Copilot Cowork Goes Live: What Microsoft's Agent Actually Does

Microsoft 365 Copilot crossed an important line in June 2026: Copilot Cowork reached general availability on June 16. Where the familiar Copilot Chat answers a question and stops, Cowork takes on longer, multi-step jobs that span several apps and keeps working in a cloud environment even when your laptop is closed. It also introduces consumption-based billing, a change of model worth understanding before you let it loose. Here is what Cowork is, how it differs from Chat, and what it costs.

Key takeaways

• Copilot Cowork became generally available on June 16, 2026.
• It runs longer, multi-step tasks across apps in a secure cloud-hosted environment.
• Tasks keep running with your device off, and files are not stored on the device.
• Billing is consumption-based: pay-as-you-go at $0.01 per Copilot Credit, or a prepaid plan for a discount.
• Copilot Chat can now also use Anthropic's Claude as a selectable model.

Cowork versus Chat

The simplest way to think about it: Chat is a conversation, Cowork is an assignment. Chat is great for "summarize this thread" or "draft a reply." Cowork is for "go through these twelve documents, pull the figures into a table, and draft a summary deck," the kind of task that takes many steps and touches Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in sequence.

Because Cowork runs in a secure cloud-hosted environment rather than on your machine, the work continues even when your laptop is off, and your files are not stored on the device while it runs.

Here is the practical split between the two experiences:

Aspect	Copilot Chat	Copilot Cowork
Job shape	One prompt, one answer	Multi-step assignment across apps
Where it runs	Interactive, on demand	Secure cloud environment
Device off	Stops with you	Keeps working
Billing	Included in seat license	Consumption ($0.01 per Credit)
Best for	Quick drafts and summaries	Long document and deck workflows

How the billing works

This is the part to read carefully, because Cowork breaks from the flat per-seat Copilot pricing.

• Pay-as-you-go: $0.01 per Copilot Credit, billed by consumption.
• Prepaid commitment: a discounted rate if you commit to a block of credits up front.

Because cost scales with how much work you ask it to do, a long, document-heavy task costs more than a quick one. For teams, that means budgeting and a bit of governance matter more than they did with a fixed seat license.

How to start a Cowork task

The exact entry point depends on your tenant configuration, but the general flow is consistent.

1. Open the Microsoft 365 Copilot app or the Copilot experience in a supported Office app.
2. Choose the Cowork experience rather than a simple chat prompt.
3. Describe the multi-step task in plain language, including the files or sources it should use.
4. Let it run; the task continues in the cloud, and you can check back for the result.

The licensing change to watch

June 2026 also tightened where Copilot features live. The in-app Copilot features inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote are now available only to users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. People without a license can still use Copilot Chat through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app or on the web, and Copilot in Outlook remains available.

There were related additions too: a new model picker that includes Anthropic's Claude in Copilot Chat, a FLUX.2 image model in PowerPoint, and Teams gaining the ability to delete meeting-generated content from the Recap page or generate a recap without saving a recording. If you are weighing Copilot against standalone coding agents, our Claude Code vs Cursor comparison covers the developer-focused side of the same AI shift.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a special license for Cowork?

Cowork uses consumption-based billing on top of Copilot, so cost depends on credits rather than a flat seat. Separately, the embedded Copilot features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote now require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, while Copilot Chat remains available more broadly.

Is my data stored in the cloud during a Cowork task?

Cowork runs in a secure cloud-hosted environment, and Microsoft states files are not stored on the device while the task runs. As always, check your organization's data-governance settings before processing sensitive material.

Can I really use Claude inside Copilot now?

Yes. In Copilot Chat you can select Anthropic's Claude as the model, alongside Microsoft's default options. Availability can depend on your tenant's admin configuration.

What happens if I close my laptop mid-task?

Because the work runs in the cloud rather than locally, a Cowork task continues even with your device off. You can return later to collect the finished output.

Bottom line

Cowork is the moment Microsoft 365 Copilot stops being a smart autocomplete and starts being a delegate that does multi-step work on its own. The capability is real and useful, but the consumption pricing changes how you should think about cost. Try it on a contained task first, watch the credit usage, then expand once you know what a typical job actually costs your team.