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What is Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat? Clarifying the E3/E5 No-Additional-Cost Scope, Work Data, and Agent Boundaries

About this article
Based on Microsoft's official information as of September 18, 2026, this article clarifies the differences to help Microsoft 365 E3/E5 users avoid confusing "Copilot Chat," "Microsoft Copilot licenses," and "metered agents."

Verification Status: 📘 Microsoft Official Information Confirmed / Actual Device Unverified

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is an AI chat available to organizational users with eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses. Microsoft 365 E3/E5 are eligible licenses, andweb-based chat is available at no additional cost.

However, having Copilot appear on your screen is not the same as having a paid Microsoft Copilot license that allows you to work across your organization's email, meetings, SharePoint, and more.

Key Terms to Learn First

Distinguishing E3/E5, Copilot Licenses, and Metered Consumption

In Microsoft's official licensing documentation updated on August 18, 2026, Copilot Chat'sweb-based chat is included at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions, while work-based chat is provided via Microsoft Copilot licenses.

Which Data is Being Accessed?

flowchart LR
    U[利用者] --> C[Microsoft Copilot Chat]
    C --> W[Web情報]
    C --> A[Agent]
    A --> P[公開Web / 指示]
    A -->|従量課金を有効化した構成| T[SharePoint等の共有tenant data]
    C -->|Microsoft Copilotライセンス| D[仕事データを使うwork-based chat]

What matters is not the name "Copilot," butwhat the responses are grounded in.

A Common Example: A General Affairs Staff Member Wants to Ask About Regulations

Suppose a general user enters, "Tell me about the travel regulations."

• If they only have web-based chat, it will not automatically read and answer from the regulations stored in the company's SharePoint.

• One option is for the user to upload the file themselves to ask questions.

• If the administrator has configured a metered agent, it may be able to use a specified SharePoint site or other source as its knowledge base.

• With a Microsoft Copilot license, the experience expands to ground responses in work data within the scope of the user's permissions.

It is important not to assume that "the AI knows all internal documents just because it exists."

Different Perspectives for General Users, Business Staff, and IT Admins

Try This First: Ask Questions Using Only Public Information

Start by organizing public information without entering any internal confidential data.

Microsoft 365 E3とE5を比較するとき、
一般利用者が違いを感じやすい項目を5つ挙げてください。
現在確認できるMicrosoft公式情報を優先し、
不明な点は推測せず「要確認」としてください。

What to Look For

Look beyond just how well the response is written, andcheck whether you can verify the sources, and whether the information is from the web or work data.

Success Criteria

• A response is generated

• The supporting evidence can be verified

• Do not mistakenly assume that "it automatically referenced company data because of our E3/E5 subscription"

Try Changing One Part

Change "five" to "three, limited to security." By narrowing the criteria, you can see how prompt constraints are reflected in the response.

This prompt can be reused as a candidate for a Daily Code Sample.

Not All Agents Require Additional Cost

This is another common point of confusion. According to Microsoft, some declarative agents grounded in instructions or public websites are available at no additional cost. On the other hand,agents that access shared tenant data, such as SharePoint or Graph Connectors, can be subject to metered consumption and are turned off by default for Copilot Chat users. Administrators configure the billing settings on the Copilot Studio side.

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as 利用者
    participant C as Copilot Chat
    participant A as Agent
    participant S as SharePoint
    U->>C: 社内情報について質問
    C->>A: 対象Agentを利用
    A->>S: 設定済み知識へアクセス
    S-->>A: 利用者がアクセス可能な情報
    A-->>C: grounded response
    C-->>U: 回答

The diagram is a conceptual illustration. Please verify the actual available data, agents, and billing methods in your tenant settings and licenses.

Before Entering Data into Copilot Chat

Organizations must apply existing information classification, sharing permissions, and confidential data rules. The AI will not automatically fix existing over-sharing issues. It is crucial to clean up sharing permissions in SharePoint and Teams before leveraging work data with AI.

What Administrators Need to Check

1. Whether target users have eligible licenses for Copilot Chat

2. Whether they are using an Entra ID organizational account

3. Web search handling and organizational policies

4. Access control for the Microsoft Copilot app

5. The scope of permitted agents

6. Billing policies and Copilot Credits reports when using metered agents

7. Whether sharing permissions for SharePoint, etc., are appropriate

Note that according to official Microsoft admin documentation, as of January 28, 2026, in all tenants (including those outside the EEA/Switzerland), the legacy pin settings alone can no longer remove the Microsoft Copilot app itself from navigation. Simply choosing "do not pin" may not completely block access, so you should verify current management methods, including Integrated Apps.

Common Misconceptions

Official Information / Primary Sources

• Minimum requirements for Microsoft Copilot Chat

• License options for Microsoft Copilot

• Manage Microsoft Copilot Chat

• Using agents in Microsoft Copilot Chat

• Agents admin guide for Microsoft 365

The key to understanding Copilot Chat is not just a binary choice of "free or paid," butthinking about web, work data, agents, and metered consumption separately. It is easier to organize if E3/E5 users first safely try the web-based chat available at no additional cost, and then consider a Microsoft Copilot license or appropriate metered consumption configuration once business data integration becomes necessary.