The new Microsoft Copilot talks to Office—and keeps working after you leave

Credit: Corbin Davenport / How-To Geek Published Sep 25, 2026, 11:01 AM EDT Jon is a seasoned journalist who has written definitive coverage of consumer tech at publications like Engadget, Android Authority, and BetaKit. He's an expert on making tech accessible ranging from mobile and PCs to emerging platforms like wearables. When he's not writing, he's going on adventures with ihis family and is an avid photographer. Sign in to your How-To Geek account Microsoft is making it easier to have AI do your drudge work — even when you're not there. The company has launched a redesigned Copilot app that finally ties into Office and streamlines the whole experience, including the do-it-while-you-sleep Autopilot feature. The revamp starts with a Home section that not only unifies Chat (for quick tasks) and Cowork (a work agent), but can handle tasks in Office. You can have Copilot write a brief in Word, create a budget in Excel, or design a PowerPoint presentation. Microsoft claims formatting, versioning, and context will remain intact, even as you collaborate with others. Autopilot (formerly Scout) gets its own section. The agentic tool automatically runs recurring work, follows up on conversations, and complete multi-step projects. As it's hosted in the cloud, you can leave it alone while you're in a meeting or even asleep. The function has its own computing space and understands how your company works. It appears across apps like Outlook and Teams, and keeps you updated on what it's doing. Code, meanwhile, is for building your own tools. You can use prompts to write not just apps, but automated workflows, dashboards, and trackers. It's aware of your context and is sandboxed, so it shouldn't run loose on your network. The Code feature will reach Frontier program members by the end of September, and expand to more people in the "coming weeks." Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro users will see a preview version later in the year. What's next in Copilot: A task manager that does work for you Your job might be done before you even start Microsoft is also previewing a handful of Copilot features that could again do work when you've barely started the work day. Today is billed as a "personalized command center" that shows priority issues and catches you up, whether it's in your calendar, email, tasks, or Teams chats. Moreover, it does much of the work on your behalf — it will already have a proposed schedule or draft email ready to send. Using @Copilot in Teams will also share the context and permissions when you ask it a question, and will even ask about making a cross-functional review. It will draw on multiple conversations to explain a decision, for instance. The Today feature will only debut as a "private preview" in October, but is set to appear in Outlook and Teams. The @Copilot command will enter preview in Teams by the end of September.