Last updated: November 8, 2026
Microsoft Copilot Cowork’s November 2026 updates add a Planner Plugin and OneNote support. The plugin lets Cowork read and update your Planner plans, tasks, buckets and goals after you approve each change. OneNote support lets it read notebooks you can access and, when editing is available, update pages with your approval.
Use Cowork in Microsoft Copilot at copilot.cloud.microsoft, in Outlook and Teams, and in the Copilot desktop and mobile apps. Chat drafts and answers in one session; Cowork completes multistep work across Microsoft 365 after you approve sensitive actions. See how much Microsoft 365 Copilot costs and how much Microsoft Copilot costs.
Contents
- What’s new
- Planner Plugin vs Planner Agent
- How to turn on the Planner Plugin
- What you can do with Planner
- How to work with OneNote
- Models and billing
- Known limitations
- Frequently asked questions
What’s new in Copilot Cowork
Microsoft’s What’s new in Copilot Cowork page lists two November 2026 features. The Planner Plugin connects Microsoft Planner so Cowork can work with plans, tasks, buckets and goals. OneNote support lets it read notebooks and, when editing is available, update pages with your approval.
Planner Plugin vs Planner Agent
Microsoft’s Planner Plugin FAQ separates a quick question from a longer Cowork job:
| Experience | Best for |
|---|---|
| Planner in Copilot Chat and Planner Agent | Quick questions and edits to your tasks and plans |
| Planner Plugin in Copilot Cowork | Multistep work: prioritizing, plan reports, turning files and goals into plans, getting task work done, and automation |
Cowork can use Microsoft 365 content you already have permission to see, such as email and files, when it helps with Planner work. It does not open plans you cannot already open in Planner. See our Claude Duet guide.
How to turn on the Planner Plugin
You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Copilot Cowork turned on, and permission to use the plugin. Microsoft also says usage-based billing for Cowork must be enabled.
- Open Microsoft Copilot at
https://copilot.cloud.microsoftor in the Copilot app. - Select Cowork next to Chat.
- Open Plugins, select the Cowork tab, and search for Planner Plugin.
- If it is not connected, select Connect and sign in. Cowork remembers the connection until you or an admin disconnect it.
- Ask, for example: “What’s on my plate this week?”
- Review each proposed Planner change and approve, cancel, or ask Cowork to revise it before anything is written back.
If you cannot find the plugin, ask your admin to make it available. Admin-installed plugins say “Managed by your organization.” You can turn the plugin off for your own conversations, but you cannot remove it.
What you can do with Planner in Cowork
Microsoft’s What you can do with Planner in Cowork article lists these workflows. Name the plan or task, and ask Cowork to show a proposal first.
- Prioritize work without changing Planner, including overdue and urgent tasks in a named plan.
- Complete a task from its notes, checklist and attachments. After you approve, Cowork can update progress, check off items, attach a file and mark the task complete.
- Create a visual plan report with progress, overdue work, owners, buckets, goals and next steps.
- Turn a spreadsheet, document, deck or meeting notes into a plan after you approve the proposed buckets, tasks, owners and due dates.
- Turn a goal into tasks, then update dates, priority and notes, or use Planner as context for emails, reviews, Teams posts and automations. Changes still need approval.
Files appear in the Output folder and your OneDrive Cowork folder. Delete tasks or plans in Planner, not in Cowork. Approved changes are visible to anyone with access to the plan.
How to work with OneNote in Copilot Cowork
Microsoft’s Use Copilot Cowork guide says reading and editing availability can differ by session.
- Name the notebook and the section or page, or provide a link if Cowork cannot find it.
- Describe the change, such as adding action items or adding a page to an existing section.
- Review the “Edit OneNote page?” prompt and choose Approve once. Always allow, when offered, applies only to further OneNote edits in the current conversation.
- Open the notebook in OneNote to confirm what was saved.
