Copilot cost and adoption reporting expands while Word Similarity Checker retirement is set for October 3, 2026.

Microsoft is retiring Similarity Checker in Microsoft Word on October 3, 2026. After that date it will no longer be available as part of the Microsoft Editor experience in Word. If your organization relies on this capability, plan an alternative process/tool and communicate the change to impacted users.

• Applies to Worldwide, GCC, and DoD
• Impacts users who currently use Similarity Checker in Word

Microsoft Viva Copilot Analytics is adding a new Agent Dashboard to show agent adoption trends and associated Copilot credit usage. This helps admins and analysts understand which agents are being used across Microsoft 365 Copilot and how that maps to consumption. Review reporting readiness and align internal chargeback/FinOps reporting if you track Copilot credits.

• Covers agents built via Copilot Studio, SharePoint, and Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit
• Includes agents built by employees, your organization, Microsoft, or partners
• Timeline updated (per Message Center post)

A new Message consumption usage report (preview) is coming to the Microsoft 365 admin center to help manage metered consumption costs for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. It will provide visibility into billed messages tied to pay-as-you-go billing policies across users, agents, and policies. Plan to use this report to validate billing policies and monitor agent-driven consumption as adoption grows.

• Includes totals plus cumulative/daily time series
• Breakdowns per user, per billing policy, per agent, and per agent-user pair
• Timeline updated (per Message Center post)

Administration of Microsoft Copilot Chat policies is moving in the Microsoft 365 admin center from "Copilot > Billing & Usage" to "Copilot > Cost management". This consolidates Copilot Chat usage and cost controls into a single location. Update your admin runbooks, bookmarks, and helpdesk documentation ahead of the change.

• Rollout: late September 2026 to mid-October 2026
• Impacts where admins manage Copilot Chat (including declarative agent) policies

Users will be able to find existing Copilot Pages in the Library tab and reference them directly from the Copilot prompt box using the "/" menu. The "Edit in Pages" flow in Copilot will shift to focus on creating new Pages. Consider updating end-user guidance and training materials for Copilot Pages workflows.

• Rollout begins late August 2026 and continues through September 2026 (GA Worldwide)
• Changes how users locate and attach existing Pages in chat

Microsoft is introducing structured document generation with Microsoft Forms in SharePoint to help create standardized documents through form-driven experiences. Creating and configuring these structured document forms will require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Review governance and template standards, and plan who will be allowed to create and manage these forms.

• Designed to reduce manual effort and improve template consistency
• Timeline updated (per Message Center post)

Copilot in classic Outlook for Windows will let users select text within an email and ask Copilot for contextual insights. This gives users more control over when Copilot engages, and may change end-user expectations and support questions. Prepare communications for Outlook users participating in preview/rollout and confirm readiness of Copilot Chat licensing and policies.

• Enables manual, text-selection based prompting inside emails
• Timeline updated (per Message Center post)

PowerPoint Copilot in the Frontier program is adding new built-in skills to explain a presentation (summarize gist, ask, takeaways, key numbers, open questions) and to rewrite slide titles into takeaway-style headlines. These updates affect user experience across Windows desktop, Mac, and web (depending on the skill). Inform pilot users and support teams, and validate any internal guidance for PowerPoint Copilot usage.

• "Explain this presentation" rolls out in September 2026 (Frontier) for Windows desktop, Mac, and web
• "Sharpen slide titles" rolls out in early September 2026 (Frontier) for Windows desktop, Mac, and web
• Requires Copilot licensing; no admin configuration changes noted

Multimodal capture in Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebooks is expanding to the OneNote app on Android, enabling sessions that combine audio transcription, images, and typed notes into a structured Copilot Page saved to a selected notebook. This can impact mobile user workflows and data capture practices in meetings and field work. Update user guidance for mobile capture scenarios and confirm information governance expectations for recordings and images.

• Creates a structured Copilot Page at the end of a capture session
• Timeline updated (per Message Center post)

Power BI is changing how subscription notifications are delivered to improve reliability and sender reputation. Users may see updates to sender identity, email formatting, notification presentation, and Copilot-generated summary formatting in some scenarios. Review mail-flow allowlists/transport rules and communicate expected notification appearance changes to report consumers.

• Phased rollout as subscription scenarios migrate to the new delivery experience

A new Planner usage report is coming to the Microsoft 365 admin center to provide tenant-level active user metrics and user-level activity details across Planner basic and premium plans. This helps measure adoption and engagement and supports internal reporting. Plan to incorporate the report into operational dashboards and governance reviews.

• GA rollout begins in early September 2026 (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD)