Short Version
Copilot in Outlook is getting a refreshed, chat-centred design that aligns with the updated Copilot app, bringing simplified navigation, an improved chat layout, better agent discovery, and new Work IQ controls. Due September 2026.
Details
Copilot is changing across Outlook, both where you’d expect to see it and behind the scenes in how it’s built. The refreshed design brings simplified navigation, an updated chat layout, improved agent discovery and interaction, and new Work IQ controls, and it aligns Outlook with the updated, chat-centred design already rolling out to the Copilot app.
This isn’t a single, uniform change everywhere in Outlook. The Copilot side pane gets its own refreshed design, tailored for quick, contextual interactions as you work.

The full-page Copilot experience closely mirrors the recent updates in the Copilot app, and also introduces a new Tasks view, giving you visibility into longer-running Copilot activity such as agent activity and scheduled chats, something the side pane doesn’t include.

Availability
Due September 2026.
Source, related links and references
MC1458470.
Images: Microsoft.
Related: Copilot becomes one app with a new name and clearer accounts.
See what else is new for Outlook.
Page originally published
18th August 2026.
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