Copilot in OneDrive Begins Rolling Out to Microsoft 365 Consumer Subscribers

OneDrive–or, Copilot in OneDrive, at least–was conspicuously missing in action when Microsoft announced it was adding Copilot features to Microsoft 365 Family and Personal subscriptions back in January. But this functionality is finally starting to roll out, albeit with two key limitations: It’s only available in the web version of OneDrive for now, and this feature is only available to the paying account holder.

“We are excited to announce our rollout of new Copilot features available to [Microsoft 365 consumer] subscribers on the web version of OneDrive,” Microsoft’s Greg Socha writes. “Consumers can now get more out of their OneDrive files utilizing the power of AI. What does this mean? You can get information to help you make decisions and get work done quickly – without opening a file. Less time in your files means more time with loved ones.”

Copilot in OneDrive has floating out there as a key Copilot in Microsoft 365 feature since, well, Microsoft first announced Copilot in Microsoft 365 (then called Microsoft 365 Copilot) at Build in May 2023. But looking at this now, I can see that Microsoft announced less than a month ago that Copilot in OneDrive would finally come to its commercial Microsoft 365 customers in late April 2024. So it looks like the consumer Microsoft 365 subscriptions are actually pretty up-to-date in this regard.

According to Microsoft, you’ll be able to use Copilot in OneDrive to:

• Summarize documents. You can select 1 to 5 documents in OneDrive on the web, click the Copilot icon, and then select “Summarize.”
• Compare documents. Similarly, you can select up to 5 documents and ask Copilot to compare them. It uses a table format for this comparison, highlighting “relevant differences.”
• Answer questions. You can select a document and using the Copilot sidebar chat to ask it specific questions about that document.

Copilot in OneDrive is rolling out now in OneDrive on the web to Microsoft 365 Family and Personal subscribers (account holders only). Microsoft says this rollout could take until late June to complete. And it’s unclear when or if this functionality will come to OneDrive on desktop or mobile.

You can learn more about Copilot in OneDrive at Microsoft Support and via a separate FAQ.