Microsoft Moves Work Copilot to copilot.cloud.microsoft

Microsoft is moving the work Copilot web app from m365.cloud.microsoft to copilot.cloud.microsoft, with worldwide mobile and web updates starting 18 August 2026 and automatic redirects on the standard ring from late August.

The change sits in Message Center MC1454108. Partner Center’s 14 August 2026 note says updates to web, desktop, and mobile begin 18 August 2026, with users redirected unless the new host is blocked. The consumer site copilot.microsoft.com remains the personal entry. Do not confuse the two.

Why copilot.cloud.microsoft still fits existing allow-lists

The new host stays under *.cloud.microsoft. Microsoft says customers who followed the recommended wildcard pattern inherit the same security, compliance, and allow-listing properties and do not need extra network changes. Named-host allow-lists that only list m365.cloud.microsoft will miss the new URL. Broad “copilot” keyword blocks aimed at the consumer site can catch the work host too.

Rollout, from MC1454108: mid-August 2026, worldwide mobile and web, with opt-in early access for Windows and Mac and the new URL in Frontier for testing; late August, standard URL redirect; mid-September, worldwide Windows and Mac apps; late September, deferred URL redirect for the web app. Partner notes put an early Windows/Mac preview around 18 August, with broad desktop deployment in mid-September.

Microsoft says security, compliance, privacy, and enterprise controls are unchanged. Application ID is unchanged, so existing policies should keep matching. Work and personal data do not flow into each other, Microsoft says. That is a service-boundary claim, not a substitute for DLP if someone pastes a work answer into a personal chat.

Petri, reporting the same unification, says most chats, generated images, and other Copilot-created content migrate automatically, and that files users uploaded to Copilot — plus files Copilot generated — are stored in OneDrive. Privacy protections and data separation between personal and work accounts remain unchanged, Microsoft says. Notify staff about the new name, icon, and URL before the redirect; a surprise icon change is a help-desk ticket.

New name, icon, and the green shield

The Microsoft 365 Copilot app is adopting a simpler name: “Microsoft Copilot app,” plus a new icon. Visual cues distinguish work from personal: account labels, a green shield for Microsoft Entra work accounts, and distinct backgrounds. Users still switch accounts in the navigation pane.

If your org applied a Recall filter to the former Microsoft Copilot app, Microsoft says that policy does not automatically carry over. Re-apply it to the new app. Tenant Restrictions still govern personal Microsoft-account sign-in; a firewall rule on copilot.microsoft.com is not an account control.

Admin/partner notes also flag consumer-side retirements around 18 August 2026: Group Chat account migration starts, Podcasts become unavailable after that date, and Deep Research retirement starts. Those are consumer-experience notes, not a change to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat governance.

If you pin Copilot in internal runbooks the way you pin Gemini 3.7 Flash, update the URL string and the app name in the same pass. A Skill prompt that tells staff to “open Copilot” without the host will now hit two products. For teen and consumer surfaces, keep OpenAI’s ChatGPT-for-teens rules on the personal side of the switcher, not on copilot.cloud.microsoft.

Practical takeaways

• Allow *.cloud.microsoft. Test https://copilot.cloud.microsoft from a managed device.
• Leave m365.cloud.microsoft allowed during the redirect window.
• Do not treat a copilot.microsoft.com block as a work-Copilot control.
• Tell help desk the new name, icon, and green Entra shield before tickets start.

Sources

• August 2026 Partner Center announcements — Microsoft Learn
• Microsoft unifies Copilot across personal and work accounts — Petri, 13 August 2026