What is Copilot? Copilot versions, choosing a plan, and using it in Excel, Word and VS Code

What is Copilot? It is Microsoft's umbrella name for its AI assistants: Copilot Chat for questions and answers, Copilot built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and GitHub Copilot for developers. Which one suits you depends on your work, the software you already use and the subscription you have.

What is Copilot: one name, several products

Many people search "what kind of software is Copilot" because they see the name in different places: on the Windows 11 taskbar, in the Edge browser, in Excel, or in the VS Code editor. According to an explainer by ThinkPro, Copilot is a chat-style AI assistant built into Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Bing and Microsoft Edge. In essence, you type (or say) a request in plain language and Copilot answers or performs actions in the app.

The confusing part is that "Copilot" is not a single program. For readers in small businesses, it helps to split it into three main groups:

Microsoft's site also lists items such as AI agents for work and building your own agents, aimed at business deployments. This guide focuses on the three groups above because that is what office users meet every day.

Comparing Microsoft 365 personal plans with Copilot

If you buy for yourself (not through a company account), Microsoft's Vietnam site currently lists four personal plans that include Copilot. The table summarizes the criteria shown on that page; for prices, see the vendor's pricing page.

A few things to keep in mind when reading the table:

• Microsoft states that AI features are only available to the subscription owner, cannot be shared, and usage limits apply. Buying Family for your household or a few employees does not mean everyone gets Copilot.
• Researcher and Analyst are presented by Microsoft as advanced features in Premium and Pro.
• All plans renew automatically unless you cancel in your Microsoft account.
• These are personal plans. If your company uses Microsoft 365 through an organizational account, whether you have Copilot depends on your organization's licenses and settings; ask your IT admin.

Does Copilot Pro still exist?

According to ThinkPro, Copilot Pro used to be a separate subscription, and from 17 January 2025 Microsoft added Copilot to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family. Microsoft's site still has a "Copilot Pro for individuals" menu item, and there is also a plan named Microsoft 365 Pro. The two names are easy to mix up; read the plan page on Microsoft's website carefully before buying.

When Copilot makes sense, and when you can wait

Copilot fits when:

• You work daily in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and want quick drafts, email summaries or spreadsheet analysis through plain-language questions.
• You already use Microsoft 365, so adding Copilot does not require switching software.
• Your IT person writes scripts or code and wants code suggestions inside VS Code.

You may not need it yet when:

• You only ask questions occasionally: the free Copilot Chat may be enough.
• Several people in the company need AI: personal plans give AI only to the owner, so look at business plans on the vendor's site.
• Your data is sensitive (accounting records, customer information) and the company has no internal rules yet about putting data into AI tools.

How to turn on and use Copilot in Excel

According to Microsoft Support, Copilot in Excel uses Excel's own tools (tables, charts, PivotTables, formulas) to complete requests, and the results stay editable. You do not need to "add" Copilot to Excel: if your plan includes Copilot, the Copilot button appears. If you don't see it, Microsoft says your plan may not include Copilot or your organization may not have enabled it.

1. Open a workbook in Excel for Microsoft 365 (Windows or Mac), Excel for the web or Excel for iPad.
2. Select the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of the Excel window. Some Vietnamese tutorials place the icon in the top-right corner; the location can differ by version.
3. Choose a mode. Edit mode is the default.
4. Type a request in the chat box, for example "Highlight the lowest 5 revenue fields" or "Create a bar chart comparing total sales by product category".
5. Watch Copilot work. To stop at any time, select the Stop button in the lower-right corner of the input field.
6. Check the figures, formulas and charts before using them in a report.

Image: Microsoft · Source: support.microsoft.com

Three modes: edit, plan, chat

Image: Microsoft · Source: support.microsoft.com

Microsoft also lists support by platform: Excel on Windows, Mac and the web has all three modes; Excel on iPad has chat and plan; iPhone and Android currently have chat mode (edit mode is rolling out to iPad and iPhone).

For accountants, a practical approach is to start with plan or chat-only mode on a copy of the file, and only then let Copilot edit directly.

