- Microsoft has just announced a new feature for Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, and Premium plans: employees can use Copilot from their personal accounts to work on enterprise documents, even if the organization does not provide an M365 Copilot license.
- When used, Copilot is always bound by the access rights of the work account (Entra ID). Employees can only use Copilot on documents they are authorized to open, and data always remains within the enterprise Microsoft 365 environment, not shared externally.
- IT retains full control: administrators can enable/disable this feature using the “Multiple account access to Copilot for work documents” policy. If disabled, personal Copilot will not function on organizational content. All Copilot actions can be logged and monitored.
- Enterprise data remains protected at an enterprise level: all Copilot operations on work documents stay within the Microsoft 365 service boundaries, are encrypted in transit and at rest, and are subject to the same compliance and security policies as when using an enterprise Copilot license.
- Personal accounts do not extend access rights – they only bring the “Copilot license” into the application. All permissions still depend on the work account. If a file is labeled for security (Confidential), Copilot also adheres to that label.
- Some advanced features (such as querying multiple documents or internal data) still require an enterprise Copilot license. With a personal plan, Copilot only supports open documents and cannot scan entire SharePoint or Teams.
- IT can configure additional limits: for example, blocking Copilot from using web search, or applying content retention/deletion policies. Copilot also has a layer of protection against prompt injection, filters sensitive data, and complies with international security certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR…).
- User experience: employees simply log in with both their personal and work accounts simultaneously on Word, Excel, etc. When opening a company file, they can ask Copilot to summarize, analyze, or rewrite content, while the data remains protected according to organizational policies.
📌 Microsoft has just announced a new feature allowing employees to use Copilot from personal accounts to work on enterprise documents, even if the organization does not provide an M365 Copilot license, without breaking IT management control. Businesses maintain data security and compliance with security standards, while employees benefit from AI assistance. This is how Microsoft flexibly combines user convenience and organizational security.
