Microsoft will let the whole family share Copilot in Microsoft 365
IA en un minuto newsroom · Editor: Jon Elgezabal
In 30 seconds
The person paying for Microsoft 365 Family or Premium will be able to open Copilot to the rest of the plan, up to five people, and also control minors' access to AI. Each feature will lose its own cap in favour of a common usage pool that can be topped up for a fee. The changes will roll out over the coming months, and the cloud will offer 2 TB for everyone instead of 1 TB each.
Microsoft is going to let Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers share Copilot, its AI assistant, and AI usage features with up to five other people on their plan, just as they already share the Office apps and OneDrive storage. Microsoft bundled these AI features into the Personal and Family subscriptions last year, but until now only the primary account holder could use them.
The changes are set out in an email Microsoft has sent to subscribers of these plans, seen by The Verge. They will arrive over the coming months.
The account holder will be able to manage AI access for younger family members.
Individual AI feature limits will be replaced by a single AI usage allowance that can be applied to the advanced AI features used most. If it runs out, more can be purchased. The email, as reported by The Verge, does not specify the size of that allowance or the price of extra usage. The Verge notes that, depending on how Copilot is used, the change could mean some subscribers end up paying more.
Cloud storage will change from 1 TB per person to 2 TB shared across the whole plan, and each member will keep their own account and private files. For existing subscribers, this change will apply after the first renewal on or after May 2, 2027. According to Microsoft's support note, new and upgraded subscriptions have included shared storage since October 8, 2026; if a plan goes over the limit, files remain accessible for up to one year, and storage can be expanded to a total of 10 TB. Some existing subscribers in eligible markets might receive bonus storage during the transition.
Microsoft 365 Premium launched a year ago and combines the benefits of Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Family for $19.99 a month.
Why it matters · analysis and opinion
Until now, AI in a family plan had a single owner, so the rest of the household paid for the subscription without being able to use it. Opening it to everyone follows what Microsoft did last year when it bundled AI into these subscriptions: treating it as part of Office rather than an extra. The other side is the common allowance: when several people share it, it runs out sooner, and anything beyond it is bought separately, so the bill can grow. Something similar happens with the cloud, which is no longer split per person. Families and freelancers who work with these plans would do well to check now how much storage each member takes up and how much they use AI, to know whether the change comes free or forces them to pay more.
Source: The Verge · Written with the help of AI: how we make the news
