Microsoft Copilot in Teams brings AI assistance directly into your meetings, chats, and channels — and it changes the way you interact with conversations at work. Whether you need a quick summary of a long thread, a list of action items from a meeting you just sat through, or a draft message you are not sure how to word, Copilot handles it without you having to leave Teams. This guide covers everything you need to know about using Copilot in Microsoft Teams, from meetings to chat to channels, along with the licence requirements, limitations, and answers to the most common questions.
\n\n\n\nWhat Is Copilot in Teams?
\n\n\n\nCopilot in Microsoft Teams is an AI assistant built directly into the Teams interface. It uses the content of your meetings and conversations to answer questions, produce summaries, identify action items, and help you draft messages. Unlike a general chatbot, it works with your actual meeting transcripts and chat history — so the answers it gives are grounded in what was actually said.
The core things Copilot can do in Teams include real-time meeting transcription and summaries, post-meeting recaps with action items and speaker attribution, chat thread summarisation, and the ability to answer natural language questions about what was discussed. It works across meetings, one-to-one chats, group chats, and channel posts.
\n\n\n\nTo use Copilot in Teams you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. This is a paid add-on to existing Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise plans and is not included in standard M365 subscriptions. Your IT administrator also needs to have enabled Copilot for your organisation. If you are unsure whether you have access, look for the Copilot icon (a small sparkle symbol) in the Teams toolbar during a meeting or in a chat window — if it is not there, you likely do not have the feature enabled yet.
\n\n\n\nCopilot in Meetings — How to Use It
\n\n\n\nUsing Copilot during a meeting is straightforward. Once you are in a Teams meeting, look for the Copilot icon in the meeting toolbar at the top of the screen — it sits alongside the camera, microphone, and other controls. Clicking it opens the Copilot panel on the right-hand side of the meeting window. From here you can type questions in natural language and Copilot will respond based on what has been said in the meeting so far.
\n\n\n\nSome of the most useful questions to ask Copilot during a live meeting include:
- \n
- Summarise the discussion so far \n\n
- What decisions have been made? \n\n
- What are my action items? \n\n
- Catch me up (particularly useful if you joined the meeting late) \n\n
- What did [person’s name] say about [topic]? \n
The Copilot panel updates in real time as the meeting progresses. You can ask follow-up questions, and Copilot will maintain context within the session. Other participants cannot see what you are asking — the panel is private to you.
\n\n\n\nDoes Copilot Need Recording to Be On?
\n\n\n\nThis is one of the most common points of confusion around Copilot in Teams. The short answer is that Copilot does not require recording to be switched on, but it does require meeting transcription to be enabled. These are two different things — a meeting can be transcribed without being recorded, and Copilot uses the transcription rather than the video file.
\n\n\n\nTo enable transcription during a meeting, click the three-dot menu (More) in the meeting toolbar and select Start transcription. Once transcription is running, Copilot can begin working with the spoken content. If transcription is not available as an option, it may have been disabled by your organisation’s IT administrator.
\n\n\n\nIt is worth being aware of the data privacy implications. When transcription is enabled, a transcript of the meeting is stored in Microsoft 365 — typically in OneDrive for the meeting organiser. Meeting participants are notified that transcription is active. If your organisation handles sensitive data, you should check your IT and compliance policies before enabling transcription routinely. For more context on how meeting content is stored and who can access it, see our guide on how to record a Microsoft Teams meeting.
\n\n\n\nCopilot After the Meeting
\n\n\n\nOne of the most useful applications of Copilot is not during the meeting itself but after it ends. Teams automatically generates an Intelligent Recap for meetings where transcription was enabled. You can find this in two places: the Chat tab associated with the meeting, or by opening the meeting event in your Teams Calendar and clicking the Recap tab.
\n\n\n\nThe Intelligent Recap includes several components that make post-meeting follow-up significantly faster:
\n\n\n\n- \n
- AI-generated meeting notes summarising the key discussion points \n\n
- Suggested tasks and action items pulled from the conversation \n\n
- A speaker timeline showing who spoke and when \n\n
- Chapter markers that let you jump to specific parts of the meeting \n
If a colleague missed the meeting, you can share the recap directly from Teams. Open the recap, click Share, and send the link to the relevant person. They will be able to see the AI notes and summary — though access to the full transcript or recording may depend on your organisation’s permissions settings.
\n\n\n\nCopilot in Teams Chat
\n\n\n\nCopilot works in chat threads too, not just meetings. In any one-to-one or group chat, you will see the Copilot icon at the top right of the conversation window. Clicking it opens the Copilot panel for that chat, where you can ask questions about the conversation history.
