Microsoft 365 Family: Copilot cannot directly access OneDrive files
I am the primary subscriber on an active Microsoft 365 Family subscription. Copilot is unable to directly access or read files stored in the OneDrive associated with the same Microsoft account. I have reproduced this both in the Windows Copilot app and in Copilot on the web. When I ask Copilot to access a specific existing OneDrive folder, it reports that it does not have access to my OneDrive and cannot see or open the folder or files. Manual file attachment does work: if I manually attach a file from OneDrive, Copilot can read and summarise it. The problem is specifically with direct OneDrive access without manually attaching the file. Microsoft Support also investigated the issue remotely using Quick Assist. They confirmed that manual file attachment works, but direct OneDrive access does not. The support agent told me that this appeared to be a "design/feature issue with Copilot" and that it was beyond his support boundary, so he was unable to resolve it. He advised me to submit the issue through Feedback Hub and also raise it here in the Microsoft Community. I have submitted the issue through Feedback Hub. I'd really love to know if anyone using Microsoft 365 Family has experienced the same problem, or found a way to enable direct Copilot access to OneDrive for the primary subscriber. I would also be interested to know whether this is currently expected functionality for Microsoft 365 Family, or whether there are additional account, rollout, entitlement, or permission requirements that are not obvious from the product interface. Any relevant experience or wisdom would be very gratefully received.Save the Date: Join us October 20 for the OneDrive + Copilot Digital Event
Files and photos are at the center of how we work, create, and collaborate. As AI and Copilot transform the way we use content, OneDrive is evolving for this era - helping people get more from their files with Copilot, delivering a faster and more dependable core file experience, making collaboration effortless, and creating new ways to discover, enjoy, and share photos and videos. So, join us on October 20 for the 4th Annual OneDrive + Copilot Digital Event, a free online experience showcasing the latest innovations across OneDrive and Copilot. ✨ Hear directly from Jeff Teper, Executive Vice President of Microsoft Apps and Agents, Adam Harmetz, Corporate Vice President of Product, OneDrive and SharePoint, and Arwa Tyebkhan, Head of Product, OneDrive, alongside product leaders, engineers, and experts from across the OneDrive team as they share the latest innovations, demonstrating how AI is transforming the way people work with files and content. 💡 You'll see real product demos, hearing from the people building the product, and get a closer look at the experiences that will help you get the most out of OneDrive and Microsoft 365. 🗣️ Following the broadcast, you are invited to join our live Q&A with members of the OneDrive team and get answers directly from the experts behind the product. Event Details Event: OneDrive + Copilot - Your file system and photo solution for the AI Era Date: October 20, 2026, 9:00 AM PST Cost: Free Format: Digital event followed by a live Q&A Register here: https://aka.ms/OneDriveEvent This event is open to everyone – whether you’re an IT professional, a knowledge worker, or a fan who uses OneDrive to relive your favorite memories! Register today and join us to see what's next for OneDrive in the Copilot and AI era. See you there!
