If your team has been using Microsoft Copilot inside Word, Excel, or PowerPoint without a paid license, that access disappears on April 15th. Here is what is changing and what you should do before the deadline hits.

What Happened

Microsoft is removing free Copilot Chat access from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote effective April 15, 2026. Users who do not have a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license will only be able to use Copilot through the standalone Copilot app — not embedded inside Office documents where it has been most useful. Copilot in Outlook will continue to work for now.

The free version is being relabeled “Copilot Chat Basic,” while paying customers get “M365 Copilot Premium.” This follows Microsoft’s well-established pattern: introduce a feature for free, let people build habits around it, then put it behind a paywall.

What This Means for Your Business

If your employees have started relying on Copilot to draft documents, analyze spreadsheets, or build presentations, they are about to lose that capability. The productivity gains disappear overnight unless you budget for the per-user Copilot license. For businesses already paying for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, this is an additional cost on top of your existing subscription.

The smart move is to check with your team this week. If nobody is actually using Copilot inside Office apps, no action is needed. But if people are depending on it for daily work, you want to plan for this before it disappears mid-month and your team is stuck wondering why their favorite feature stopped working.

The Bottom Line

Talk to your MSP or IT partner now about whether the paid Copilot license makes sense for your team. Two weeks is not a lot of runway to make licensing decisions. Do not get caught off guard on April 15th.

This story was covered on the latest episode of Nerds News. Read the full episode recap.

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