Is Copilot in Excel Free? It Comes Down to One Label
The short answer: sometimes. At work, you get Copilot in Excel without a paid licence only if the label in your account says M365 Copilot (Basic). That's standard access, and Microsoft says it's subject to service capacity.
If the label says Copilot Chat (Basic), you have no Copilot inside Excel at all. That's what happened to some unlicensed users on 15 April 2026. At home, the routes are Personal or Family with an AI credits plan, or Premium.
Checking yours is quick. I'll show you where to look, and what each label means for your spreadsheets.
Is Copilot in Excel free? Who gets it and who doesn't
Microsoft's Excel FAQ lists exactly 4 ways to get Copilot in Excel. Only the last one comes without an add-on:
1Microsoft 365 Personal or Family, with an AI credits plan
A home plan. The AI features belong to the subscription owner only.
2Microsoft 365 Premium
Another home plan, also owner only.
3A commercial Microsoft Copilot subscription
The paid work licence (Microsoft 365 Copilot, now called Microsoft Copilot). It comes with priority access.
4A Copilot Chat-eligible business or enterprise subscription
The one with no add-on to buy. Standard access only, and it depends on your organisation's tenant configuration.
Number 4 is the closest thing to free. You already pay for the Microsoft 365 plan, and there's no Copilot add-on on top.
But even number 4 isn't guaranteed. That's the next section.
The 3 labels at work: which one is yours?
Your label decides it. Sign in to Microsoft 365 with your work or school account and scroll to the bottom of the home page. The same label shows inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Microsoft's documentation defines 3:
1Copilot Chat (Basic)
No paid licence, and no access to Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote. You still have Copilot Chat on the web, where Microsoft lists file upload and analysis (standard access, subject to service capacity). That's a chat about a file, not Copilot inside your open workbook.
2M365 Copilot (Basic)
No paid licence, but standard access to Copilot in Excel. This is the free one people mean. It has no priority access. The model picker and the Work data source need a paid route.
3M365 Copilot (Premium)
The paid add-on, with priority access to the full experience.
Which Basic label you get depends on your tenant configuration, and Microsoft doesn't spell out how it decides. So don't guess from your company's size. Read the label.
Who lost Copilot in Excel in April 2026?
From 15 April 2026, Copilot stopped being available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for Copilot Chat users.
That's the wording of the Message Center posts (MC1253858 and MC1253863) as quoted in Microsoft's community forum. The original posts weren't retrievable from the official archive. Microsoft's own support page now backs it up, because it defines the Copilot Chat (Basic) label as no access to Copilot in those apps.
You'll see a rule repeated that it hit organisations with more than 2,000 users. That's reported, not confirmed. The number isn't on any public Microsoft page, and admins in the same forum describe mixed results in small tenants. I'd trust the label over any headcount rule.
What stayed: Copilot Chat on the web, and Copilot in Outlook.
How many free Copilot prompts do you get in Excel?
Microsoft doesn't say.
Its page "Limits for features in Microsoft Copilot Chat" says users without a licence get fair use limits on some features, and that Microsoft does not publish specific numeric limits. It also says that reaching a limit is not an error or a product malfunction.
It got more concrete this month. Message Center posts published on 3 November 2026 (MC1536158 and MC1536163) say new Copilot Chat limits are rolling out for users without a Copilot licence in commercial tenants. One says they're rolling out now. The other gives 9 November as the start.
Microsoft sets these limits, and admins can't see or change them. And the posts don't name Excel, so I won't pretend to know what they do to your Excel sessions.
What I'd do: if Copilot tells you a feature is unavailable because of a limit, try again later (not exactly a power move, but it's Microsoft's own advice). If it keeps happening to the people who live in spreadsheets, that's your signal to give them a licence.
Copilot in Excel at home: Personal, Family and Premium
Home is simpler: these are paid plans, so "free" doesn't apply. Excel is on Microsoft's list for all 3, with Personal and Family needing the AI credits plan. Usage is metered with AI credits or other limits, and the benefits belong to the subscription owner.
