Microsoft just killed three Copilot features. You have until August 18 to save your data. That’s three days from now.
The company merged its two Copilot apps — the consumer version and the Microsoft 365 enterprise version — into a single “Copilot” app. Sounds convenient. But the announcement buried the lede: Podcasts, Deep Research, and Group Chat messages disappear on August 18. If you use any of them, you need to move today.
The Problem
Microsoft had two Copilot apps for reasons nobody understood. Copilot for personal use. Microsoft 365 Copilot for work. Different features, different interfaces, different logins. The unification makes sense on paper.
What doesn’t make sense: removing features people actually use without a migration path.
Copilot Podcasts turned your documents into audio shows. Deep Research produced multi-step reports that actually cited sources. Group Chat let teams collaborate with AI in the loop. All gone. Microsoft’s suggested alternatives? “Try Google NotebookLM for podcasts” and “other platforms have Deep Research too.” Thanks for the specific guidance.
The Solution
1. Export Your Data Before August 18
Open Copilot. Go to Settings → Data & Privacy → Export Data. Download everything. Do this now. The export includes your chat history, Group Chat messages, and any podcast scripts or research reports you generated.
Save the export file somewhere safe. Not in OneDrive if you’re leaving the Microsoft ecosystem — put it on your local drive or a neutral cloud service.
2. Get the New Unified App
If you used Microsoft 365 Copilot: Update your existing app. That’s it. Minor navigation changes, same login.
If you used consumer Copilot: Download the new “Copilot” app from the Microsoft Store (Windows) or App Store/Play Store (mobile). Sign in with your Microsoft account. Your personal chats should appear automatically.
If you used both: Each account stays separate. Work chats stay under your work account. Personal chats stay under your personal account. They won’t mix.
3. Verify Your Chats Migrated
Open the new app. Check your recent conversations. Look for:
- Personal chat history
- Work chat history (if you had 365 access)
- Any pinned or saved conversations
If something’s missing, check the old app one more time and manually copy anything critical.
4. Set Up Alternatives for the Dead Features
For Podcasts → Google Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM)
Free. Upload PDFs, docs, URLs. Click “Generate Audio Overview.” Gets you a 10-15 minute podcast with two AI hosts discussing your content. Not as polished as Copilot Podcasts, but it works and costs zero.
For Deep Research → Pick Your Tier
- ChatGPT Deep Research ($200/mo Pro) — Best quality, most thorough
- Perplexity Deep Research (Free tier available) — Good middle ground
- Gemini Deep Research (Google One AI Premium, $20/mo) — Included if you already pay for Google AI
- Claude — No dedicated Deep Research mode, but you can prompt for multi-step research
For Group Chat → Export + Teams/Slack
No direct replacement. Export your Group Chat messages from the data export. For future collaboration, use Teams or Slack with an AI bot (Copilot in Teams, or Zapier + ChatGPT/Claude).
Pro Tips
Test alternatives this week. Don’t wait until August 17. Spend 30 minutes with each replacement. You’ll hit edge cases — formatting quirks, prompt adjustments, workflow changes. Better to find them now.
Keep your export file. Even after migrating, keep that JSON/CSV export. It’s your backup if Microsoft’s migration misses something. It’s also a record of your AI interactions for compliance or reference.
Check your organization’s policy. If you’re on Microsoft 365 Copilot at work, your IT department may have already handled the migration. Ask before doing anything on your work account.
Takeaway
Three days. Export your data. Test Google NotebookLM for podcasts. Pick a Deep Research alternative. Move Group Chat content to Teams or Slack. The new unified Copilot app works fine — it’s the feature removal that hurts. Don’t let August 18 catch you empty-handed.