Copilot in Word, PowerPoint and Outlook

According to Microsoft, the other apps work in a similar way: describe the task in the chat pane, then refine.

• Word: assign a task and add notes so Copilot creates a first draft, then refine it in the chat.
• PowerPoint: go from a prompt to a presentation, including outlining the content and describing images.
• Outlook: summarize your inbox to stay on top of what matters.

Note on personal plans: Microsoft's page lists the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot, while some included apps are marked "web and mobile only". Read the plan description carefully if you mostly work on a computer.

How to open, sign in to and turn off GitHub Copilot in VS Code

GitHub Copilot is a coding product, separate from Copilot in Microsoft 365. According to the VS Code and GitHub documentation:

1. Hover over the Copilot icon in the VS Code Status Bar and select Use AI Features.
2. Choose a sign-in method and follow the prompts. If your account already has a Copilot plan, VS Code uses it; if not, the account is enrolled in Copilot Free with a monthly allowance.
3. Open Copilot Chat with Ctrl + Alt + I (Windows/Linux) or Control + Command + I (macOS), then ask about the file you have open.
4. As you type code, Copilot suggests code in gray text; press Tab to accept.

Image: Microsoft · Source: code.visualstudio.com

To turn it off, VS Code has the chat.disableAIFeatures setting: enabling it hides features such as chat and inline suggestions and disables the Copilot extensions. You can set it at the user level or for a single workspace. You can also use Learn How to Hide AI Features from the Chat menu in the title bar.

The VS Code docs also note that telemetry is enabled by default in the free version of Copilot; you can turn it off by setting telemetry.telemetryLevel to off or adjust it in Copilot Settings.

How to turn Copilot on or off in Windows 11

According to a guide by ThinkPro (a computer retailer), you turn on Copilot in Windows 11 like this:

1. Go to Settings, select Windows Update and update Windows to the latest version.
2. Return to Settings, select Personalization, then Taskbar.
3. Turn on Copilot.
4. Click the Copilot icon on the taskbar to type a request. Some newer laptops have a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard.

If you don't want the Copilot icon on your taskbar, you can return to the same section and check the toggle. The Windows interface changes with updates, so the names on your PC may differ; on company PCs, this may be controlled by your administrator.

Data considerations when using Copilot at work

• The VS Code docs recommend reviewing the GitHub Copilot Trust Center and your organization's policies before sending work code to AI.
• If your company provides Copilot accounts, use the organization's account and policies rather than a personal account.
• For accounting records and customer data, set internal rules on what data may be entered into AI tools. Questions about compliance or data protection should go to a legal expert.
• Copilot can be wrong: always check formulas, figures and content before sending them out.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of software is Copilot?

Copilot is the umbrella name for Microsoft's AI assistants. There is a standalone chat version (Copilot Chat), a version built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook in Microsoft 365, and GitHub Copilot for coding in editors such as VS Code.

Is Copilot free?

There is a free tier. Copilot Chat has a free version, while paid Microsoft 365 plans give higher usage. GitHub Copilot has a Copilot Free plan with a monthly allowance. To use Copilot in desktop Office apps you need a Microsoft 365 plan that includes Copilot; see the vendor's pricing page.

Why don't I see the Copilot button in Excel?

According to Microsoft, your Microsoft 365 plan may not include Copilot, or your organization may not have enabled it. On the Family plan, only the subscription owner gets AI. If you use a company account, contact your IT admin.

How do I turn off Copilot?

In VS Code, enable the chat.disableAIFeatures setting at the user or workspace level. On Windows 11, according to ThinkPro, the Copilot toggle is under Settings, Personalization, Taskbar; the interface may differ depending on the update.

How is Copilot Pro different from Microsoft 365 Pro?

According to ThinkPro, Copilot Pro was a separate Copilot subscription before Copilot was added to Personal and Family from 17 January 2025. Microsoft 365 Pro is a current Microsoft 365 plan on Microsoft's site, with 5 TB of storage and the highest Copilot usage. Check Microsoft's plan page before buying.