Credit: Daniel Dorko / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

Microsoft Copilot is a little messy. Unlike ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, the company's AI service isn't one universal product. Instead, there's "Copilot," the AI for consumers, directly competing with the aforementioned AI apps; and "Microsoft 365 Copilot," the AI for professional use in Microsoft's work suite. Unless you're totally immersed in Microsoft's AI culture, you might be understandably confused about Copilot, and what features and plans belong to which version of the AI. Luckily, you don't need to be confused any longer.

This week, Microsoft announced its intentions to merge its Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365 platforms into a single app. If you use Copilot as you would ChatGPT or Gemini, you'll use this app. If you use Copilot with Word and Excel for work or school, you'll use this app. Essentially, if you're using Microsoft's AI for any reason, this will be the app of choice. It might not seem particularly impactful for anyone who uses only one version of Copilot, but if you have to bounce between Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365, you'll understand the immediate benefits of avoiding two different Copilot apps on screen at once, as The Verge highlights.

As Copilot and Microsoft Copilot 365 are two different experiences, the changes you'll see in the new Copilot app will depend on the app you currently use. Microsoft Copilot 365 users should only have to update their existing app, and Microsoft says users can expect minor navigational changes when switching over. There's also a new app icon, as well as direct access to Copilot chat from the new app.

Copilot users who use Microsoft's AI with their personal account seem to have the most changes to look out for. You should expect to move over to the new app on desktop, but mobile users should be able to switch via an app update. Either way, Microsoft says your chats and content will move over with you. If you use both apps, all your chats and content will merge into the new app, though each will be tied to the specific account you created them with.

Perhaps the biggest news here is what isn't carrying over to the new app. Microsoft says it's ditching three legacy Copilot features as part of this transition: Podcasts, Deep Research, and Group Chat messages. Microsoft will discontinue all three on Aug. 18, so you don't have much time to continue using them.

If you use Copilot's Group Chat feature, make sure to copy any messages or images from your chats before that deadline, as chats will no longer be accessible after Aug. 18. The same goes for Podcasts: You won't be able to generate new podcasts, nor will you be able to access your generated podcasts after the deadline, so export them ahead of time. Any reports you made using Deep Research will be accessible after Aug. 18, but you won't be able to use the feature unless you are a Microsoft 365 Premium subscriber.

You don't have to look far to find replacements for these features. Google's "Gemini Notebook" (formerly NotebookLM) can create AI-generated podcasts for you, and just about every other major AI platform offers its own Deep Research feature. That said, Microsoft isn't the only one retiring features: OpenAI shuttered its AI video generator, Sora, earlier this year, as well as ChatGPT Atlas, its short-lived AI browser. It seems Microsoft is particularly focused on consolidating its AI offerings, seeing as the company has also been removing "unnecessary" Copilot features from Windows.