Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat now also takes over task management: anyone who writes in the chat what needs to be done gets a completed Planner task or a complete plan from it. The feature saves the detour through the separate Planner app and is suitable for handovers, project lists, and recurring to-dos in the team.
Copilot Chat now understands tasks in plain language
Until now, Planner tasks could only be created directly in the app or via a dedicated chat button within it. Since the beginning of September 2026, task management has been firmly integrated into general Copilot Chat: anyone who describes in plain language what needs to be done gets a new private task, a task in a shared plan, or even a complete new plan.
Copilot also creates entire plans from existing Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files, such as a project list or a meeting protocol. The Planner agent also answers questions about private tasks, assigned activities, or shared base plans and displays the results as clickable cards that can be edited directly in the chat. Users change due dates, priorities, or progress this way without ever opening the Planner interface. Those who already share entire Copilot conversations with colleagues will find the new task feature in the same familiar chat window.
In office life, switching between programs is eliminated
A typical example from the front office: after a project meeting, a loose set of notes with open points is left over. Instead of entering each line individually in Planner, the assistant simply pastes the text into Copilot Chat and writes: “Create a plan from this with deadlines by Friday and distribute the tasks to the team.” Copilot automatically converts the list into individual Planner tasks with due dates.
The query works similarly in the other direction: asked “Which tasks in the invoice review project are overdue?”, Copilot immediately lists the affected cards without anyone having to click through multiple Planner views. The chat also retrieves the three most important tasks of the day or recently completed items on request. For teams already used to AI-supported suggestions – similar to Copilot in Outlook, which suggests appointments directly from emails – the new feature fits seamlessly into existing workflows.
Without a Copilot license, the feature stays invisible
The new task feature is part of the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license and, according to Microsoft, runs in both the Basic and Premium plans; anyone without a license sees no trace of it in Copilot Chat. In addition, the IT department must have enabled the Planner agent in the Microsoft 365 admin center before employees can use it.
The rollout is happening worldwide, according to Microsoft, and includes companies in Germany; automatic task suggestions from pure goal statements remain reserved for the pricier Premium plan. Until the feature becomes visible, these steps help:
- Open Copilot for Work on the web or in Microsoft Teams.
- Select “All Agents” in the left menu and search the store for “Planner.”
- Choose “Planner Agent” from the results and confirm with “Add.”
- Pin the agent in the sidebar or address it directly in chat with “@Planner.”
- Type a task, deadline, or file reference in plain language and send it.
If any of these steps is missing, or the license isn’t there, the menu entry simply stays hidden.
What will matter is whether teams actually take the extra route through the agent store or just stick with the familiar Planner interface. Microsoft still officially lists individual Planner-Copilot functions as previews, so results for more complex documents may still change. Anyone entering customer or project data into the chat should first check whether internal guidelines allow it, since the agent draws on plan structure, deadlines, and assignments across the whole team to make its suggestions.
