MC1176366 – M365 Change Digest

One-line summary

A new Copilot pane in Classic Outlook will show AI-generated summaries of search results, including Teams messages and documents, starting rollout mid-December 2025; enabled by default for Copilot-licensed users.

Similar updates

Details

RoadmapIds

510107

Summary

Classic Outlook will gain a Copilot side pane showing AI-generated summaries of search results from documents and Teams messages. Users can interact with and ask follow-up questions in the pane. The feature rolls out mid-December 2025 to mid-February 2026, enabled by default for commercial M365 Copilot license holders.

Platforms

Web

Body (from Message Center)

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated language surrounding who is impacted for clarity. Thank you for your patience.

We’re introducing a new Copilot experience in Classic Outlook to help users get more value from their search results. After executing a search, users will see an entry point to the Copilot side pane, where they can view a large language model (LLM)-based summary of their results. This includes content from documents, Teams messages, and more. Users can also ask follow-up questions and interact with the content directly in the Copilot pane.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 510107.

When this will happen:

General Availability: We will begin rolling out mid-December 2025 and expect to complete rollout by mid-February 2026.

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected: Commercial accounts with access to M365 Copilot Licenses.

What will happen:

Users will see an entry point to the Copilot side pane after they execute a search.
The pane will display an LLM-generated summary of search results, including content from documents and Teams messages.
Users will be able to ask follow-up questions and interact with the summarized content.
The feature will be enabled by default; no admin action will be required to turn it on.
AI generation of content within the pane will be opt-in.

Screenshot - Copilot pane showing AI-generated summary in Classic Outlook:

user settings

What you can do to prepare:

Confirm that affected users have the required Microsoft 365 AI SKU.
Communicate this change to helpdesk staff.
Update internal documentation if you detail Outlook search functionality.
No admin controls are available to disable the feature; however, users must opt in to AI-generated content.

Compliance considerations:

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Raw JSON (for debugging)

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{
  "snapshot_item": {
    "action_required_by": null,
    "ai_action_required_by": null,
    "ai_actions": [
      "Ensure users have Microsoft 365 AI SKU",
      "Inform helpdesk staff",
      "Update internal Outlook search documentation"
    ],
    "ai_master_tags": [],
    "ai_model": "gpt-4.1",
    "ai_summary": "A new Copilot pane in Classic Outlook will show AI-generated summaries of search results, including Teams messages and documents, starting rollout mid-December 2025; enabled by default for Copilot-licensed users.",
    "ai_topics": [
      "Microsoft 365 Apps",
      "Copilot",
      "Outlook",
      "Teams"
    ],
    "category": "planForChange",
    "details_map": {
      "Platforms": "Web",
      "RoadmapIds": "510107",
      "Summary": "Classic Outlook will gain a Copilot side pane showing AI-generated summaries of search results from documents and Teams messages. Users can interact with and ask follow-up questions in the pane. The feature rolls out mid-December 2025 to mid-February 2026, enabled by default for commercial M365 Copilot license holders."
    },
    "id": "MC1176366",
    "importance": 5,
    "is_major_change": true,
    "last_modified": "2025-10-23T21:56:08Z",
    "ms_products": [
      "Microsoft 365 Apps",
      "Copilot"
    ],
    "platforms": "Web",
    "roadmap_ids": [
      "510107"
    ],
    "services": [
      "Microsoft 365 apps",
      "Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)"
    ],
    "severity": "normal",
    "tags": [
      "Updated message",
      "New feature",
      "User impact",
      "Admin impact"
    ],
    "title": "(Updated) Microsoft Outlook: Enhanced search experience with Copilot in Classic Outlook"
  }
}