Copilot Researcher is the Microsoft Copilot agent for complex, multi-step research: it reads the web and your work content, then writes a source-cited report with sections, charts and visuals. Use it when you need depth and a shareable report, not a quick answer, because each user gets a maximum of 25 Researcher queries a month, as of October 2026.
That limit shapes everything about how you should use it. Researcher isn't a chat replacement. It's a heavy-duty tool you save for the questions that earn it. Here's when to reach for it, what it reads, and the admin answers Microsoft gives that most people don't expect.
Researcher or standard Copilot chat?
Microsoft's own guidance draws the line clearly. Here's how it splits:
| What you need | Use |
|---|---|
| A quick summary | Standard Copilot chat |
| A short reply | Standard Copilot chat |
| Light brainstorming or back and forth | Standard Copilot chat |
| Deeper reasoning across web and work sources | Researcher |
| A shareable report with citations and clean structure | Researcher |
| Working from an image you upload | Not Researcher, which can't take images as input |
The final report includes visuals, charts and graphs, organised sections and cited sources. Simple queries usually come back in under five minutes, and highly complex ones take 10 to 45 minutes, so it's not something to run while someone waits on a call.
What Researcher reads
Researcher works across the files, emails, meetings and chats you can already access, plus the web. Microsoft lists its sources as Microsoft Graph, connectors and the Bing index for recent web data, and Graph connectors are supported. One detail most people miss: if your primary inbox doesn't hold enough data, it uses archived emails as backfill. So a report can only draw on work content the person running it can already see.
The model was trained on web data up to 2024, which is why the live Bing index matters for anything recent. Researcher works in over 30 languages, the same as Microsoft Copilot, and it's in the Copilot mobile app on iOS and Android.
How to run a Researcher query
- Open the Microsoft Copilot app and find Researcher under Agents in Chat.
- Pick the model and mode in the model picker at the top right. If you call @Researcher from a normal Copilot chat instead, the picker is disabled and defaults to auto.
- Be specific in your prompt about what you want and what the report is for.
- Define your search scope: your workplace resources, the web, or both.
- Answer any clarifying questions it asks, because they shape the report.
- Give it time, then check the cited sources before you share the report.
Microsoft's FAQ also says Claude can be enabled in Researcher as a model option, through a separate how-to. If you want the wider picture of what sits alongside Researcher, my guide to the Copilot agents covers the rest, and the Microsoft Copilot app explains where they all live.
What admins can and can't control
This is where Researcher surprises IT teams. Microsoft's FAQ, as of October 2026, says:
- There's no allow or block list for specific websites. The only control is the tenant-wide web search toggle.
- If web search is switched off for the tenant, Researcher uses no web data at all. Web search isn't a prerequisite, and users can scope searches themselves.
- Researcher is part of the core default experience for licensed users. Users can't disable, remove or unpin it.
- There's no report or dashboard for admins to track Researcher or Analyst usage.
- By default, admins and compliance tools can't read Researcher session content, only usage metrics. Feedback that includes session data is the exception.
So if your compliance team wants to keep Researcher off certain sites, the only lever is switching web search off for everyone. And if you want to know whether people are using it, you won't get a report from Microsoft.
Privacy and data
Researcher follows your DLP policies and Microsoft's Responsible AI practices. It isn't trained on your tenant data, stays within the Microsoft 365 boundary and the EU boundary, and doesn't send customer content to OpenAI.
What it can't do yet
Researcher can't process images as input. Microsoft lists PowerPoint and PDF generation, memory and sovereign clouds as to be released soon, so for now the output is a report you read and share, not a deck. Microsoft last updated its Researcher page on 18 August 2026, so check it again if you're reading this much later.
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When I'd use Researcher
I'd keep Researcher for the work that used to take someone a day: a competitor briefing, a market scan that has to pull in your own meeting notes and emails, or a report you'll send to a client or your board. For everything else, standard chat is faster and doesn't eat into your 25 queries. Scope the prompt tightly the first time, answer its questions, and treat each run like a brief you'd hand a researcher, because that's what you're doing.
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Frequently asked questions
How many Researcher queries do I get in Copilot?
Microsoft sets a maximum of 25 Researcher queries per user per month, as of October 2026.
How long does Copilot Researcher take?
Simple queries usually take under five minutes. Highly complex ones take 10 to 45 minutes.
Can admins block websites in Copilot Researcher?
No. There's no allow or block list for specific sites. The only control is the tenant-wide web search toggle, and with it off Researcher uses no web data.
Can users turn off Researcher?
No. Researcher is part of the core default experience for licensed users, and users can't disable, remove or unpin it.
Is there a usage report for Copilot Researcher?
No. Microsoft says there's no report or dashboard for admins to track Researcher or Analyst usage.
Where do I find Researcher in Copilot?
Open the Microsoft Copilot app and find Researcher under Agents in Chat. It's also in the Copilot mobile app on iOS and Android.
