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sign-up-for-microsoft-copilot

6 min read

How to Sign Up for Microsoft Copilot (from Australia)

Status: 🟩 COMPLETE 🟦 LIVING Section: how-to Tags: microsoft, copilot, signup, walkthrough

What you’re doing

This guide walks you through accessing Microsoft Copilot — Microsoft’s AI assistant that’s free with a Microsoft account. It’s GPT-4o powered, works as a standalone web/app product, and (with paid plans) integrates into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

There are several “Copilots” — this guide covers them all and helps you pick.

Time: 10 minutes.

The Microsoft Copilot products (it can be confusing)

Microsoft has several different “Copilot” products:

Free Microsoft Copilot

  • What: Free AI chatbot
  • Where: copilot.microsoft.com; Copilot app; built into Windows 11; built into Edge
  • Requires: Microsoft account (free)
  • Cost: Free
  • Best for: General chat assistant; image generation; web search

Copilot Pro

  • What: Premium individual subscription
  • Where: Same places + Office apps
  • Requires: Microsoft account + subscription
  • Cost: ~$32 AUD/month
  • Best for: Power individual users; faster responses; AI in personal Office apps

Microsoft 365 Copilot

  • What: Enterprise Copilot for businesses
  • Where: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams (with M365 subscription)
  • Requires: M365 subscription + Copilot add-on
  • Cost: ~$37 AUD/user/month (on top of M365)
  • Best for: Businesses using Microsoft 365

GitHub Copilot

  • What: Code completion AI
  • Where: VS Code, JetBrains, GitHub
  • Cost: 19 USD/business
  • Best for: Developers

This guide focuses on the consumer Copilot products — free and Copilot Pro.

Step-by-step: Free Microsoft Copilot

Step 1 — Go to copilot.microsoft.com

Open https://copilot.microsoft.com in your browser.

Step 2 — Sign in

Click Sign in (top right). Use a Microsoft account:

  • Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com email
  • Personal Microsoft account
  • Work or school Microsoft account

If you don’t have one: create a free account at https://account.microsoft.com/account.

Step 3 — You’re in

You’ll land on Copilot’s interface. Start typing.

First useful queries

  • “Help me write an email to my landlord about a tap repair.”
  • “What’s the latest news about [topic]?”
  • “Create an image of a kookaburra on a gum tree at sunset.”
  • “Summarise this article: [paste]”
  • “Explain quantum computing in simple terms.”

Where Copilot lives on your devices

Windows 11

  • Press Win + C or click the Copilot button on taskbar
  • Copilot opens as a side panel
  • Integrates with Windows (open apps, change settings via voice)

Microsoft Edge browser

  • Copilot icon in browser toolbar
  • Can read and discuss content on web pages
  • Image generation built in

Mobile (Copilot app)

  • App Store / Google Play: search “Microsoft Copilot”
  • Free; sign in with Microsoft account
  • Voice mode available

macOS

  • Copilot is web-based on Mac (no native app yet at time of writing)
  • Available via copilot.microsoft.com

Should you upgrade to Copilot Pro?

Free Copilot is genuinely good for most users. Copilot Pro adds:

  • Priority access to GPT-4o during peak times
  • Copilot in personal Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote)
  • Faster image generation
  • AI image generation in Designer
  • 100 AI image “boosts” per day (vs 15 free)

Upgrade if:

  • You use Office apps heavily and want AI inside them
  • You’re willing to pay for faster responses
  • Image generation is a core use case

Stay free if:

  • You’re casual/occasional Copilot user
  • You don’t use Microsoft Office apps
  • Other AI assistants meet your needs

What you get free vs paid

FeatureFreeCopilot Pro
GPT-4o accessâś…âś… Priority
Image generation (DALL·E)✅ 15 boosts/day✅ 100 boosts/day
Voice conversationâś…âś…
Copilot in Office apps❌✅ (personal Office)
Web access integrationâś…âś…
Custom Copilot GPTsâś… Limitedâś… Build your own

How Microsoft Copilot compares to alternatives

ToolCostBest for
Microsoft Copilot (free)$0Microsoft users; image gen; web search
ChatGPT free$0Versatile alternative
Claude free$0Better for writing
Gemini free$0Google ecosystem users
Copilot Pro$32/moOffice app users + premium features
ChatGPT Plus$31/moMost versatile single tool
Claude Pro$31/moBest writing

For most users: try free Copilot alongside Claude/ChatGPT free; choose what fits.

Why Copilot is sometimes the best choice

  • Already in Windows 11 — no separate signup if you have Windows
  • Free with Microsoft account — no separate billing
  • GPT-4o for free — same model as ChatGPT Plus
  • Image generation included — DALL·E built-in
  • Edge integration — read and discuss web pages
  • Voice mode included — talk to it like ChatGPT

For Australians already in the Microsoft ecosystem, Copilot is often the easiest free AI to use.

Australian-specific notes

  • Currency: Subscriptions billed in AUD typically (when via Microsoft Store)
  • Custom instructions: Tell Copilot you’re Australian for better context
  • Privacy: Microsoft account privacy settings apply to Copilot data
  • Microsoft Australia offers local enterprise support
  • Personalization: Set custom instructions (“I’m Australian, prefer concise answers”)
  • Privacy & data: Review what’s saved
  • Voice: Try voice mode if useful for you

Microsoft 365 Copilot (for businesses)

If you work for an organisation that uses Microsoft 365, you may have access to M365 Copilot — much more powerful integration:

  • Copilot in Word: Draft documents, summarise, edit
  • Copilot in Excel: Analyse data, generate formulas, create charts
  • Copilot in PowerPoint: Create presentations from prompts
  • Copilot in Outlook: Draft emails, summarise long threads
  • Copilot in Teams: Meeting summaries, action items
  • Copilot Chat: Across all M365 data

Cost: ~$37 AUD/user/month on top of M365 subscription.

Who pays: Your employer typically.

Setup: Through your IT admin — not user signup.

Privacy considerations

  • Microsoft account data handling applies
  • Free tier may use data for service improvement (check settings)
  • Pro and Enterprise tiers have stronger privacy
  • For Australian Privacy Act compliance with business use: M365 Copilot Enterprise includes appropriate DPAs

Gotchas

  • The Copilot product family is confusing. Multiple products called “Copilot” do different things.
  • Free tier image generation has daily limits. 15 boosts/day; runs out fast for heavy use.
  • Web search results vary in quality depending on the query.
  • Voice mode quality varies. Not as polished as ChatGPT Advanced Voice.
  • Office app integration is paid-only. Free Copilot won’t help you write a Word document with AI.
  • Some features region-locked. Specific features may roll out at different times in different countries.

What to do next

  1. Try free Copilot
  2. Use voice mode and image generation
  3. Compare with Claude/ChatGPT
  4. Upgrade to Pro only if you’ll use Office app integration

See also

Sources

  • Microsoft Copilot signup flow (tested June 2026)
  • Microsoft Copilot documentation
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot information

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