On November 3, 2026, Microsoft announced in the message center of the Microsoft 365 Admin Center that it is adding fair-use limits to more Copilot Chat features, meaning caps for reasonable use. The limits apply to accounts without the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license, in the browser, in the desktop apps, and on mobile. Microsoft has published two notices with identical wording: one gives November 9 as the start date, while the other reports that the rollout is already underway.
The German help page on the limits in Copilot Chat also describes the expansion. Microsoft does not reveal which features are being added. The company generally does not want to publish figures because the limits fluctuate with load.
What happens when you hit a limit?
Copilot displays a notice that the feature is currently unavailable and states the time period after which you can try again. A response that is currently being generated does not get cut off. How much is possible can fluctuate over the course of the day. Administrators can neither view nor change the limits, and Microsoft emphasizes that the notice does not indicate a malfunction.
Microsoft does not mention an exception for Germany or the EU. The notices concern business customers, meaning accounts with Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise. The help page applies to work, school, and university accounts; whether schools and universities are already included now, Microsoft leaves open. Personal subscriptions such as Microsoft 365 Single, Family, or Premium are not covered by these limits; they have their own AI credits.
What distinguishes Copilot Chat with and without a license?
Without the add-on license, according to Microsoft's overview of Copilot Chat, you get standard access to the AI models, which can be restricted at peak times; with a license, your account gets priority access. The free chat accesses content from your work account only via files you upload, whereas the license also opens up meetings, emails, chats, and files from Microsoft 365. Advanced agents such as the Researcher and Analyst agents also remain reserved for license holders.
Copilot Chat with and without a license
This is how Microsoft describes the chat for business accounts in Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise
Without add-on license
- Standard access, restricted at peak times
- Usage limits for images and other chat features
- Company content only via uploaded files
- No advanced agents
With Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Priority access
- Access to meetings, emails, chats, and files
- Advanced agents such as Researcher and Analyst
Microsoft does not publish how high the limits are
Sources: Microsoft Support, Microsoft 365 Message Center Archive
The approach is not new. In July 2025, Microsoft announced that it would switch image generation and file uploads in the free chat from fixed limits to usage depending on available computing capacity; license holders have had priority since then. OpenAI is also making changes: starting in December, ChatGPT and Codex will share a common quota. Our assessment: for tasks with a fixed deadline, the free chat is now harder to plan around than before.
What this means for you
- It's best to first check which Copilot designation belongs to your account. On the Microsoft 365 home page, "Copilot Chat (Basic)", "M365 Copilot (Basic)", or "M365 Copilot (Premium)" appears under your name. Only Premium stands for the add-on license; the new limits apply to the Basic tiers.
- Plan AI tasks with a fixed deadline, such as the summary for a meeting, ideally with a buffer: if Copilot reports a limit, the only remedy is a later attempt.
- If you need the chat daily and reliably, talk to your IT department about the add-on license. Microsoft points administrators to license requests that users can submit themselves. If you manage your own Business subscription as a self-employed person, you make this decision alone.
- If you look after IT for a team, it's best to notify support in advance so that nobody reports the notice as an outage.
Which Copilot features are included in which subscription is explained in the lesson on free and paid subscriptions in the Copilot course.
Microsoft announced the expansion on November 3, 2026, in the message center for administrators.
Sources
