Microsoft Merges Copilot Apps as It Retires Deep Research, Podcasts and Group Chats

Microsoft is combining its consumer Copilot app with Microsoft 365 Copilot while retiring several AI features as it works to simplify a product lineup that had become increasingly fragmented.

The updated Copilot app will support personal, work and school accounts, while keeping data from those accounts separate. Microsoft says users who currently use both Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot with a personal account will have their chat history and created content brought together.

Microsoft retires several Copilot features

As part of the transition, Microsoft will retire consumer Deep Research and Copilot Podcasts after Aug. 18, 2026. Group Chat will also stop functioning as a shared conversation when users are migrated to the new experience.

Existing Group Chats will become individual conversations with Copilot. Users will keep their own prompts, messages, and artefacts, but content contributed by other participants will no longer be available after migration.

Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers will continue to have access to Researcher as an alternative to consumer Deep Research. The company is also retiring Copilot Labs in its current form and removing Mico, its animated AI character, from Copilot Voice. Mico will remain available inMicrosoft’ss Learn Live tutoring experience.

Files shared with or generated by the standalone Copilot app will be moved to OneDrive, while Microsoft warns that some features could temporarily disappear during the transition.

Microsoft simplifies its Copilot strategy

The consolidation comes as Microsoft tries to create what it describes as a simpler and more cohesive Copilot experience. The company has expanded the Copilot brand across consumer and workplace products, creating overlapping apps and features for users with different account types.

GeekWire first reported details of the consolidation based on Microsoft’s support documentation. The Information separately reported in July that Microsoft executive Jacob Andreou told employees Copilot needed to earn the “right to exist” in customers’ lives and move away from features that were not working.

The latest changes show Microsoft narrowing its Copilot strategy around fewer core experiences as competition intensifies among major AI assistants.