\n\n\n\nUseful prompts for chat summarisation include:
\n\n\n\n- \n
- Summarise this conversation \n\n
- List the key points from this week \n\n
- What did [person’s name] say about [topic]? \n\n
- What decisions were agreed in this chat? \n
Copilot can look back through chat history up to a certain point — in practice, it works best with conversations from the past few days or weeks. For very long-running chats with years of history, it may not surface older messages reliably. If you are catching up after being away from Teams for a while, combining a chat summary with a check on your Teams status settings can help you get back up to speed quickly.
\n\n\n\nCopilot for Drafting Messages
\n\n\n\nBeyond summarisation, Copilot can help you write messages in Teams. When composing a new message in a chat or channel, look for the Copilot icon in the message compose toolbar. Clicking it gives you options to either generate a draft from scratch based on a prompt, or to rewrite a message you have already typed.
\n\n\n\nThe Rewrite function is particularly practical. Type out a rough version of what you want to say, then click Rewrite and Copilot will produce a polished version. You can then use the Adjust option to change the tone — options typically include Professional, Casual, Concise, and Expand. This is useful when you need to send a message to a senior stakeholder and want to make sure the tone is right, or when you are drafting something in a hurry and want it tidied up before sending.
\n\n\n\nYou can accept the rewritten version, regenerate it, or go back to your original draft. Copilot does not send anything on your behalf — you always have final control before a message goes out.
\n\n\n\nCopilot in Teams Channels
\n\n\n\nChannels are where many Teams users do a significant amount of work, and Copilot can help you navigate busy channel conversations without having to read through every post. Within a channel, you can open Copilot and ask it to summarise the recent posts and threads, identify what topics have been discussed, or pull out specific information from a long conversation.
\n\n\n\nThis is especially useful when you come back from annual leave or have been away from a channel for a while. Rather than scrolling back through dozens of messages, you can ask Copilot for a summary of what happened in the past week and use that as a starting point. Copilot can also be used alongside other Teams features — for example, if your team has been collaborating on a shared whiteboard, you might use Copilot to summarise the related chat discussion while referring to the Teams Whiteboard for the visual output.
\n\n\n\nCommon Copilot Problems and Limitations
\n\n\n\nCopilot in Teams is powerful but it does have some well-known limitations and common issues worth knowing about before you rely on it.
\n\n\n\nCopilot icon not showing: If you cannot see the Copilot icon in meetings or chats, the most likely reason is that you do not have a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence assigned to your account, or your organisation’s administrator has not enabled the feature. Contact your IT team to check your licence status.
\n\n\n\nLanguage support: Copilot in Teams works best in English. Support for other languages is being expanded but remains limited compared to the English experience. If your meetings are conducted primarily in another language, functionality may be reduced.
\n\n\n\nFile access: Copilot cannot access files or documents attached in a meeting or chat unless they were directly referenced and discussed during the conversation. It summarises spoken and written communication, not file contents.
\n\n\n\nAccuracy: Like all AI summarisation tools, Copilot is not infallible. It can misattribute quotes, miss important nuance, or produce summaries that are technically accurate but incomplete. Always verify action items and key decisions against the actual transcript before distributing them as the official record.
\n\n\n\nFrequently Asked Questions
\n\n\n\nDo I need a Copilot licence to use it in Teams?
Yes. Copilot in Teams requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, which is a paid add-on to existing Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise subscriptions. It is not included in standard Microsoft 365 plans. Your organisation’s administrator must also enable the feature for it to appear in Teams.
Can Copilot join a meeting on my behalf?
No. As of mid-2026, Copilot cannot attend a meeting independently or act as your proxy. It can only work with meeting content when you are present in the meeting and transcription is active. There is no feature that allows Copilot to join, listen, and report back without you being there.
Is the meeting transcript stored, and who can see it?
Yes, when transcription is enabled the transcript is stored in Microsoft 365 — typically in the meeting organiser’s OneDrive. Access is generally available to meeting participants, but this depends on your organisation’s policies. Your IT or compliance team can confirm exactly who has access to transcripts in your environment and how long they are retained.
Can Copilot summarise a recording I missed?
If you were not in the meeting but a recording and transcript exist, you can open the meeting recap from your Teams Calendar or the meeting chat. The Intelligent Recap and AI notes will be available there even if you were not present, provided your organisation’s settings allow access to the recording and transcript for non-attendees.
