Microsoft Is Changing Copilot Today: What Users Lose
If you made a podcast with Microsoft Copilot, today is the last day you can access it.
“Podcasts is being retired in the Copilot app for consumers starting on August 18, 2026. After that date, Podcasts will no longer be available and previously created podcasts will not be accessible,” said Microsoft in its Copilot support guidance.
At the same time, Microsoft is merging its separate consumer and Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences into a more unified product. The result isn’t a simple feature cleanup: some things disappear permanently, some are replaced for paying users, and some only change appearance.
What’s Actually Gone for Good
Copilot Podcasts is the hardest cut. Starting August 18, users can no longer create new podcasts, while previously created podcasts become inaccessible. Shared podcast links also stop working, and Microsoft has not announced a replacement.
That affects free and paid users alike, which makes Podcasts different from the other changes arriving today. If you created something you want to keep, the remaining practical option is to download the audio from Copilot’s web podcast library before the cutoff.
“After Podcasts is retired, previously created podcasts will no longer be available,” said Microsoft in its Copilot support guidance.
What Happens to Deep Research
Deep Research is being retired from the consumer Copilot app, but saying Microsoft is simply “killing” it would be misleading. Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers retain access to in-depth research through Researcher, Microsoft’s separate research tool. Existing Deep Research reports are also not being deleted.
“Your existing saved research content will not be deleted as part of this change,” said Microsoft in its Copilot support guidance.
Personal and Family subscribers can still find previously generated reports through their chat history, and those reports can be opened and saved in Word. What they lose is the ability to create new Deep Research reports through the consumer Copilot experience.
| Copilot Feature | What Changes Today | What Users Keep |
|---|---|---|
| Podcasts | Retired completely | Nothing after the cutoff unless downloaded |
| Deep Research | Retired from consumer Copilot | Existing reports; Researcher for Microsoft 365 Premium |
| Mico | Removed from core Copilot | Voice conversations |
| Copilot Apps | Consumer and Microsoft 365 experiences converge | A more unified Copilot |
“Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers can continue creating detailed reports and analyses using Researcher in Copilot,” said Microsoft in its Copilot support guidance.
Mico Is Leaving, but Voice Isn’t
Mico, the animated character that appeared during Copilot voice conversations, is also being removed from the core consumer experience. The underlying voice capability remains.
Microsoft is moving Mico into Learn Live, its education-focused experience, rather than eliminating Copilot voice altogether.
“Mico makes conversations with Copilot feel more natural and adaptive through animated expressions,” said Microsoft in its description of Copilot Voice and Mico.
Why Microsoft Is Pruning Copilot
All three changes sit inside Microsoft’s larger attempt to consolidate Copilot rather than maintain separate consumer and Microsoft 365 experiences.
The company is moving toward one Copilot instead of several versions of Copilot, with the broader consolidation continuing beyond today’s changes.
That gives Microsoft a simpler product architecture, but it also gives the company a reason to eliminate features that no longer fit the direction it wants the assistant to take. That’s why today’s changes are more significant than a normal feature update.
Microsoft is effectively trading breadth for consolidation: fewer individual experiences, but one central Copilot that is supposed to work across Microsoft’s consumer and productivity ecosystem.
What Users Should Do Today
If you used Copilot Podcasts, download anything worth keeping before the cutoff. That is the only change here involving potentially permanent loss of user-created content. If you used Group Chat, save anything important from existing conversations before the transition, particularly material contributed by other participants.
If you rely on Deep Research, check which Copilot subscription you have and whether Researcher replaces the workflow you actually use. Existing reports aren’t simply disappearing, but the ability to generate new ones depends on your access.
And if you liked Mico, there’s not much to preserve: the character is leaving the main experience, but Copilot voice remains.
