Microsoft is merging its consumer Copilot app with Microsoft 365 Copilot, retiring features like Mico and Podcasts to create a streamlined, unified AI experience across platforms, signalling a shift towards a more utilitarian approach.
Microsoft is folding its consumer Copilot app and Microsoft 365 Copilot into a single product, while also retiring a cluster of features that had helped define the assistant’s more playful phase. According to Microsoft’s support pages, Group Chat, Podcasts, Copilot Labs and consumer Deep Research are all due to disappear on 18 August, alongside Mico, the animated voice character introduced last year as part of the company’s effort to make AI feel more approachable.
The changes mark a swift reversal for a product that was only launched in October 2025. Mico was presented as a warm, expressive and customisable persona that could react in real time and alter its appearance during conversations. Microsoft is now moving the character into Learn Live, where it will be used in a tutoring role rather than as a general voice companion. The company says any personal settings built around Mico in voice mode will not carry over.
The redesign is part of a broader consolidation that Microsoft has now begun rolling out across platforms. WindowsCentral reported that the company is merging the personal Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences into a single app with updated branding and a revised interface, starting on mobile and expanding to Windows and macOS by mid-September. The unified app will still separate personal and work or school accounts, preserving enterprise controls and compliance settings.
For consumers, the practical impact is more mixed. Microsoft’s support information says Deep Research is being retired from the consumer Copilot app on 18 August, although Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers will be able to use a replacement called Researcher. Podcasts are also being withdrawn, and Microsoft has said previously created podcasts cannot be exported or saved outside Copilot. In contrast, chats and other stored content are expected to migrate into the new app automatically, with the exception of certain features that are being shut down entirely.
The company’s push to simplify the product arrives as it tries to sharpen the difference between a novelty assistant and a serious productivity tool. Microsoft’s own materials still describe Copilot as a broad AI service for research, shopping, health and other tasks, but the app overhaul suggests the business wants fewer disconnected features and a clearer path for users who move between personal and professional work. That strategy mirrors a wider industry trend, with other AI developers also collapsing separate tools into single interfaces.
The timing also matters. Microsoft has said the app merger will continue through mid-September, and chief executive Satya Nadella has spoken about a larger “super app” style vision that combines chat, coding, collaboration and agent workflows. For now, though, the clearest signal is negative: the company is removing much of what made Copilot feel distinct, including a character it only recently introduced, and replacing it with a more standard productivity-led experience.
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