Microsoft Copilot 365 Personal Premium limits
In my Copilot Notebook, I deliberately loaded 20 PDF files in order to test Copilot’s grounding behavior across the full set of available references. At the time this testing setup was created, 20 references represented the effective grounding limit described for Copilot Notebooks, meaning that these references were expected to form the source base used by Copilot when generating grounded responses. The references consisted of fully functional, original academic textbooks containing relevant and up-to-date scientific information, mostly published within the last ten years. Importantly, the sources do not differ from one another in terms of accessibility, file type, availability, or how they were added to the notebook. They are all PDF files, they are all available in the same environment, and there is no obvious difference in access conditions that would explain why some are consistently used while others are repeatedly treated as inaccessible, unavailable, summarized, or skipped. The purpose of the test was therefore not simply to see whether Copilot could access 20 files, but whether it could actually ground its answers in the complete reference set when explicitly instructed to analyze all available sources. Despite this, in approximately 99.9% of my tests, Copilot appears to ground its responses in only 3 to 5 of the 20 available references, often repeatedly using the same documents. When I ask what happened to the remaining sources, Copilot gives different explanations. Sometimes it says that it does not have access to certain files. Sometimes it says that it only received a summary of the file. Sometimes it says that a step involved in retrieving or processing the information failed. The way Copilot explains this often makes it sound as if access to the uploaded files depends on some external or intermediate system, rather than being something Copilot itself can directly control. This is difficult to understand from a user perspective because the files are already uploaded into the Copilot environment and were specifically provided as source material for analysis. The practical result is that a task explicitly requesting analysis of 20 sources often produces an answer based on only 3 to 5 of them. For academic or research use, this is a serious limitation. If 15 to 17 out of 20 carefully selected sources are not actually examined, then the final synthesis cannot realistically represent the full source base. This also creates uncertainty about what Copilot means when it claims to have used the provided materials. My question to Microsoft is: Is there a technical limit on how much information Copilot can actually retrieve, open, and analyze from uploaded files during a single task or session? If such a limit exists, what is that limit? And why, when 20 valid PDF sources are uploaded and Copilot is explicitly instructed to analyze all of them, does it so often appear to open only 3 to 5 files, while describing the others as inaccessible, summarized, or unavailable because some retrieval step failed?Microsoft Copilot 365
To Microsoft: Serious Concerns Regarding the Actual Capabilities of Microsoft Copilot Microsoft, After 12 consecutive days of intensive testing of Microsoft Copilot, for approximately eight hours per day — around 96 hours of practical use in total — I have serious concerns about the accuracy of the way Copilot's functions and capabilities are described and presented by Microsoft. What I have observed in actual use is repeatedly and substantially different from what the product is presented as being capable of doing. This conclusion is not based on a single unsuccessful prompt, an isolated error, or a short test. It is based on repeated testing over many days, involving continuous academic, analytical, document-based, and multi-step tasks. One of the most serious problems is Copilot's inability to reliably maintain and use conversational context even within the same active session. For example, Copilot can generate a substantial piece of text and, in the immediately following interaction, claim that it cannot see or access that same text. It may ask the user to provide again information or content that Copilot itself generated only one response earlier. This makes it impossible to rely on the system for genuine sequential work. During testing, the same general problem has appeared in different forms: Copilot fails to return reliably to earlier tasks, loses access to information already established within the conversation, fails to connect consecutive instructions, and sometimes behaves as though previous parts of the same active session do not exist. This is particularly serious when Copilot is used for academic or research work. A workflow may require the system first to generate or analyse material, then classify it, compare it with another part of the work, identify its sources, reorganise it, and finally continue developing it. If Copilot cannot reliably access the result of the immediately preceding step, such a workflow becomes fundamentally unreliable. After approximately 96 hours of direct testing, it is increasingly difficult to regard these problems simply as occasional technical limitations. The discrepancy between Microsoft's descriptions of Copilot and the behaviour actually observed during sustained use is substantial enough to raise a much more serious question: whether the functions and capabilities attributed to Copilot in Microsoft's product descriptions accurately represent what the system can actually and reliably do in normal use. From the user's perspective, the current experience creates the impression that Microsoft's claims about Copilot's capabilities are misleading. A capability should not be considered a genuine product capability merely because the system