Microsoft 365 Family is finally getting one of its most anticipated changes: Microsoft announced that Family and Premium subscribers will soon be able to share the benefits of Copilot and its AI capabilities with up to five additional family members. The change addresses a significant inequity that has existed since the beginning: while users could already share Office apps and OneDrive storage , access to Copilot was exclusive to the primary subscriber.
According to an email Microsoft sent to Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers (and seen by The Verge), the changes will be implemented gradually over the coming months. It's a strategic move by the company aimed at making family plans more attractive and competitive with services like Google Workspace with Gemini and OpenAI 's ChatGPT .
Historical context is important to understand the significance of this change. Microsoft 365 Family evolved from the traditional Office subscription model to an all-in-one service that combines productivity apps, cloud storage, and AI capabilities. However, while the plan supported the account holder and up to five additional people for apps and storage, the Copilot benefits remained exclusive to the primary subscriber — a contradiction that created confusion and frustration for users.
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Microsoft 365 Family: What's changing when using Copilot
The main changes Microsoft announced for Microsoft 365 Family and Premium fall into three main categories. First, AI for everyone : plan members will be able to share Copilot benefits and AI usage, while the primary owner will be able to manage AI access for younger family members. Second, more flexible AI usage : individual AI usage limits will be transformed into a single usage allowance that can be applied to the advanced AI features that each member uses the most, with the ability to purchase additional usage when needed.
Third — and this is the most controversial point — the change to storage: the cloud storage allowance will change from 1 TB per person to 2 TB of shared storage for the entire plan. This means that instead of up to 6 TB in total (1 TB × 6 people), subscribers will only have 2 TB shared. This change will be implemented after the first renewal, after May 2, 2027.Microsoft claims that this makes storage more flexible, but in practice it seems to be a way to push users to buy additional OneDrive.
Technically, the change is mostly about managing permissions and usage limits. In the previous model, the subscription owner received the AI entitlement, while additional members only had access to Office and storage. In the new model, up to six people can draw from a shared AI allowance, with the ability to purchase additional usage for Premium and Pro subscribers. Microsoft has not publicly announced the exact size of the shared allowance, the conversion rate between features, or the price of additional usage.
Microsoft 365 Family and the competitive AI landscape
Microsoft's move comes in a highly competitive environment. The company competes with Google Workspace , which integrates Gemini into Gmail , Docs , Sheets and other services, as well as OpenAI 's ChatGPT , which competes directly for consumer AI subscriptions. Microsoft 's advantage is distribution: Office is already deeply embedded in schools, households and businesses, and Copilot appears inside apps that users already open for work.
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The “more flexible use of AI” change could mean that some subscribers will end up paying more for AI usage, depending on how they use Copilot. This is especially important because AI functions have very different computational costs: a short sentence of writing in Word is less demanding than document analysis, image creation, deep reasoning, or an agent that performs multiple steps.
Impact of Microsoft 365 Family on users and families
For consumers, the change should benefit families with many active Microsoft 365. Members won't necessarily need to have separate subscriptions to access Copilot in supported Microsoft. Potential benefits include lower overall household costs, easier access to AI in Word, Excel , and PowerPoint, more consistent experiences across family accounts, and centralized management for younger users.
However, the main drawback is that all users will draw from a common storage allowance. One user could reduce the availability for others unless Microsoft adds per-user controls or allocation settings.
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For Microsoft, the change could improve the perceived value of the Family and Premium plans , reduce complaints about owner-only AI access, increase Copilot usage and retention , and create demand for Premium upgrades and additional credits. At the same time, it increases Microsoft 's exposure to infrastructure costs: if six people are actively using AI features , the average computing power consumption per subscription could increase significantly compared to the previous model.
