Copilot in Teams is turned on through your Microsoft 365 admin center, not through Teams itself

If you use Microsoft Teams at work, Copilot is a feature your organization can turn on that lets you ask an AI assistant to summarize meetings, draft messages, and answer questions about documents shared in Teams. You do not install it like a separate program — instead, a Microsoft 365 administrator enables it for your organization, and then it appears as an option within Teams.

The person who needs to do this is whoever manages your organization's Microsoft 365 account, usually someone in IT or your company's administrative team. If that is not you, you will need to ask them to follow these steps. If it is you, the process takes about five minutes and requires admin access to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Key Takeaways

  • Only a Microsoft 365 administrator can turn on Copilot in Teams — individual users cannot enable it themselves.
  • The administrator goes to the Microsoft 365 admin center, finds the Teams settings, and toggles Copilot on for the organization.
  • Once enabled, Copilot appears in Teams as a chat option and can summarize meetings and help draft messages, but only for users whose organization has turned it on.
  • Turning on Copilot may increase the processing load on your organization's devices, particularly during meetings when Copilot is summarizing in real time.

Steps an administrator takes to enable Copilot in Teams

Log into the Microsoft 365 admin center at admin.microsoft.com using an account with administrator permissions. On the left side, click Settings, then Org settings. Look for Microsoft Copilot in the list and click it.

You will see a toggle for Copilot in Microsoft Teams. Turn it on. The change takes effect within a few hours, though it may take up to 24 hours for all users in your organization to see it. Once it is on, Copilot will appear as an option in the Teams chat interface and during meetings.

If you do not see the Copilot option in Org settings, your organization may not have a license that includes it. Copilot in Teams is included with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and some enterprise plans, but not all Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Check with your Microsoft account representative or your IT vendor to confirm your organization has the right license.

What Copilot does once it is turned on

In Teams chat, you can ask Copilot questions about documents, links, and conversations that have been shared in your Teams channels or direct messages. It can summarize a long thread, draft a reply, or explain something someone posted. During a Teams meeting, Copilot can generate a summary of what was discussed and list action items.

Copilot only sees information that is already visible to you in Teams. It cannot access files on your computer, emails in Outlook, or anything outside of Teams. It also cannot see messages or documents from channels or conversations you do not have permission to view.

How Copilot affects your computer's performance

When Copilot is processing a request — summarizing a meeting, drafting a message, or analyzing a document — it uses processing power on your device and on Microsoft's servers. During a Teams meeting, if Copilot is summarizing in real time, you may notice your device running slightly warmer or your fan working harder, especially on older laptops or devices with limited RAM.

The impact is usually small for individual users, but if your entire organization is using Copilot during the same meeting, the load on your network and on Microsoft's infrastructure increases. This is one reason some organizations turn Copilot on selectively — for certain teams or departments first — rather than for everyone at once.

If you notice your device slowing down after Copilot is enabled, check whether you have other programs running in the background. Copilot itself is not usually the main culprit, but it can be one factor among several. Closing unused browser tabs, stopping background sync on cloud storage, and restarting your device often help more than disabling Copilot.

Turning Copilot off if your organization decides not to use it

An administrator can turn Copilot off the same way they turned it on: go to the Microsoft 365 admin center, click Settings > Org settings > Microsoft Copilot, and toggle Copilot in Microsoft Teams off. The change takes effect within a few hours.

If Copilot is on for your organization but you personally do not want to use it, you do not have to. The option to use Copilot appears in Teams, but clicking it is optional. You can ignore it and use Teams the way you did before.

Licensing and cost

Copilot in Teams is not a separate purchase for most organizations. If your organization already has Microsoft 365 Copilot or certain enterprise plans, Copilot in Teams is included. If your organization has a standard Microsoft 365 Business or Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan without Copilot, you would need to add a Copilot license to use it.

Pricing varies depending on your organization's current plan and the number of users. Contact your Microsoft account representative or your IT vendor for a quote specific to your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn on Copilot just for myself, or does it have to be for the whole organization?

It has to be turned on by an administrator for the whole organization. Individual users cannot enable it. However, an administrator can turn it on and then let people choose whether to use it — it is not mandatory once it is enabled.

Does Copilot see my private messages in Teams?

Copilot can only see messages and documents in conversations and channels where you have permission to view them. If you ask Copilot a question in a direct message, it can see that conversation. It cannot see private messages between other people, and it cannot see channels you are not a member of.

What happens to the information Copilot reads when I ask it a question?

Microsoft uses the information you send to Copilot to process your request and improve the service. Your organization's data is not used to train the public version of Copilot. If your organization has a Copilot license with data residency requirements, your data stays in your region.

If Copilot is slowing down my device, can I turn it off without asking an administrator?

You cannot disable Copilot for your whole organization, but you can stop using it. When Copilot is on, the option appears in Teams, but you do not have to click it. If you want it removed entirely, ask your administrator to turn it off for the organization.

Does Copilot work in Teams on my phone?

Copilot in Teams is available on desktop and web versions of Teams. On mobile, the feature is not yet available, though Microsoft may add it in the future. Check the Teams app on your phone to see if the Copilot option appears.