Microsoft is adding even more AI features to Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. While the software maker has been adding a lot of features to its paid Microsoft 365 Copilot over the past year, a number of free features are coming to its Office apps in early 2026 that won’t require users to pay $30 per month for a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Microsoft first introduced the free version of Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 apps in September, and now it’s improving how this chatbot works in Outlook. Copilot Chat will soon be able to view content across the entire Outlook inbox, including calendar entries and meetings. This will allow you to use Copilot to triage inboxes or schedule meetings and prepare for meetings, all without a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license. This goes far beyond existing integrations that are limited to individual email threads only.
Agent Mode, which originally launched for paid Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot subscribers in September, is also coming to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for all Microsoft 365 subscribers. Agent mode in Excel and Word can create complex spreadsheets and documents with just a single gesture, and you’ll be able to choose between Anthropic and OpenAI reasoning models in Excel.
Agent mode in PowerPoint can be used to update an existing deck with a business’s branded template, or create new slides, rewrite and format text, and add images.
Microsoft says it aims to preview these free AI additions to Microsoft 365 subscribers by March 2026.
Microsoft now also plans to launch Microsoft 365 Copilot Business next month, targeted at small and medium-sized businesses. It costs $21 per month instead of $30, and will be available to businesses with fewer than 300 users.