Microsoft Copilot Cowork

Microsoft Copilot Cowork is the part of Microsoft Copilot that carries out multi-step work on a user's behalf. The user describes an outcome, and Cowork plans the steps, picks the skills and apps it needs, and works through them in Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive and SharePoint. It pauses for approval before sensitive actions such as sending an email or posting in Teams. It returns finished work such as a deck, report, email or status update, and it can run prompts on a schedule or start a task when a matching email or Teams message arrives. Cowork grounds its work in the user's emails, meetings, files and business data through Work IQ, and it can only reach content the user already has permission to see. Built-in skills cover Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, email, scheduling, calendar management, meetings, daily briefings, enterprise search, communications and deep research, and users can add up to 50 custom skills. Plugins from the Microsoft 365 App Store add skills and connectors, including Microsoft plugins for Dynamics 365 and Fabric IQ and partner plugins such as Asana, Box, HubSpot, monday.com and Notion. On the web, Cowork can also complete browser tasks in Microsoft Edge on the user's own device, using the user's existing sign-ins, once an admin turns that on. Users pick a model or leave the picker on Auto. Microsoft's model list includes OpenAI's GPT 5.6 Sol, GPT 5.6 Terra and GPT 6 Astra, GPT 5.5 in the Frontier program, and Anthropic's Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5 and Claude Fable 5.1. A reasoning effort setting runs from Light to Max. Anthropic models are on by default in most commercial regions but off by default for customers in the EU, EFTA and UK. Admins can turn the Anthropic model family off, and users keep working with the remaining models. Cowork runs on the web at copilot.cloud.microsoft, in Outlook and Teams, in the Microsoft Copilot desktop app for Windows and macOS, and in the mobile app for iPhone and Android. Cowork requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, from $21/mo billed annually on the Business plan or $30 per user per month paid yearly for enterprise, and is billed on top of that through usage-based billing in Copilot Credits. Microsoft calculates the price of each task from model use, context retrieval, tool calls and runtime, and publishes no fixed per-task price. For enterprise customers, usage-based billing stays off until an admin creates a spending policy, which can include per-user and per-group limits. Microsoft states that Cowork does not use customer data to train AI models and that it inherits the security, privacy and compliance protections of Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft announced general availability on June 16, 2026, saying more than half of the Fortune 500 was using Cowork, along with companies including Accenture, Avanade, Capital Group, Koch, Ooredoo Qatar and Zurich Insurance. Organizations that want Copilot across the Office apps for everyday questions and drafting can start with Microsoft 365 Copilot, and teams building their own agents use Microsoft Copilot Studio. Teams working mainly outside Microsoft 365 can compare Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work. Current state Q4 2026: Cowork is generally available for work and school accounts and in preview for personal accounts. September 2026 added Claude Fable 5.1, GPT 6 Astra, an App skill in the Frontier program for building interactive apps, and editing of existing Office files in OneDrive and SharePoint. On September 25, 2026 Microsoft placed Cowork alongside Chat in the new Copilot Home, with Cowork billed in Copilot Credits.