What's new in Microsoft Copilot | April 2026 Updates

The Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app now includes a refreshed, chat-first design that delivers a cleaner and more intuitive user experience. The update improves Copilot Chat with support for text formatting in prompts and a redesigned layout that makes responses easier to view, copy, reopen, and reference through citations. The app also introduces a streamlined menu for easier navigation, along with updated visuals including liquid glass styling and a new experience for voice conversations.

What will happen:

• A redesigned, chat-first interface will be introduced.
• Users can format text within prompts.
• Chat responses will be easier to view, copy, reopen, and reference with citations.
• Navigation will be simplified with a streamlined app menu.
• Visual updates include liquid glass styling and enhanced voice interaction experience.

When this will happen

Rolling out in May.

Copilot Notebooks now supports generating Word documents directly from the content and references collected in a notebook. Users can create reports, summaries, proposals, and other document types by describing their requirements, including topic, audience, and themes.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:
Users with access to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Notebooks.

What will happen:

• Users can generate a Word document from notebook content and references using a prompt.
• Copilot creates a structured draft based on the specified topic, audience, and themes.
• The generated draft can be opened and edited in Word for further refinement.

Mind maps in Copilot Notebooks provide an interactive, grounded view of key topics and relationships across notebook content. This capability helps users explore and understand complex information more effectively.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:
Users with access to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Notebooks.

What will happen:

• Users can view notebook content as an interactive mind map.
• Nodes can be explored to reveal summaries of specific topics.
• Copilot can be used to drill deeper into areas of interest directly from the map.

Copilot in Word now includes a Claude model option, providing an additional large language model choice for drafting and editing content. Users can select an Anthropic model alongside existing OpenAI options, with Copilot applying the same editing workflows using the selected model.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:
Users with access to Copilot in Microsoft Word.

What will happen:

• Users can choose a Claude model as an alternative to existing model options in Copilot.
• Copilot workflows for drafting and editing remain consistent across models.
• This option provides flexibility for teams that prefer different model behaviors while keeping work within a managed environment.

Copilot in Outlook now writes the first draft directly in the email compose canvas and iterates with the user to refine it. Instead of generating a separate draft, Copilot updates the message in place, asking clarifying questions about goals, audience, or tone and applying changes as the user responds.

When this will happen
Rolled out to new Outlook in March.

How this affects your organization

What will happen:

• Copilot will generate and edit drafts directly within the compose canvas.
• Copilot will ask clarifying questions and update the email based on user input.
• All changes remain visible within Outlook without requiring copy and paste.

No admin configuration is required.

Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) in PowerPoint now allows users to select which AI model to use when creating or editing presentations. This capability provides additional flexibility while maintaining existing security, compliance, and administrative controls.

When this will happen
General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins early April 2026 and is expected to complete by early May 2026.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users using Copilot in PowerPoint
• Microsoft 365 administrators

What will happen:

• Users can choose the AI model used by Copilot when creating or editing slides.
• Model selection is available from the dropdown menu in the top-right corner of the Copilot pane.
• The default model selection is set to Auto.