Microsoft just expanded Copilot Cowork in three big ways. On May 5, 2026, Charles Lamanna (EVP, Business Applications & Agents) announced that Cowork is now available on iOS and Android, supports reusable Cowork Skills, and connects to a growing list of native and third-party systems through Cowork Plugins. Cowork is the part of Microsoft 365 Copilot that does not just answer questions, it executes long-running, multi-step work on your behalf, and these updates push it well past the desktop chat window.

Copilot Cowork vs. Copilot Chat at a glance

Both are part of Microsoft 365 Copilot, but they handle work differently. Use this as a quick reference before you decide which surface fits a given task.

What is Copilot Cowork?

Copilot Cowork is the agentic mode of Microsoft 365 Copilot that runs long, multi-step tasks instead of responding turn by turn. Microsoft introduced Cowork to the Frontier program on March 30, 2026, and described the shift as moving “from conversation to action.” Where Copilot Chat answers a question, Cowork takes an outcome (“draft the quarterly update from last week’s meeting notes and route it to the leadership team for review”) and works the steps in the background.

It runs in the cloud, so you do not need your laptop open. It is grounded in Work IQ, Microsoft’s tenant-aware intelligence layer that understands your inbox, calendar, files in SharePoint and OneDrive, Teams conversations, and the line-of-business systems you connect. Crucially, Cowork previews what it is about to send, post, or schedule before doing it, so your team stays in the loop on any action that touches a customer or coworker.

What’s new in the May 5, 2026 announcement

Three capabilities went live or expanded:

1. Cowork on iOS and Android

Cowork is now in the Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app on iOS and Android. Because the agent runs in the cloud, you can delegate work from your phone, close the app, and come back to a finished outcome. Useful when an idea hits you on the train, between meetings, or in the lobby of a customer site. This is the first time Cowork has been available outside the desktop and m365.cloud.microsoft browser experience.

2. Cowork Skills (reusable workflows)

A Skill is a reusable set of instructions Cowork follows to complete a task the way you want it done, every time. Microsoft is shipping built-in skills for common workflows (drafting documents, coordinating meetings, conducting research), and your team can create custom skills that capture how your business actually runs. Cowork can auto-discover up to 20 custom skills per user and load the relevant ones at the start of each conversation.

For most small and mid-sized businesses, custom skills are where the real productivity gains live. A skill that encodes “how we draft a client onboarding email” or “how we summarize a sales call into our pipeline notes” turns one person’s expertise into a reusable team asset.

3. Cowork Plugins and integrations

Cowork now reaches outside Microsoft 365 through plugins. New native integrations bring Fabric IQ with Power BI data directly into Cowork workflows and expand the existing Dynamics 365 coverage across sales, customer service, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). That means scenarios like pipeline reviews, case resolution, and order approvals can run inside a single Cowork session.

Third-party connectors arriving in the coming weeks include LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Miro, monday.com, and S&P Global Energy. Organizations can also build custom plugins for their own line-of-business systems through the Microsoft 365 App Store and Copilot Studio.

Considerations before you turn it on

Cowork inherits Microsoft’s Enterprise Data Protection and tenant boundaries, which is good. It does not solve every governance question for you, which is where most SMB rollouts trip up.

• Data hygiene is now a productivity feature. Cowork is grounded in your SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams content. Stale permissions, oversharing, or unlabeled sensitive files mean Cowork can surface or act on the wrong thing in front of the wrong person.
• Skill governance is the new shadow IT. If anyone can author a custom skill, anyone can codify a bad process. Decide who can create, share, and approve skills before you turn the feature loose.
• Plugin permissions need review. A plugin to a CRM or finance system is also an action surface. Map which plugins your team needs, which require admin approval, and which should stay off.
• Train people on the “preview before send” habit. Cowork shows you what it is about to do before doing it. That guardrail only works if users do not click through it on autopilot.

How to get started with Copilot Cowork

Cowork is available through the Microsoft Frontier program for customers licensed for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Enroll in Frontier through the Microsoft 365 admin center, then access Cowork at m365.cloud.microsoft, in the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app for Windows and Mac, or in the Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app for iOS and Android.

A typical rollout sequence we recommend for our clients: enroll a small pilot group first, audit SharePoint and Teams permissions, identify three to five repeatable workflows that would benefit from custom skills, then expand. Most organizations get more value from a handful of well-built custom skills than from broad early access.

Sources

Primary source for this article: Copilot Cowork: From conversation to action across skills, integrations, and devices (Microsoft 365 Blog, May 5, 2026, by Charles Lamanna). Additional context from the March 30, 2026 Frontier announcement and Copilot Cowork (Frontier) documentation on Microsoft Learn.