The title still says "now available," so it's easy to misread. Despite that wording, this is a cancelled roadmap entry. It doesn't announce a new Copilot Chat capability. The app the feature was meant for is also being shut down.
What the roadmap entry described
The roadmap record gives these details:
- Feature: The Files companion app, part of the Microsoft 365 companion apps on the Windows taskbar, would show AI-powered Copilot file prompts to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat users.
- Previous scope: The entry described these prompts as limited to Microsoft 365 Copilot licensees until then. The change would have extended them to Copilot Chat users.
- Promised benefit: Users would find their most relevant files faster through suggestions and act on them directly from the Files app.
- Listed scope: Microsoft 365, Desktop, General Availability ring, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) cloud.
- Target date: General availability in May 2026.
- Current status: Cancelled, with the correction described above.
Read the May 2026 date as a former estimate only. Microsoft's roadmap page says its dates and descriptions are estimates, subject to change, and that entries are removed once a feature becomes generally available, is cancelled, or is postponed. The cancellation note doesn't say whether any tenants briefly saw the prompts. It also doesn't say which Copilot Chat users, if any, might have been affected. Admins shouldn't assume either way.
Summary: Copilot Chat users who don't have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license should not expect Copilot file prompts in the Files companion. Microsoft has withdrawn the entry.
Why this was likely cancelled: the Files app is being retired
Microsoft's correction gives no reason. The rest of the companion apps' status points to a likely explanation, but that link is our inference, not something Microsoft has stated.
Microsoft's retirement documentation on Microsoft Learn says Microsoft will retire the following Microsoft 365 companion apps on December 16th 2026: Calendar companion, People companion, Files companion. The same page adds that the apps will be fully retired and non-functional before December 16, 2026. The apps may be removed sooner, depending on when your organization decides to remove them.
Admins were formally notified through Message Center post MC1474111, published September 18, 2026. Its rollout schedule says that as of the publication of this message, Microsoft will begin phasing out automatic installation of the companion apps. Updates and fixes, including security fixes, are no longer being provided. Existing installations can continue to function during the retirement window. The message says the retirement affects worldwide enterprise customers that installed the apps.
Microsoft has stopped shipping fixes, including security fixes, for these apps. It would make little sense to add Copilot features to one of them.
Summary: The Files companion has about seven weeks left and gets no security updates in the meantime. A cancelled Copilot feature for it fits that picture.
A short run for the companion apps
The companion apps arrived not long ago. According to BleepingComputer, Microsoft announced the end of life roughly a year after it began automatically rolling out these apps to compatible devices. Microsoft Learn says Windows 11 devices with Microsoft 365 Apps began installing the companions automatically in late October 2025, unless admins opted out.
According to Microsoft, Files let users find their Microsoft 365 files, preview them, share them with colleagues, and open recent documents from the taskbar. The apps relied on Microsoft Graph, Exchange Online and SharePoint/OneDrive. Microsoft's documentation also notes that Files covered Microsoft 365 files only.
Not everyone saw the point. Thurrott.com wrote that it's unclear why Microsoft even created these apps, as they're just subsets of capabilities available in other standalone Microsoft 365 apps.
Microsoft isn't dropping Copilot-based file discovery, though. Its retirement guidance tells users to look for files in Windows Search, File Explorer, SharePoint, OneDrive, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It also points to Copilot itself for times when someone remembers only a few details about a file. The feature in roadmap item 558595 was a Copilot entry point inside the Files app, and that specific entry point is what's been cancelled.
Summary: Microsoft is moving file discovery back to tools that already exist: Copilot, OneDrive, SharePoint and Windows Search. It's dropping the separate taskbar app.
What admins should do now
If someone in your organization was waiting for Copilot Chat prompts in Files, tell them the feature is cancelled. Then remove the companions entirely. The steps below come from Microsoft's retirement guidance.
1. Stop all deployment paths first
- Microsoft 365 Apps admin center: Microsoft has stopped automatic installs, but it doesn't clear your tenant setting. Go to Device Configuration, open the Modern App settings tab, select Microsoft 365 companion apps, and uncheck Enable automatic installation of Microsoft 365 companion apps. Microsoft recommends this to avoid confusion during removal.
- Intune: In Apps > Windows, open the Microsoft 365 companion apps Win32 app entry, then go to Manage > Properties > Assignments > Edit. Delete any Required assignment, or Intune will reinstall the apps after you remove them. Delete any Available for enrolled devices assignment to stop users installing them from Company Portal.
- Internal catalogs: Take installer links and deployment instructions out of software catalogs and documentation.
2. Tell users what's happening
Microsoft recommends announcing the change before or when you uninstall. Point people to Outlook and Teams for calendar and contacts, and to File Explorer, Windows Search, OneDrive, SharePoint, the Office apps or Copilot for files. Microsoft's Learn page includes an email template you can adapt.
3. Uninstall from managed devices
In Intune, open the same Win32 app entry, edit its assignments, create an Uninstall assignment, and target all relevant users or devices. Microsoft says an Intune uninstall removes the companions however they were originally installed. You don't need to remove taskbar pinning or startup settings first.
4. Check that removal finished
Under Monitor, check Device install status or User install status. Look into failures and keep an eye on offline devices as they check in again. The apps may stay open until a user closes them or signs out, and some devices need a restart. Microsoft says that's expected. Removal is complete for your managed devices when Intune no longer reports the apps as installed and no failures remain.
5. Unmanaged PCs
Users with unmanaged PCs have two options:
- Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, search for Microsoft 365 companions, open the … menu, choose Uninstall and confirm.
- Type Calendar, People or Files into Windows Search, right-click the app and choose Uninstall.
Uninstalling one companion removes all three.
Troubleshooting: If the apps come back after removal, check for a leftover Required assignment in Intune. Delete it, then uninstall again. If a companion app develops a problem before December 16, Microsoft's answer is to uninstall it, because no fixes are coming.
Will users lose any data?
No. Microsoft says files, calendar events and contacts live in Microsoft 365 services, not in the companion apps, and uninstalling doesn't delete them. Because the apps don't store user content, there's nothing to migrate. Users only lose a taskbar shortcut.
The takeaway
Roadmap item 558595 came with a cheerful "now available" headline and ended up cancelled. The broader lesson is that the Microsoft 365 roadmap shows plans, and plans can change. Before you write user training or a licensing case around a roadmap item, check its status in the Message Center and Microsoft Learn first.
For companion app users, the practical deadline is December 16, 2026. Until then, the apps get no security fixes. Finish removing them before that date.