What Microsoft's current page doesn't tell you: how many credits you get a month, or what one Excel request costs. All it promises is a notification when you're near a limit or at it.
Prices below are Microsoft's list prices from my last check in September 2026. They move and promos end, so confirm on Microsoft's pricing page before you budget.
1Personal, Family, Premium (US)
$9.99, $12.99 and $19.99 a month, or $99.99, $129.99 and $199.99 a year. Family covers up to 6 people, but the AI features are for the owner only.
2The paid Copilot licence for work
$30 per user per month paid yearly in the US, £23.10 in the UK and €26.00 in Germany and Ireland (both excluding VAT). Paying monthly on an annual commitment costs a little more ($31.50, £24.26, €27.30). It sits on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan.
3Copilot Business (up to 300 users)
$21 list in the US. Microsoft showed a first-year promo at $18 for offers made from 1 July to 31 December 2026, with an annual commitment.
Where Microsoft's own pages disagree (AutoSave)
AutoSave. The personal-plan FAQ still says Copilot in Excel needs AutoSave and a file saved to OneDrive. The newer Excel tips page (updated 2 November 2026) says it runs with AutoSave on or off.
I'd go with the newer page. If Copilot misbehaves on a file saved on your computer, save a copy to OneDrive or SharePoint as .xlsx and try again. (Microsoft's pages also mix the names Microsoft Copilot and M365 Copilot. Same product.)
You qualify, but there's no button
The button moved. Since spring 2026 it sits in the lower-right corner of the workbook, not on the ribbon. Press F6 first. If that gets you nothing, work through Copilot not showing in Excel. And once it opens, 12 habits for using it will save you time. The wider overview is in my guide to Microsoft Copilot for Excel.
So should you pay for it?
My take: read your label first. If it says M365 Copilot (Basic), use it properly for a few weeks and see where you hit the wall. Then license the people who hit it, starting with leadership, who should be using the paid version anyway.
Want the full free-versus-paid picture across all the apps? I cover it in Copilot Chat vs Microsoft 365 Copilot. (I have no commercial interest in Microsoft, by the way. I just like licences that get used.)
Questions about Copilot in Excel being free
Is Copilot in Excel free?
Sometimes. With a work account, you skip the add-on only if your label is M365 Copilot (Basic). That's standard access, subject to service capacity. Copilot Chat (Basic) means no Copilot inside Excel. At home, the routes are Personal or Family with an AI credits plan, or Premium.
How do I use Copilot in Excel for free?
Check your label first. If it says M365 Copilot (Basic), open a workbook and press F6 to reach the Copilot button in the lower-right corner. If it says Copilot Chat (Basic), upload the workbook to Copilot Chat on the web instead.
Is Copilot in Excel included in Microsoft 365?
Not for everyone. Microsoft lists 4 routes: Personal or Family with an AI credits plan, Premium, a commercial Copilot subscription, or a Copilot Chat-eligible work subscription. Whether the last one gets standard access depends on your tenant configuration.
What does M365 Copilot (Basic) mean?
You don't have the Copilot add-on licence, but you do have standard access to Copilot in the apps. Standard access is subject to service capacity, and Microsoft publishes no numeric limits for unlicensed users.
Why did Copilot disappear from Excel in April 2026?
From 15 April 2026, Copilot stopped being available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for Copilot Chat users, the label that means no in-app access. Reports say large organisations were hit, but the 2,000-user line is unconfirmed. Ask IT which label you have.
How many free Copilot prompts do I get in Excel?
Microsoft doesn't say. It publishes no numeric limits for users without a licence, and reaching one is not an error.
Free or paid, people still need to know what to ask.
I run live online Copilot workshops. Hands-on, from 1.5 to 4 hours, for groups of 20 to 25 at most. That includes an Excel workshop for finance teams. Clients include Intel, Roche, EY, Deloitte and Amdocs.