Key Takeaways
- Copilot Chat users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence now face fair use limits on more features, not only image generation.
- Rollout began 2 November 2026 for organisations with 2,000 or fewer Microsoft 365 seats, and 9 November for larger ones.
- Hitting a limit is expected behaviour: the reply in progress finishes and Copilot tells you when to try again.
- Today: check your licence label, split heavy jobs into fewer, larger prompts, and agree a backup tool with IT.
If Copilot Chat told you this week that a feature is "not available right now", nothing is broken. Microsoft has started rationing more Copilot Chat features for staff without a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, which covers most people who use Copilot at work every day.
What changed in Copilot Chat in November 2026?
Microsoft extended fair use limits from image generation to additional Copilot Chat features for users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. When a limit is reached, the feature pauses, an in-product notice says when it returns, and any answer already being written still finishes. Copilot Chat itself stays included with Microsoft 365.
Admins were told in Message Center posts MC1536158 and MC1536163 on 3 November 2026; dates are in the Partner Center announcements.
| Item | What Microsoft says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is affected | Users in commercial tenants without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence | MC1536163 |
| Start date | 2 Nov 2026 (2,000 seats or fewer); 9 Nov 2026 (more than 2,000 seats) | Partner Center, Nov 2026 |
| Where | Copilot Chat on web, desktop and mobile | MC1536158 |
| Published numbers | None; limits change with service conditions | Microsoft Support |
| Admin control | Admins cannot view or adjust the limits | MC1536163 |
| Hong Kong availability | Yes, Copilot Chat works with Hong Kong Microsoft 365 business plans | Microsoft 365 Hong Kong plans |
Who is affected by the Copilot Chat fair use limits?
Anyone signed in with a work account whose Copilot label reads Copilot Chat (Basic) or M365 Copilot (Basic). Staff with a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, labelled M365 Copilot (Premium), are not affected. Personal Microsoft 365 Family or Personal plans follow a separate AI credit system.
The first to notice are heavy users: the marketer who drafts every post in Copilot, or the analyst summarising PDFs all afternoon. Microsoft says availability can vary throughout the day, and it has not named every capped feature.
What should I do today if Copilot Chat stops working?
Do three things: confirm which Copilot licence label you have, change how you prompt so heavy jobs use fewer requests, and agree with IT on an approved backup tool and on how licence requests are handled. None of these needs budget, and together they keep a deadline from depending on Microsoft's capacity that hour.
1. Check your licence label (2 minutes)
Go to microsoft365.com, sign in with your work account, scroll to the bottom of the home page and read the label under your name, as described in Microsoft's licence guide. Basic labels are affected; Premium is not.
2. Batch your work into fewer requests
Send one complete request with the file, audience and format instead of ten short follow-ups:
Use the attached [file]. Audience: [who reads it]. Produce in one reply: (1) a 5-bullet summary, (2) a 150-word email to [recipient], (3) three risks with a one-line fix each. Write in [English / Traditional Chinese]. Do not ask follow-up questions; state any assumption at the end.3. Agree a backup and a request route with IT
Most limit notices offer a licence request, which admins handle under Microsoft 365 admin center > Billing > Licenses > Requests (Microsoft Learn). Ask IT now which second tool is approved for company data.
What has Microsoft not announced yet?
Microsoft has not published the numeric limits, the full list of affected features, or how long a feature stays paused, and says the limits may expand over time. Treat any blog post quoting a daily prompt count as a guess. Reset times appear only inside the product notice when you hit the limit.
One date is fixed: new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licences bought through resellers get usage-based billing on by default from January to March 2027, with a default cap of 4,000 Copilot Credits per user per month (Partner Center).
Last verified: 11 November 2026.
Is it worth upgrading to Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Not automatically. If one person hits the limit weekly, better prompting fixes it. If a whole team hits it every afternoon, count the lost hours first and bring that number to IT.
Empowering AI. Centered on you.
Rather not manage limits and licences yourself?
If you do not want to build and maintain your own AI workflows around changing quotas, UD can deploy and run AI staff for set job roles, with the choice of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or DeepSeek models behind them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Copilot Chat still free with Microsoft 365?
Yes. Microsoft says Copilot Chat remains included with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions; only some features are now rationed for users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence.
How many Copilot Chat prompts can I send per day?
Microsoft does not publish a number. Its support page says limits vary with service conditions and may change over time, so any fixed daily figure online is an estimate.
Will Copilot cut off an answer halfway when I hit the limit?
No. According to Microsoft's Message Center notice MC1536163, responses already in progress are not interrupted when a limit is reached.
Can my IT admin raise the limit for our company?
No. Microsoft sets and manages the limits, and admins can neither view nor adjust them. Admins can only assign Microsoft 365 Copilot licences or handle licence requests.