Forty updates landed in Microsoft 365 Copilot this month. Two of them will change how your team actually works.
Microsoft’s July release is the biggest single Copilot update since Agent Mode went generally available in June. Most of the 40-plus changes are small refinements.
A handful are not, and those are the ones worth your attention.
Claude joins Copilot Chat
Anthropic’s Claude is now a selectable model inside Copilot Chat, alongside Microsoft’s own models. Users can choose Claude for complex analysis, document understanding and structured content generation, then switch back for everyday tasks.
This is a genuine choice, not a marketing label. Different models suit different jobs, and giving people the option to pick the right tool for a specific task is a meaningful shift from the single-model Copilot most businesses have used until now.
Copilot Cowork is now generally available
Copilot Cowork is Microsoft’s agentic AI teammate, built to carry out real, multi-step tasks rather than just answer questions. It moved from preview to general availability this month, which is Microsoft’s clearest signal yet that it sees Copilot’s future as a colleague, not a search box.
Cowork is not a fit for every team on day one. It works best where a task is repetitive, well documented, and has a clear owner to check the output before it goes anywhere. Pick the first two or three tasks worth handing over, and let the rollout prove value before it scales.
The smaller changes worth knowing
- A redesigned interface. Menus have been reorganised and there is a new Tasks tab, so you can monitor what Copilot is doing on your behalf across every interaction.
- Mind maps in Copilot Notebooks. Interactive visual maps of your source material, with summaries per node and follow-up chat on any topic in the map.
- AI content watermarking. Microsoft 365 can now add a visual or audio watermark to AI-generated video and audio content, controlled by an organisation-wide policy setting.
What to do this month
- Decide your model policy. Agree which models are approved for which types of data before Claude shows up as an option in someone’s Copilot Chat.
- Pick one Cowork pilot. Choose a single, well-documented, repetitive task with a clear owner. Prove it works before handing over anything bigger.
- Brief your team on the Tasks tab. It is a small interface change, but it changes how people should check Copilot’s work.
If you want a hand deciding what to switch on first, our team does this every week. Talk to a Braintree consultant about your Copilot rollout.
Specialists in Business Applications, Modern Workplace and Azure. Let’s grow.
Sources: Microsoft 365 Copilot release notes, Microsoft Learn (updated July 2026). Feature availability is accurate as of July 2026 and may change as the rollout continues.
