Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft 365 Copilot – Persistent Source Access, Retrieval and Corpus Analysis Failures I am posting this because I have been experiencing persistent problems with Microsoft 365 Copilot when working with academic source material, and after multiple troubleshooting attempts, support contacts, and Level 2 escalation, I still do not have a meaningful explanation or solution. My use case is academic research. I work with a corpus of approximately 17–20 academic textbooks, handbooks, dictionaries, and reference works in linguistics and sociolinguistics. My goal is deliberately to test the maximum practical capacity of the subscription plan I am paying for, especially regarding multi-source analysis, retrieval, source grounding, session continuity, comparison, and synthesis. The subject matter itself is completely clear to me. I know what is contained in these sources, I am familiar with the terminology and relevant concepts, and I can independently verify whether Copilot has actually accessed the relevant material, omitted major sources, misunderstood terminology, or produced a synthesis that does not reflect the corpus. This is therefore not a case of an unclear prompt or of a user being unable to evaluate the answer. What I have already tested I have tried multiple ways of providing the source material. I have: used files stored within the Microsoft ecosystem; used OneDrive; tested Microsoft 365 Copilot; tested Copilot workflows involving Word; tested Notebook-style source workflows; rewritten and simplified prompts; created detailed protocols instructing Copilot to analyse all available sources; explicitly required source attribution; explicitly required comparison between authors; instructed Copilot not to stop at automatically generated summaries or partial retrieval output; converted the material into different file formats. The file-format testing produced one particularly strange result. Ironically, the most satisfactory results were obtained only after taking an original, fully functional academic PDF textbook — with intact indexing, tables, structured text, and no access restrictions — converting it first into an image-only PDF with no OCR, and then into an image-based PDF with OCR. These degraded versions are clearly less suitable for serious academic analysis than the original structured PDF. Nevertheless, they were among the versions for which Copilot was at least able to confirm that it had access to the document content. This is difficult to explain from a user perspective and suggests that the document retrieval or ingestion behaviour may not be functioning consistently. Main problems observed 1. Incomplete corpus analysis In one test, Copilot produced an academic-looking synthesis based on only three sources from a corpus of approximately 17–20 files. Only after being challenged did it acknowledge that it had not systematically reviewed the remaining files. For academic work, this is a serious problem. If the task is to analyse a corpus, using only a small subset without clearly stating that limitation makes the result unreliable. 2. Unreliable source access Copilot sometimes appears to know that the file exists but is unable to continue analysing it. Depending on the session, it may indicate that: it cannot access additional source content; only previously extracted content is available; it cannot continue beyond the currently retrieved material; the source is no longer usable in the ongoing task. This makes long-form source-based research unreliable. 3. Session continuity problems I have also observed behaviour suggesting that source or analysis sessions can become inactive or unusable. This is particularly problematic in multi-document work, because a corpus analysis requires continuity across multiple steps and multiple sources. 4. Summary versus source-content confusion At several points, Copilot treated a summary or summarised retrieval result as though it were effectively the available document content. The underlying files are not summaries. They are full academic textbooks and reference works. An automatically generated summary should not become the endpoint of the analysis if the full document is available. I repeatedly instructed Copilot to continue retrieving and analysing the underlying source text rather than stopping at the summary layer. Copilot itself eventually acknowledged that this would be the correct approach, but was still unable to continue consistently. 5. Weak source traceability For academic synthesis, I need to know which source supports each major conclusion. This remains inconsistent. A polished paragraph is not sufficient if I cannot reliably determine: which source was actually accessed; which authors were compared; which statement came from which file; which parts are synthesis and which parts are generic model knowledge. Source traceability is essential for academic work. 6. Task drift In some cases, after being repeatedly reminded of the original task, Copilot began suggesting unrelated outputs such as: a full course; a dictionary; exam preparation; a 30–50 page outline; other academic products. These were not requested. The original task was still to perform corpus-based analysis of a specific linguistic topic. 