Copilot Cowork is an extension of Microsoft 365 Copilot designed for long-running, multi-step work rather than quick, one-off prompts.

Instead of asking Copilot to create a single document or slide and then stopping there, Copilot Cowork lets you delegate meaningful pieces of work that can unfold over minutes or even hours. It coordinates actions across Microsoft 365 apps and produces real outputs along the way, all while keeping you in the loop.

In short, regular Copilot is great for single-turn tasks. Copilot Cowork is built to reimagine how you handle multi-step workflows that need more time, context, and iteration.

Copilot Cowork uses something called Work IQ to understand the broader context of what you’re doing.

Instead of working from isolated prompts or small data snippets, Work IQ gives Copilot Cowork access to the full context of your work across Microsoft 365—so it can reason over all relevant materials, not just fragments.

This means Copilot Cowork can:

• Connect information across documents, emails, and other content
• Make more informed suggestions and decisions
• Keep your longer-running tasks aligned with your goals as they progress

All of this happens securely inside Microsoft 365, so your data stays within your existing environment and policies.

Copilot Cowork is built for tasks that go beyond a single question-and-answer exchange or a single app.

It can handle work that:

• Requires multiple steps and decisions over time
• Needs to run for minutes or hours rather than seconds
• Spans multiple Microsoft 365 apps (for example, pulling from documents, emails, and notes)

As these tasks run, Copilot Cowork can coordinate actions and produce real outputs along the way, while keeping you updated so you can review, adjust, or step in when needed.

This helps teams rethink how they delegate and track complex work inside Microsoft 365, without having to constantly manage every small step themselves.