Microsoft releases Copilot October 2026 update with deeper Office integration

Copilot Workspaces replace notebooks, letting teams edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in a shared environment with live cursors and support direct Office‑file work and multiple reference types such as JPG, PNG, CSV, and TSV. Excel gains an interactive canvas, a clean‑data skill, and accounting workflows that let finance teams reconcile accounts and analyze data directly in the sheet. PowerPoint uses Sonnet 5.5 for design, supports background task continuation, and streamlines brand‑kit management.

Word, Teams, and Edge receive focused upgrades: legal‑specific formatting, Markdown support, a privacy‑oriented intelligent recap, and a simplified Edge interface. Microsoft also expands reusable skills, agents, and industry connectors, aiming to keep context and files together across the ecosystem.