sources, or access to organization content, that determine the differences between Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot. I have listed it in the screenshot below. 👇 Image showing a 3-column table: Aspect, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Feature Suggestion: Personalized Product Alerts via Wishlist and Regional Availability Tracking
It’d be amazing if Copilot could notify users when specific products they care about become available—especially if it could tie in wishlist items and region-based tracking. Imagine being able to tag a graphics card or monitor you’ve had your eye on, and then Copilot lets you know the moment it’s up for order in your area. No more manually checking five different websites every morning. Just one smart alert when the product is available, with all the relevant specs and vendor links. This would save time, cut through the noise, and make Copilot way more proactive. It’s the kind of feature that fits perfectly with how people already use Copilot—so why not take it a step further? If Copilot’s goal is to be truly helpful and intuitive, adding personalized product alerts would be a strong move in the right direction.
View Agent Builder Agents in Copilot Studio
I am having difficulty viewing the Agents I have created using MS365 Copilot Studio Agents Builder (let's call them 'Agent Builder Agents') within Copilot Studio and wondering if anyone else is having this problem? I am following the recommended steps for creating, sharing and using Agent Builder Agents, but I then have no visibility of these within Copilot Studio. However, if I create the Agent within Copilot Studio (let's call them Copilot Studio Agents), then I do not have this limitation. Is this because my Copilot Studio environment is not configured properly or is this an inherent limitation of Agent Builder Agents?
Improving Copilot's Causal Reasoning and Command Throughput via Centralized Protocol Layer (EDCA)
Problem Statement Copilot's agentic behavior is confined to pre-defined workflows or embedded tools. Prompt variability leads to semantic drift across sessions. Causal reasoning is weak under user goal ambiguity (e.g., “X + Y + Z triggers unintended output B”). Developer-side cost for scaling model I/O is too high under the current chain-of-thought format. Proposed Architecture: EDCA Central Control Layer (Mediator Core) Acts as routing hub between expression → intention → execution path. Supports fallback chains, multi-path detection, and output anchoring. Protocol-based Expression Parsing User utterances are parsed through a control protocol rather than raw prompts. Enables modular injection of reasoning modules. Agent Proxy Submodules For scalable delegation in C-end scenarios (non-technical users). Acts under a value-aligned behavior sandbox. Results from Experimental Deployment Metric Before (Raw Prompt) After (EDCA Protocol) Throughput (req/min/core) ~120 ~170 Semantic Coherence (avg depth) Moderate Significantly Higher Resource Waste (multi-chain) ~23% conflict ~5% conflict Why This Matters for Copilot Scales beyond pre-defined tools Enhances user trust via stable expression paths Reduces cost via intention compression & fewer back-and-forth calls Enables structured delegation for both B-end and C-end deployment scenarios Call for Feedback This is not a product — this is a thinking protocol. We’d love to hear from Copilot devs, LLM architects, and interaction designers: Where is Copilot heading? How can control layers like EDCA join the ecosystem? Contact: email address removed for privacy reasonsBuilding on the Future Machine Learning and Copilot The Next Frontier in Application Development
The age of intelligent software is here, and it’s transforming the way we build, interact with, and even think about applications. With the integration of Machine Learning (ML) and AI-powered copilots, developers and architects alike are empowered like never before. But beyond using these tools as productivity boosters, a bigger opportunity lies ahead: building on top of AI and copilots themselves. https://dellenny.com/building-on-the-future-machine-learning-and-copilot-the-next-frontier-in-application-development/
Feature Request: API Access for Copilot to Support Knowledge Management Tools
I'd love to see Microsoft offer a public API endpoint for Copilot, especially one that's compatible with OpenAI-style integrations. This would unlock massive potential for developers and users working in tools like: Obsidian (local-first, markdown-based personal knowledge management) Logseq, Zettlr, and other note-based or PKM systems Custom research environments, digital gardens, and AI-enhanced workflows Currently, many plugins in this ecosystem support third-party models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini), but Copilot is not accessible—despite the fact that Microsoft has positioned it as a cross-platform assistant with memory, reasoning, and contextual awareness. An API endpoint would allow: Seamless AI interactions within a user's vault or notes Context-sensitive summaries, tagging, and creative workflows Natural-language search across local files using Copilot’s memory and intelligence Voice or chat-based journaling that connects to structured PKM formats Microsoft already supports Copilot integrations in Office apps like Word and OneNote, but many users prefer markdown-based, privacy-respecting environments. Providing API-level access would allow broader use cases while respecting platform independence. Obsidian alone has millions of users and a thriving plugin ecosystem. A Copilot integration—even just one with simple API compatibility—could become a game-changer for anyone building personalized, long-term knowledge workflows. If this isn't the best place to post this please let me know :)
Allowing Non-Technical Users to Update Topics/Responses
We have a Copilot Studio chatbot that is functioning well for the most part. However, the business has requested the ability to add and manage topics and responses to better address evolving needs. IT, however, is hesitant to grant non-technical users direct access to Copilot Studio, as it could risk breaking the chatbot. We've attempted to use a SharePoint list to manage topics and responses. This approach uses a Power Automate flow to access the SharePoint data and perform a simple lookup against user questions. Unfortunately, this solution lacks AI capabilities and feels more like a basic keyword-matching system than an intelligent chatbot. We’re exploring alternative solutions to allow non-technical users to manage topics and responses while preserving AI functionality and without giving direct access to Copilot Studio. Specific Questions: Are there ways to extend or customize Copilot Studio to allow controlled, user-friendly topic and response management? What other approaches or tools can we use to implement this requirement while maintaining the chatbot’s AI capabilities and ensuring IT governance? Any guidance, suggestions, or examples would be greatly appreciated!
