Copilot Chat is included with every Microsoft 365 license and has become an everyday tool for many employees: rewriting an email, summarizing a text, quickly looking something up. That is changing. Since November 2, 2026, Microsoft has been introducing usage limits for more Copilot Chat features for people without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Copilot Chat stays free, but heavy users will more often see a notice that a feature is temporarily unavailable. In this article you'll read what changes, what you'll notice and how to deal with it.
What is changing?
Microsoft already limited some Copilot Chat features, such as creating images. More features are now being added. The essentials:
- Who: employees without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
- Where: Copilot Chat on the web, desktop and mobile apps.
- When: since November 2, 2026 for organizations with 2,000 or fewer Microsoft 365 users, from November 9, 2026 for larger organizations.
- Cost: none. Copilot Chat remains included in your Microsoft 365 subscription.
Do you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license? Then you won't notice anything. You actually have access to more features.
What will you notice?
Usage limits (Microsoft calls it fair use) mean you can use a feature, but not without limits. In practice:
- A notice in Copilot Chat: when you reach the limit, you see when the feature will be available again.
- Your work isn't lost: a response that is already being generated is not interrupted.
- No fixed numbers: Microsoft doesn't publish how high the limits are. They can also differ throughout the day.
- Not adjustable: Microsoft sets the limits. Your IT administrator can't change them either.
So a limit notice is not an outage. There's no need to report it to the service desk: wait until the time shown in the notice, or consider whether a Copilot license makes sense for you.
Upgrading from the notice
The limit notice often contains an upgrade button. It lets you request a Microsoft 365 Copilot license from your IT administrator, who approves or denies the request.
Sometimes you'll also see an option to buy a license yourself straight away. That looks convenient, but such a license sits outside your regular purchasing and license agreements, and your organization loses track of who has which license. We recommend turning off self-service purchases and routing requests through one point. If you get Microsoft 365 through Universal Cloud, we set this up for you.
Free Copilot Chat or a Copilot license?
A limit notice tells you something about how you work. If you see one now and then, Copilot Chat is probably fine for you. If you or your colleagues hit it every day, you're clearly getting a lot out of Copilot and it's time to look at a full license. That also gives you Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, working with your own email, files and meetings.
There are two options:
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | Microsoft 365 Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| For whom | SMB, up to 300 users, alongside Business Basic, Standard or Premium | Unlimited users, e.g. alongside E3 or E5 |
| Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams | Yes | Yes |
| Works with your own email, files and meetings | Yes | Yes |
What Copilot Chat can and cannot do is explained in what is Microsoft Copilot?. The differences between both licenses are compared side by side in Copilot Business vs Microsoft 365 Copilot. Also thinking about Copilot Cowork? Then keep an eye on the cost of Copilot Credits.
What Universal Cloud arranges for you
You don't need to set anything up yourself. We make sure license requests reach the right person in your organization and turn off self-service purchases if you want. Our service desk knows how the limits work, so we can answer your employees' questions right away.
Not everyone needs a Copilot license, and not every limit notice is a reason to upgrade. Notice that colleagues often hit the limit? Then we'll look together at who benefits most from Copilot and which license fits. Contact us for advice on Copilot for your organization.