can occasionally perform it under favourable conditions. If a feature is presented to users as part of the product's functionality, users should reasonably be able to expect that functionality to operate consistently enough to be relied upon. After 12 days of testing, that has not been my experience. The difference between the advertised or described capabilities and the actual behaviour of Copilot is not minor. In several fundamental areas — particularly conversational continuity, access to previous work within the same session, multi-step task execution, and reliable reuse of previously generated content — the practical experience does not correspond to the expectations created by Microsoft's descriptions of the product. After nearly 100 hours of testing, I am therefore questioning not simply the quality of Copilot, but the accuracy and transparency of Microsoft's representation of what Copilot is actually capable of doing. If Microsoft describes Copilot as possessing capabilities that repeatedly cannot be reproduced in sustained real-world use, then the issue is no longer merely whether Copilot occasionally makes mistakes. The issue is whether users are being given an accurate representation of the product they are being asked to use and pay for.NOW ON DEMAND | OneDrive Office Hours | November 2024 |
Are you ready to connect with OneDrive product makers this month? We’re gearing up for the next call. Join the OneDrive product team live each month on our monthly OneDrive Customer Office Hours to hear what's top of mind, get insights into roadmap updates, and dig into a special topic. Each call includes live Q&A where you'll have a chance to ask the OneDrive product team any question about OneDrive - The home of your files. 😎 Use this Teams link to register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours. Each call is recorded and made available on demand shortly after. Our next call is Wednesday, November 20th, 2024, 8:00am - 9:00am PDT. This month's special topic: “New OneDrive Sync Updates" with Carter Green, Principal Product Manager on the Microsoft team. Our goal is to simplify the way you create and access the files you need, get the information you are looking for, and manage your tasks efficiently. We can't wait to share, listen, and engage - monthly! Anyone can join this one-hour webinar to ask us questions, share feedback, and learn more about the features we’re releasing soon and our roadmap. Note: Our monthly public calls are not an official support tool. To open support tickets, go to see Get support for Microsoft 365; distinct support for educators and education customers is available, too. Stay up to date on Microsoft OneDrive adoption on adoption.microsoft.com. Join our community to catch all news and insights from the OneDrive community blog. And follow us on Twitter: @OneDrive. Thank you for your interest in making your voice heard and taking your knowledge and depth of OneDrive to the next level. You can ask questions and provide feedback in the event Comments below and we will do our best to address what we can during the call. 😎 Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours. See you there, Rob Nunez (Product Marketing Manager – Microsoft)NOW ON DEMAND| OneDrive Office Hours | February 2025
Join the OneDrive product team live each month on our monthly OneDrive Customer Office Hours to hear what's top of mind, get insights into roadmap updates, and dig into a special topic. Each call includes live Q&A where you'll have a chance to ask the OneDrive product team any question about OneDrive - The home of your files. 😎 Use these links to: Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours. Save the calendar invite so you never miss a call-https://aka.ms/OfficeHoursCalendar Each call is recorded and made available on demand shortly after. Our next call is Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, 8:00am - 9:00am PDT. This month's special topic: "Ask Us Anything" with the OneDrive team. We are giving the full time open for your questions-and our product teams are eager to have some great conversations with you all! Our goal is to simplify the way you create and access the files you need, get the information you are looking for, and manage your tasks efficiently. We can't wait to share, listen, and engage - monthly! Anyone can join this one-hour webinar to ask us questions, share feedback, and learn more about the features we’re releasing soon and our roadmap. Note: Our monthly public calls are not an official support tool. To open support tickets, go to see Get support for Microsoft 365; distinct support for educators and education customers is available, too. Stay up to date on Microsoft OneDrive adoption on adoption.microsoft.com. Join our community to catch all news and insights from the OneDrive community blog. And follow us on Twitter: @OneDrive. Thank you for your interest in making your voice heard and taking your knowledge and depth of OneDrive to the next level. You can ask questions and provide feedback in the event Comments below and we will do our best to address what we can during the call. 😎 Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours.NOW ON DEMAND| OneDrive Office Hours | March 2025
