Copilot is down for everyone only when Microsoft’s service health page or an outage tracker shows an active incident. If those look clean, the problem is almost always your browser, your account or your network, and you can usually fix it yourself in a few minutes.
Here is the fastest way to tell which situation you are in, followed by the fixes that work most often.
Is Copilot Down Right Now? A 60-Second Check
- Open Microsoft’s status page. Go to status.cloud.microsoft, which shows the health of Microsoft 365 services.
- Look at an outage tracker. Search for Copilot on Downdetector. A sharp spike in reports over the last hour means other people are stuck too.
- Check Microsoft’s status account. The Microsoft 365 Status account on X posts incident numbers and updates during larger outages.
- Try a second device. Open Copilot on your phone using mobile data. If it works there, the issue is on your computer or your Wi-Fi.
If two or more of these point to an outage, stop troubleshooting. Nothing you change on your side will bring it back sooner.
Which Copilot Are You Using? Each One Has a Different Status Page
Microsoft sells several products under the Copilot name, and an outage in one does not always affect the others.
| Copilot product | Where you use it | Best place to check status |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot (free, personal) | copilot.microsoft.com, the Copilot app, Windows and Edge | Outage trackers and Microsoft’s social accounts |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (work or school) | Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app | status.cloud.microsoft, or Health, then Service health in the Microsoft 365 admin center |
| GitHub Copilot | VS Code, JetBrains IDEs and github.com | githubstatus.com |
If you use Copilot at work and are not an admin, your IT team can see incident details in the admin center that are not shown publicly. Not sure which version you have? Our guide to what Microsoft 365 Copilot is explains the differences.
Signs That the Problem Is on Your Side and Not Microsoft’s
- Copilot works on your phone but not on your laptop.
- It works in a private or incognito window but not in your normal one.
- Colleagues on the same account type are using it without trouble.
- The page loads, but the Copilot button is missing or greyed out in Word, Excel or Outlook.
- It stopped right after you connected to a VPN, a work network or public Wi-Fi.
How to Fix Copilot When It Is Not Working for You
Work through these in order. The early ones solve most cases.
1. Refresh, then sign out and back in
Expired sign-in sessions cause a lot of “Something went wrong” messages. Sign out fully, close the tab or app, and sign in again.
2. Start a new chat
Very long conversations can slow down or stop responding, because the assistant can only keep a limited amount of text in view. We explain why in what a context window is and why it runs out. A fresh chat often fixes it instantly.
3. Try a private window or another browser
If Copilot works in a private window, an extension or stored site data is the cause. Turn off ad blockers and privacy extensions for the Copilot site, or clear cookies and cached files for it.
4. Turn off your VPN or switch networks
Some VPN servers and strict company firewalls block the connections Copilot needs. Disconnect the VPN or switch to a phone hotspot to test.
5. Update the app, the browser and Office
Copilot features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook depend on recent builds. Install pending updates and restart the app.
6. Check your license if the Copilot button is missing
In Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot only appears when a Copilot license is assigned to the account you are signed in with. Make sure you are using your work account and not a personal one, then ask your admin to confirm the license. After a license is newly assigned, it can take a while to show up, and you may need to sign out of the app and back in.
7. Restart the device
It is the oldest fix there is, and it still clears stuck background processes, especially for the Copilot app on Windows.
What Common Copilot Error Messages Usually Mean
- “Something went wrong” or “Please try again later”: a general failure. Check the status pages first, then sign out and in.
- Replies that stop halfway or never load: usually heavy demand or a weak connection. Wait a minute and resend.
- “You have reached the limit”: you have hit a usage cap for your plan. It is not an outage, and the cap resets after a period.
- Copilot is missing in an Office app: almost always a license, account or update issue and not a service problem.
What to Do While You Wait for Copilot to Come Back
Outages at this scale are normally resolved within hours. In the meantime, save your prompt somewhere so you do not have to retype it, and avoid resubmitting the same request over and over, which only adds load. If the task cannot wait, another assistant can cover the gap. Our comparison of the best AI assistants in 2026 lists solid options.
Quick Answers About Copilot Outages
Why is Copilot so slow today?
Slow replies usually come from heavy demand, a long conversation or a weak connection. Start a new chat and test your internet speed before assuming an outage.
Does a Microsoft 365 outage always take Copilot down too?
Not always. Copilot relies on services such as Exchange, SharePoint and Teams, so a problem in one of them can break part of Copilot, for example meeting recaps, while chat keeps working.
How long do Copilot outages usually last?
Most are fixed within a few hours. Microsoft posts updates under an incident number on its status page until the issue is closed.