An approved edit changes the notebook directly. You can add, replace or delete paragraphs, add a table, rename a page or update note tags. Replacing a paragraph can remove links or mixed formatting, so ask Cowork to append text if you need to keep the original. It can add pages to existing sections, but it cannot create notebooks or sections.
Models and billing
Leave the picker on Auto unless you need to pin a model. Microsoft’s model list can include these options, depending on your tenant:
| Model | What Microsoft says it is for |
|---|---|
| Auto | Default; Cowork chooses from models your organization enables |
| GPT 6.1 Sol | Intelligent and efficient for hard work (OpenAI subprocessor) |
| GPT 6 Astra | Latest model for tough problems (OpenAI subprocessor) |
| GPT 5.6 Terra / GPT 5.5 (Frontier) | Balanced or medium-effort work; GPT 5.5 is hosted in Azure AI Foundry |
| Claude Opus 5.5 / Sonnet 5.5 | High-stakes or everyday work; admins can turn off Anthropic models |
| Claude Fable 5.1 (Frontier) | Ambitious projects; requires data retention and shows a banner |
| Grok 4.7 | Long documents, coding and multi-step tasks (xAI independent processor) |
EU Data Boundary tenants get only GPT models. Reasoning effort can be Light, Medium (default), High, Extra High or Max; higher effort uses more credits. Microsoft does not publish a public per-credit price here. Admins set limits in the Microsoft 365 admin center. See whether Microsoft Copilot is free and whether it trains on your data.
Known limitations
- Cowork cannot use files stored only on your device, cannot delete OneDrive or SharePoint items, and cannot read encrypted files unless you have EXTRACT and VIEW rights. Attachments must be under 200 MB.
- Some sessions can read OneNote but not edit it.
- You can create up to 50 custom skills as
SKILL.mdfiles in OneDrive at/Documents/Cowork/skills/(up to 1 MB each, 20 companion files and 10 MB per skill). They are not supported on mobile. - You can create up to 25 scheduled prompts. Event-driven tasks default to draft-and-approve. Students are not eligible; faculty and staff are. Prompts can be up to 250,000 characters.
For the developer runtime behind other Microsoft Copilot products, see our Microsoft Copilot Harness guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is new in Copilot Cowork in November 2026?
Microsoft lists two November 2026 features: the Planner Plugin for reading and updating plans, tasks, buckets and goals, and OneNote support for reading notebooks and, when editing is available, updating pages after you approve.
Who can use the Planner Plugin in Copilot Cowork?
You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Copilot Cowork turned on for your organization, and permission to use the plugin. If you cannot find it under Plugins on the Cowork tab, ask your IT admin to make it available.
Does Copilot Cowork change Planner tasks without asking?
No. Cowork shows proposed changes and updates Planner only after you approve. Finishing a draft does not mark a task complete. You can approve changes one at a time or select Approve All.
Can Copilot Cowork edit OneNote notebooks?
Yes, when OneNote support is available in the session. Cowork can read notebooks you can access and summarize pages. When editing is supported, it can update a page or add a page to an existing section after you approve. It cannot create notebooks or sections.
How is Copilot Cowork billed?
Cowork uses usage-based billing on top of a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Microsoft says model responses, tool and skill calls, image generation and browser tasks count toward consumption. Administrators can set per-user or per-group limits.
How is the Planner Plugin different from Planner Agent?
Microsoft says Planner in Copilot Chat and Planner Agent are best for quick questions and edits. The Planner Plugin in Cowork is for multistep work such as prioritizing tasks, creating plan reports, turning files into plans, completing task work and setting up automations.
Sources
- Microsoft Learn: What’s new in Copilot Cowork
- Microsoft Support: What you can do with Planner in Cowork
- Microsoft Support: Planner Plugin in Cowork FAQ
- Microsoft Learn: Use Copilot Cowork
- Microsoft Learn: Choose a model for Copilot Cowork
Image: Microsoft Copilot wordmark by Microsoft, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Copilot is a trademark of Microsoft.
