Microsoft is renaming its 365 application suite of collaboration and productivity tools ‘365 Copilot’, further illustrating its ongoing AI evolution.

Arriving in mid-January 2025, Microsoft is updating the 365 app name and icon to Microsoft 365 Copilot and redesigning the app’s user interface to accommodate future AI-first experiences. Notable updates include reducing the size of the top app header and consolidating all app-level tools and settings into a streamlined App toolbar on the left. Additionally, features such as “Help me create” and “My Day” will be retired to simplify the interface and enhance usability.

These changes will roll out automatically, requiring no action from admins or users.

What Exactly Will Happen?

The latest updates to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app bring several changes designed to bolster usability and simplify navigation. The top header has been removed, and tools like user profile, settings, and feedback have been moved to the bottom-left toolbar. The feedback button will be under the ‘Settings and More’ section. The search box will be relocated to the homepage for easier access, though its functionality remains the same.

Apps in the left toolbar are now aligned at the top, with AI features like Copilot Chat and Copilot Pages grouped for better correlation. The organisation logo will no longer appear in the Copilot app’s header but will remain visible in other Microsoft 365 apps.

Microsoft outlines other changes, including the removal of the ‘Back’ button, with navigation now handled via the left AppBar. The “My Day” feature and the “Help me create” tool have been retired. AI-powered document creation will now be part of the Copilot tab, allowing users to draft content like storyboards, agendas, and summaries directly through Copilot Chat.

Newly-Empowered Copilot Chat Coming To… Essentially Everyone

Speaking of Copilot Chat, Microsoft Copilot, currently an ad-free, web-grounded chat with enterprise-grade data protection, will be renamed “Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat”. Tom Arbuthnot, Cofounder of Empowering.Cloud, described the update on LinkedIn as “the last (and very significant) Microsoft product rename of 2024”.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat will feature web chat and agents that access SharePoint or Graph Connector content. These agents will operate on a metered consumption model (off by default) and leverage an Azure subscription through Copilot Studio. This allows users to benefit from agents without requiring a full Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat will remain available to all users through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and on the web. Soon, it will also be pinned in Teams and Outlook, offering chat functionality and optional agent capabilities.

All Office and Microsoft 365 users will have access to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. However, to unlock the full Microsoft 365 Copilot experience—which includes access to work data from SharePoint, Outlook, and OneDrive and integration across apps like Teams, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint—users will need the Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Microsoft Ignite 2024: All The Major Copilot Collaboration Announcements

Last month’s Microsoft Ignite conference spotlighted Copilot, with Microsoft unveiling a series of updates designed to streamline business operations and bolster workplace productivity.

New Copilot agents were introduced for Microsoft 365 (or, as it’s now known, 365 Copilot), tackling a range of tasks from routine to complex. The SharePoint agent delivers rapid insights to support decision-making, while the Employee Self-Service agent addresses common workplace policy questions. In preview, the Facilitator agent enhances Teams collaboration by taking notes and generating conversation summaries.

Looking ahead, an Interpreter agent—launching early next year—will enable real-time translation across nine languages. A Project Manager agent is also set to automate project workflows in Planner, including task assignments and status reporting.

Further enhancements to Copilot’s functionality are scheduled for 2025, including the ability to summarise content in Teams, such as shared files and meeting screen shares. PowerPoint will feature a Narrative Builder for creating branded presentations and support translation in 40 languages.

Excel will offer task-specific templates for budgeting and tracking, while Outlook will streamline meeting scheduling with agenda drafting tools. OneNote will integrate Copilot for multimodal note organisation, and new Pages features will support advanced content creation.

For IT admins, Copilot brings powerful analytics and insights through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (MAC). Copilot Analytics will provide tools for measuring business impact with dashboards and detailed reporting, revolutionising IT management.



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