Copilot Search now lets you ask follow-up questions about what it finds, so you can quiz the files instead of opening all twelve
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd ·
Microsoft 365 Copilot Search now has chat built into its results, so you can ask follow-up questions and draft from what it finds. Copilot Chat on the web also gets a Regenerate button.
The short version
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Search now has a chat pane inside the search results, for follow-up questions and drafting.
- Microsoft listed it in its Copilot release notes on 6 October 2026, for Windows and the web.
- Next time you hunt for a document, ask the chat pane a follow-up before you open every result.
Searching work files usually goes like this: find twelve results, open eight, read three and forget what you were after. Microsoft has added chat to Copilot Search to cut out a few of those steps.
What changed in Copilot Search?
Microsoft 365 Copilot Search now has conversational chat built into its search results, so you can ask follow-up questions about what it finds.
Search and chat used to be separate tools. Now the search results are the starting point for the chat, so you can ask follow-ups, pull points together and draft content without switching windows. Microsoft's instructions are short: search, look at the results, then use the chat pane.
What else is new?
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat on the web now has a Regenerate option, with Try Again for a fresh answer and Switch Model for an answer from a different AI model.
Both changes are in Microsoft's Copilot release notes covering 22 September to 6 October 2026. The search chat is listed for Windows and the web, and Regenerate is web only. If you can't see either yet, give it a little time.
Should your business use it?
Teams using Microsoft 365 Copilot should try the search chat on their next where's-that-document hunt, because it saves jumping between tools.
My take: small changes like this get used more than the flashy ones. Most people don't need an agent. They need last quarter's pricing and a quick answer on what changed. Check the answer against the source file before it goes into an email, though. Copilot can only be as tidy as your SharePoint, and most of us have a folder called Final FINAL v3.
Wondering what this means for your business?
That's exactly what the discovery call is for.