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.
