Microsoft retires classic Copilot agents

Microsoft is narrowing one of its older Copilot creation paths while expanding newer agent features across Microsoft 365. The company’s current documentation still describes “classic” agents created in Copilot Studio with a Teams plan, but newer Microsoft materials center agent creation and deployment around the web version of Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot and app-native agents. Microsoft has set June 30, 2026 as the retirement date for classic agent creation in Copilot Studio for Teams, according to the product change notice cited in the original reporting. That change lands as Microsoft is also broadening what Copilot agents can do inside work files. In recent official posts, Microsoft said agentic capabilities in Word, Excel and PowerPoint are generally available, and described dedicated Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents that can create and modify documents directly in chat. Microsoft has also published support pages for file comparison in OneDrive and SharePoint, letting users compare up to five files with Copilot or AI-powered tools. (learn.microsoft.com) ### Why is Microsoft retiring the Teams-based “classic” path? Microsoft’s documentation now splits agent creation into multiple tracks. A Microsoft Learn quickstart published recently says the Teams-plan workflow applies only to makers using a Teams plan in select Microsoft 365 subscriptions and is specifically for creating a “classic agent” and publishing it to Teams. A separate quickstart for standalone Copilot Studio subscriptions describes the broader guided experience for creating and deploying agents without that Teams-plan limitation. (microsoft.com) Microsoft has also been steering customers toward web-based management and broader channel publishing. Its publishing guidance says agents can be published to the web, Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, while a separate Microsoft blog post said organizations can publish and manage Copilot Studio agents directly within Microsoft 365 Copilot across web and desktop, as well as in Teams. (learn.microsoft.com) ### What replaces the older Teams creation flow? Microsoft’s newer materials point to two replacement centers of gravity: Copilot Studio on the web and Microsoft 365 Copilot’s own agent tools. A release-plan entry says Microsoft will make it possible to create agents optimized for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot users beginning in June 2026, keeping Copilot Studio features such as topics, connected agents and analytics. (learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft also documents Agent Builder inside Microsoft 365 Copilot as a way to create and customize scenario-specific agents, while Copilot Studio remains the platform for more advanced agent development and deployment. That suggests Microsoft is consolidating simpler creation paths inside Microsoft 365 Copilot while reserving Copilot Studio for broader build-and-publish workflows. That is an inference from the product documentation and release-plan language. (learn.microsoft.com) ### What is changing on the user side of Copilot? Microsoft has been adding more app-native and file-aware behavior to Copilot. In April, the company said Copilot’s agentic capabilities in Word, Excel and PowerPoint were generally available, allowing multi-step actions directly inside documents, worksheets and presentations. In a separate post, Microsoft introduced Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents that work in chat to generate files based on user prompts and organizational context. (learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft’s support pages also show a parallel push into comparison workflows. Copilot in OneDrive can compare up to five files, and SharePoint offers a similar AI comparison feature for selected documents. Those official features do not exactly match every claim in third-party reports about Copilot Chat’s Analyst agent, but they do show Microsoft moving toward file-centric analysis and revision comparison inside its productivity stack. (microsoft.com) ### What should customers watch before June 30, 2026? June 30, 2026 is the date customers need to track for the retirement of classic agent creation in Copilot Studio for Teams, according to the cited change notice in third-party reporting. Microsoft’s current official documentation already points makers toward web-based Copilot Studio creation, Microsoft 365 Copilot publishing, and newer agent-building options that are scheduled for broader availability in June 2026. (support.microsoft.com) Microsoft’s next visible milestones are likely to come through updated Learn documentation, Microsoft 365 Copilot release notes and Copilot Studio rollout pages as the June 2026 changes take effect. (learn.microsoft.com 1) (learn.microsoft.com 2)