Join the OneDrive product team live each month on our monthly OneDrive Customer Office Hours to hear what's top of mind, get insights into roadmap updates, and dig into a special topic. Each call includes live Q&A where you'll have a chance to ask the OneDrive product team any question about OneDrive - The home of your files. 😎 Use these links to: Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours. Save the calendar invite so you never miss a call-https://aka.ms/OfficeHoursCalendar Each call is recorded and made available on demand shortly after. Our next call is Wednesday, March 12th, 2025, 8:00am - 9:00am PDT. This month's special topic: "Unlicensed User Accounts" with the Trent Green. We have heard your feedback and are doing a follow up session tied to this topic. We will have our product teams on call ready to answer your questions. Our goal is to simplify the way you create and access the files you need, get the information you are looking for, and manage your tasks efficiently. We can't wait to share, listen, and engage - monthly! Anyone can join this one-hour webinar to ask us questions, share feedback, and learn more about the features we’re releasing soon and our roadmap. Note: Our monthly public calls are not an official support tool. To open support tickets, go to see Get support for Microsoft 365; distinct support for educators and education customers is available, too. Stay up to date on Microsoft OneDrive adoption on adoption.microsoft.com. Join our community to catch all news and insights from the OneDrive community blog. And follow us on Twitter: @OneDrive. Thank you for your interest in making your voice heard and taking your knowledge and depth of OneDrive to the next level. You can ask questions and provide feedback in the event Comments below and we will do our best to address what we can during the call. 😎 Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours.OneDrive Office Hours | April 2025
Join the OneDrive product team live each month on our monthly OneDrive Customer Office Hours to hear what's top of mind, get insights into roadmap updates, and dig into a special topic. Each call includes live Q&A where you'll have a chance to ask the OneDrive product team any question about OneDrive - The home of your files. New way to register and watch on-demand! We heard your feedback, and we now have a single destination for all of your Office Hours content. From registration, to watching our previous sessions, you can find it all on our new homepage: Go to : aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours to see upcoming session to register, and rewatch previous topics! Save the calendar invite so you never miss a call-https://aka.ms/OfficeHoursCalendar Each call is recorded and made available on demand shortly after. Get ready for our next call Our next call is Wednesday, April 16th, 2025, 8:00am - 9:00am PDT. This month's special topic: "Known Folder Move (KFM): Successful Sync Deployment" with the Kayla Ngan. We will have our product teams on call ready to answer your questions. Our goal is to simplify the way you create and access the files you need, get the information you are looking for, and manage your tasks efficiently. We can't wait to share, listen, and engage - monthly! Anyone can join this one-hour webinar to ask us questions, share feedback, and learn more about the features we’re releasing soon and our roadmap. Note: Our monthly public calls are not an official support tool. To open support tickets, go to see Get support for Microsoft 365; distinct support for educators and education customers is available, too. Stay up to date on Microsoft OneDrive adoption on adoption.microsoft.com. Join our community to catch all news and insights from the OneDrive community blog. And follow us on Twitter: @OneDrive. Thank you for your interest in making your voice heard and taking your knowledge and depth of OneDrive to the next level. You can ask questions and provide feedback in the event Comments below and we will do our best to address what we can during the call. 😎 Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours.NOW ON DEMAND | OneDrive Office Hours | May 2025
Are you ready to connect with OneDrive product makers this month? We’re gearing up for the next call. Join the OneDrive product team live each month on our monthly OneDrive Customer Office Hours to hear what's top of mind, get insights into roadmap updates, and dig into a special topic. Each call includes live Q&A where you'll have a chance to ask the OneDrive product team any question about OneDrive - The home of your files. New way to register and watch on-demand! We heard your feedback, and we now have a single destination for all of your Office Hours content. From registration, to watching our previous sessions, you can find it all on our new homepage: Go to: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours to see upcoming session to register, and rewatch previous topics! Save the calendar invite so you never miss a call-https://aka.ms/OfficeHoursCalendar Each call is recorded and made available on demand shortly after. Get ready for our next call Our next call is Wednesday, May 21st, 2025, 8:00am - 9:00am PDT. This month's special topic: "Microsoft 365 Conference Recap & News" with the OneDrive team. We will have our product teams on call ready to answer your questions. Our goal is to simplify the way you create and access the files you need, get the information you are looking for, and manage your tasks efficiently. We can't wait to share, listen, and engage - monthly! Anyone can join this one-hour webinar to ask us questions, share feedback, and learn more about the features we’re releasing soon and our roadmap. Note: Our monthly public calls are not an official support tool. To open support tickets, go to see Get support for Microsoft 365; distinct support for educators and education customers is available, too. Stay up to date on Microsoft OneDrive adoption on adoption.microsoft.com. Join our community to catch all news and insights from the OneDrive community blog. And follow us on Twitter: @OneDrive. Thank you for your interest in making your voice heard and taking your knowledge and depth of OneDrive to the next level. You can ask questions and provide feedback in the event Comments below and we will do our best to address what we can during the call. 😎 Register and join live: aka.ms/OneDriveOfficeHours.
