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Upcoming Updates to Microsoft Copilot

2026/09/08 Microsoft Cloud Solutions 7 visit(s) 3 min to read

By:Ctelecoms

ctelecoms

Microsoft Copilot Updates: Latest Features Rolling Out in 2026

Microsoft Copilot keeps evolving fast, with new features rolling out across Cowork, Notebooks, Researcher, and more. As a Microsoft Gold Partner in Saudi Arabia, Ctelecoms tracks these changes closely so our clients always know what's coming and how to put it to good use.

Here's a plain-language roundup of the latest Copilot updates.

Choose Your Effort Level in Copilot Cowork

Copilot Cowork now gives you more control over how it handles your work. A new "effort level" setting sits right in the model picker, letting you match Cowork's approach to the task at hand:

Light for quick, simple tasks
Medium for everyday work (the default)
Higher effort for complex analysis and deeper reasoning

Your chosen setting sticks across future tasks until you change it, and credit usage scales with the actual work performed rather than a flat rate per level. That means you're not always paying "premium reasoning" prices for a task that just needs a quick answer.

Available on web, Windows, and Mac. Rolled out late August 2026.

Agent Builder Gets a Simpler Setup

Microsoft is making Agent Builder easier to use. New agents will now have capabilities enabled by default, giving them access similar to Microsoft 365 Copilot right out of the box. Builders can still customize and scope permissions as needed, but the starting point is now much simpler.

A couple of smaller changes come with it: the knowledge configuration screen is getting a cleaner interface, and "Uploaded Files" is being renamed to "Attachments" (a naming change only, with no impact on functionality). Existing agents are not affected.

Rolled out late August 2026.

New Copilot Pages Will Be Stored in OneDrive for Business

Starting mid-August 2026, new Copilot Pages created in Copilot Chat, the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, and new Copilot Notebooks will be saved directly to OneDrive for Business instead of their current location.

In practice, this means your Copilot Pages will sit alongside your other OneDrive files and follow the same compliance, retention, and data protection policies — making governance easier for IT and security teams without any extra setup.

Existing Copilot Pages stay exactly where they are (no migration), existing Copilot Notebooks continue using SharePoint Embedded for new pages, and Loop workspaces are unaffected.

Rolling out mid-August to late September 2026.

Bring Images Into Copilot Notebooks

Copilot Notebooks now supports JPG and PNG files as knowledge sources. Copilot can read the content inside these images — including text, charts, diagrams, and other visuals — and use it as context to build more relevant presentations, reports, and briefs. Think screenshots of dashboards, hand-drawn diagrams, scanned charts, or slide exports feeding directly into your work.

Available on Android, iOS, and Web. Rolling out October 2026.

Inline Code Blocks in M365 Copilot Chat

M365 Copilot Chat now supports inline code blocks, so you can preview code, charts, diagrams, and more directly within the chat — no need to switch to a separate view. Previously, this kind of preview only appeared side-by-side in a code canvas. It's a simple change, but it makes the chat experience feel a lot more natural, especially for technical work, quick scripts, or visual outputs on the fly.

Available on Desktop and Mobile. Rolling out September 2026.

Copilot Memory Comes to Researcher

Researcher is one of the specialized agents within Microsoft 365 Copilot, built for in-depth research on complex topics — pulling from your files, email, organizational data, and the web, and grounding its answers in sources.

Starting November 2026, Researcher will be able to use Copilot's memory to bring forward relevant context from your past interactions. That means better-grounded insights, more personalized outputs, and less time spent repeating the same background information every time you start exploring a new topic.

Available on Desktop, Mac, and Web.

Rolling out November 2026.

Structured Data Support in Copilot Notebooks

Copilot Notebooks now supports CSV and TSV files as knowledge sources, letting you bring structured lists and tables directly into your projects alongside regular documents. This extra context helps Copilot generate more relevant presentations, reports, and briefs without you having to manually prepare the data first.

Available on Android, Desktop, iOS, and Web.

Rolling out October 2026.

Power BI Reports as References in Copilot Notebooks

Copilot Notebooks is also connecting more directly to your data. You'll be able to add Power BI reports as references, pulling report data straight into your notebooks alongside your files. Copilot uses this to generate summaries, presentations, and briefs grounded in your organization's actual data, not just documents.

Available on Desktop and Web.

Rolling out September 2026.

Review PDFs Faster With Copilot on OneDrive iOS

PDF reviews on mobile are getting a lot faster. You'll be able to select text in any PDF in OneDrive on iOS and tap "Ask Copilot" to explain, summarize, translate, or answer a custom question about that selection — the same in-context experience already available on desktop, now on mobile.

Available on iOS. Rolling out October 2026.

Delegated Prompt Publishing for Organization Prompts

Managing organization-wide prompts in Copilot is becoming less centralized. Admins can already upload custom prompts to the Copilot app home screen for the whole organization. Now, admins will be able to delegate that publishing to specific users, security groups, or distribution groups.

Delegated users will be able to create, edit, and delete organization prompts through the Prompt Lab, without needing access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Admins keep full oversight through the existing admin center experience — a useful option for organizations where prompt management shouldn't rest with a single admin.

Available on Desktop and Web.

Rolling out September 2026.

Learning Coach Agent Is Being Retired

One update to plan around: the Learning Coach agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is being retired in the first week of October 2026 and won't be accessible after that date. It's already hidden from new users, and existing users can still reach it through the agent tray until then.

If your team uses Learning Coach for learning recommendations, skill development, or personalized learning support, now is the time to move to its replacement, the Learning Agent, before the cutoff.

Retiring early to mid-October 2026.

Get Ready for What's Next

Microsoft Copilot is moving quickly toward deeper personalization, richer file support, and smarter grounding in real organizational data. Keeping up with these changes helps your team get more value out of the tools they already use — without any surprises when a feature moves or a workflow changes.

As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Ctelecoms helps organizations across Saudi Arabia plan for updates like these, roll out new Copilot capabilities smoothly, and train teams to use them effectively.

Want help preparing your organization for these Copilot updates? Get in touch with Ctelecoms today.