Microsoft Copilot app merger begins August 18: Deep Research, Podcasts and group chats are changing
Microsoft is combining its two Copilot apps into a single experience. Starting August 18, 2026, the consumer Microsoft Copilot app and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app will merge into one unified application. As part of the transition, user accounts will begin migrating, with chats, images and created content moving over to the new app.
Microsoft says files from the older standalone Copilot app will be transferred to OneDrive. Work and personal accounts will remain separate, which should help users keep business data and private content apart. However, the app merger also removes several features that some Copilot users may rely on.
One visible change is the removal of the Mico avatar from Copilot Voice. More importantly, three Copilot features are either disappearing or becoming unavailable for many users: Deep Research, Podcasts and group chats.
Deep Research is being replaced by Researcher, but only for Premium users
Deep Research allowed users to turn a single question into a longer, sourced report. It was one of Copilot’s more useful tools for people who wanted detailed research summaries without manually collecting and organizing information.
That feature is no longer available for consumers in its current form. Microsoft is directing users to Researcher as the replacement, but there is a major catch: Researcher is only included with Microsoft 365 Premium.
Microsoft 365 Premium costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year in the United States. By comparison, Microsoft 365 Personal costs $9.99 per month, while Microsoft 365 Family costs $12.99 per month. Neither Personal nor Family includes Researcher.
That means users who previously used Deep Research through Personal or Family will lose the ability to create new research reports unless they upgrade to the more expensive Premium plan.
Existing Deep Research reports are not being deleted
There has been some confusion around what happens to saved Deep Research reports. Microsoft says existing saved research content will remain available. Personal and Family subscribers can still access older Deep Research reports through their chat history.
Users can also open those reports in Word and save them from there. The important distinction is that Microsoft is not removing past reports, but it is ending the ability to generate new ones unless the user has access to Researcher through the Premium subscription.
Podcasts are being removed from Copilot
The Copilot Podcasts feature is also going away. This tool could turn research results into a spoken conversation, giving users an audio-style summary of information.
After August 18, users will no longer be able to create new podcasts or play existing ones inside Copilot. Anyone who wants to keep their podcast content should download it before migration. Microsoft provides a download option through the podcast library menu.
Unlike Deep Research reports, podcasts will not remain playable inside Copilot after the transition. If a podcast matters to you, saving it locally before the migration is the safest option.
Group chats will become one-to-one conversations
Copilot group chats are also changing. The conversations themselves will not simply disappear, but they will be converted into one-to-one chats. Your own chat history will remain readable, but the group chat will no longer function as a group conversation.
The bigger issue is that content contributed by other participants will become unreachable after migration. That includes shared images and other media posted by people in the group.
Microsoft recommends downloading any media shared by other participants before your account is migrated. If there are important images, files or shared content in a Copilot group chat, now is the time to save them.
What Copilot users should do before migration
If you use Copilot regularly, there are a few steps worth taking before the app merger affects your account.
Download any Copilot podcasts you want to keep, because they will not be playable in Copilot after the change.
Save images and media shared by other people in group chats, since that content may become inaccessible once group chats are converted.
Export important Deep Research reports to Word, especially if you want a separate copy outside your chat history.
The Microsoft Copilot app merger is designed to simplify the product lineup, but it also removes useful tools from lower-priced plans. For many users, the biggest question will be whether the new Researcher feature is valuable enough to justify Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 per month.
For now, the main priority is preserving anything you do not want to lose access to. Existing Deep Research reports can still be saved, podcasts can be downloaded before the deadline, and shared group chat media should be copied before migration begins.