7. Word editing failures I have also encountered cases in Word where Copilot responded that it was unable to start editing the selected text and that nothing in the document had been changed. This adds to the impression that the issue is not limited to one specific Copilot surface. Example of inconsistent session behaviour I have also seen extremely simple requests behave inconsistently within the same Copilot session. For example, the exact same question: “What is the current time?” first received: “Sorry, I wasn't able to respond to that.” and shortly afterwards received a correct current-time response. This is obviously not an academic research task, but it is useful because it demonstrates that the instability is not always caused by complex source material. Support history I have already contacted multiple Microsoft support agents. I have also interacted with Level 2 technicians. I have submitted reports through Copilot feedback channels and through Microsoft support. I have provided detailed explanations of the behaviour. I have repeatedly tested the issue using different approaches. So far, I have not received a meaningful technical explanation of the root cause, and the behaviour has not materially changed. What I would like Microsoft to clarify I would appreciate technical clarification on the following points: What are the practical limits on the number of sources that Microsoft 365 Copilot can meaningfully analyse in one research workflow? Are there documented limits on retrieval depth within large PDFs? Why can a document be available in the Microsoft environment but still become inaccessible or unusable during the task? What causes source-analysis sessions to become inactive? Why can degraded image-based/OCR versions sometimes appear more accessible than the original structured PDF? How can a user verify which files were actually accessed and analysed? Why does Copilot sometimes operate only on summaries or partial retrieval output? Are there differences in source access and retrieval capability between Microsoft 365 Copilot, Word, Notebooks, and other Copilot surfaces? Is Microsoft aware of a wider issue involving source grounding, file retrieval, or session continuity? Is there a recommended workflow for reliable academic analysis across a corpus of 15–20 large reference works? I am not looking for another generic troubleshooting response. I would genuinely like to understand whether this is a known technical limitation, a retrieval issue, a session-management issue, or something else. I am willing to provide examples, screenshots, test cases, and additional details if that would help reproduce the behaviour. At the same time, I think it is reasonable to say that I cannot justify continuing to pay for a product if the core functionality I am paying for — reliable access to, analysis of, and grounding in the sources I provide — does not work consistently enough to be usable.Combining Project, Image, and Notebook Features for a Unified Experience
I'm currently using two different Copilot app experiences to manage my work, projects, and notebooks and each one excels in different areas while missing key capabilities found in the other. One app provides a much richer project management environment, with Tasks, true project folders, plugin connections, and the ability to embed instructions. The other offers a stronger, more fluid notebook experience, but lacks the depth and structure that the project-focused app provides. Switching back and forth between these environments creates friction, especially when I want my projects and notebooks to live together in one unified workspace. The separation makes the workflow feel fragmented. There are also inconsistencies across creative and experimental features. One Copilot app uses Create for image editing, while the other uses Imagen. One includes Team of Advisors, while the other doesn’t. Different experiments appear in different places, and the overall experience feels split rather than cohesive. I’d love to see these capabilities brought together into a single, integrated Copilot environment. I would love to have one place where projects, notebooks, agents, experiments, and creative tools coexist. Additionally, the video creation experience could benefit from deeper AI integration. Clipchamp is functional, but it doesn’t yet feel like an AI‑accelerated workflow. A more advanced, model video tool would dramatically improve speed and creativity for users who rely on Copilot for content production. Finally, many of us want broader access to Cowork and more agentic capabilities. The ability to design or customize our own agents would unlock huge value, especially for users who depend on Copilot for complex workflows. Right now, I often have to go elsewhere to build agentic tools because Copilot doesn’t allow enough personalization or agent creation within its own ecosystem. Bringing these experiences together ... unified projects, enhanced notebooks, consistent creative tools, richer video AI, and expanded Cowork access would create a far more powerful and seamless Copilot environment for everyone.
Seeking Guidance on Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption Support for an Enterprise Customer
Hi Everyone, We are a newly enrolled Microsoft partner currently working with a customer to accelerate Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption across their organization. We are exploring how we can best support the customer and would like to understand whether there are any Microsoft programs, resources, partner managers, or engagement channels available to help us collaborate with Microsoft on Copilot adoption opportunities. Could anyone advise on: The recommended Microsoft channel/team to engage for an enterprise Copilot adoption opportunity Any Microsoft programs or resources available to support customer adoption How partners can collaborate with Microsoft for customer-specific Copilot adoption support Any guidance on the appropriate Microsoft team, program, or point of contact would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!Copilot pain points....
Guys… seriously… we need some improvements here. I’m not asking Copilot to solve quantum physics or decode alien transmissions. I’m asking a Microsoft program for help with a Microsoft program. You’d think that would be the one scenario where Copilot would shine, right? Like, “Ah yes, my home turf, allow me to demonstrate competence.” But no. I can’t even get Copilot to correctly explain how to do basic SharePoint tasks. BASIC. As in, “click the thing, then click the other thing.” Instead I get a TED Talk about SharePoint philosophy and a guided meditation on patience. And then there’s the folder comparison fiasco. I want Copilot to do something so simple it should practically be a reflex: Compare two folders on my hard drive and tell me if they’re identical. Copilot’s response? “Absolutely, I can do that!” Followed immediately by an ever‑expanding scavenger hunt of things I apparently need to do first. It’s like asking someone to hand you a screwdriver and they say, “Sure, but first you’ll need to assemble this IKEA shelving unit, install three dependencies, sacrifice a goat, and agree to a quest.” I’m glad to hear you’re merging all the copilots into one “super Copilot.” Great idea. Fantastic. But let’s be honest — I’m praying the one that survives is the personal Copilot, because Copilot 365… whew. That thing feels like it was built by a committee that communicates exclusively through interpretive dance. And don’t even get me started on the wrapper versions. Those are like Copilot wearing a Halloween costume of itself, but the costume is made of cardboard and disappointment. And by the way — I’m STILL waiting for Copilot to create an app or program that automatically files my Outlook emails into folders. This is not a moon landing. This is not a Mars rover. This is not a Nobel Prize category. This is a simple, everyday, normal-person task. Yet somehow Copilot treats it like I’ve asked it to build the next Windows release from scratch using only a spoon and positive thinking. Come on, guys. We love the vision. We love the potential. But the basics need to work before the magic tricks do.
Copilot OneDrive and Teams Integration useless for PDFs of scanned documents
Hi, I have this ubiquitous Copilot button everywhere in OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, you name it. But Everytime I use the suggested „Summarise this file“ button of a PDF document that contains scanned pages Copilot complains that the images are very low resolution and nothing meaningful can be extracted. But when I let Copilot analyse the exact same file in the pure Copilot view everything works fine. After some lengthy conversations with Copilot it admits, that it only access the complete file when the Copilot view is used. In all other views using Copilot only works on the preview images that are created of the file when uploaded. That explains why the images to analyse are of a too low resolution to do OCR and why on some files only the first page gets processed. Why is Copilot integrated in that way? I expect Copilot to always work on the original file for any request I do. Especially when Copilot is promoted everywhere and I’m constantly nagged to get a summary or FAQ of a selected file. The way it currently works would be better removed or -better- just redirect with the selected file into Copilot view. CheersCopilot and DLP policy behaviours
Hi Copilot Brain Trust, Looking for some real-world experiences with Microsoft 365 Copilot DLP enforcement. We've implemented a DLP policy targeting the Microsoft 365 Copilot location with the action to prevent Copilot from processing content that contains our sensitivity label (restricted). The implementation is based on the following Microsoft documentation: DLP for Microsoft 365 Copilot: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/dlp-microsoft365-copilot-location-learn-about Create DLP policies for Microsoft 365 Copilot: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/dlp-microsoft365-copilot Microsoft documentation states that when a DLP policy blocks Copilot processing, protected content should not be processed or used in Copilot-generated responses (although citations may still appear). However, during testing we're observing scenarios where Copilot appears to access/process provide restricted snippet with file names from content that should be protected by the DLP policy. A few questions for anyone who has implemented this in production: Have you successfully validated DLP policies preventing Copilot from summarising sensitivity-labelled content? Are there any known delays between policy deployment and enforcement? Have you observed differences between Copilot Chat and Copilot experiences within Word, Excel, or PowerPoint? Are there any prerequisites, limitations, or known issues not currently reflected in the public documentation? I'm interested to hear whether others have seen similar behaviour or have successfully validated this scenario end-to-end. Thanks in advance.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.
