Safer web browsing at work, and Copilot Chat for everyday writing

Work devices spend all day on the internet: email, files, research, and the odd AI chat when a first draft would help. This is a plain-English guide for business users. It covers how safer browsing on work devices works, and why Microsoft Copilot Chat is a better place for work-related AI than public tools such as ChatGPT.

The aim is not to make the web smaller. It is to keep everyday work easy, while giving extra care to destinations that put client or internal information at risk.

Quick answers

• What is Copilot Chat? Microsoft's AI chat assistant. You sign in with your work account, and it is included with your Microsoft 365 plan, including Business Basic and Business Standard.
• Where do I open it? At m365.cloud.microsoft/chat. Sign in with your work email.
• Is it safer than a free public chatbot? Yes. Chats sit under your organisation's Microsoft 365 protections, and Microsoft states that prompts and responses are not used to train foundation models.
• Does it work inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint? Not on Business Basic or Business Standard. Copilot buttons inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, and searching across your email and files, come with the paid Copilot licence. See "What's included, and what isn't" below.
• Why might a public AI site be blocked? Public chats sit outside your Microsoft workplace. Copilot Chat does the same everyday jobs inside it.

What safer browsing feels like

Safer browsing sits on the work device. Protection travels with the laptop or PC, at the office, at home, and on the road.

Most of the sites you already use for work will feel unchanged. Mail, Microsoft 365, video calls, and the tools the workplace has approved keep working as usual.

Where something carries extra risk, such as a known scam page or a public site that is not a good fit for work information, the request is handled more carefully. You may see a short, friendly message instead of the page loading. That message is there to help you keep going, not to catch you out.

If a site you genuinely need for work does not open, ask IT. Policy can be adjusted when a destination is part of real work.

Safer browsing is one layer alongside antivirus, email filtering, and the way you already look after client information. Layer 3 calls this approach Layer 3 DNS Guard. It sits with the rest of a cybersecurity programme rather than replacing it. For more on how that filtering works, see our DNS content filtering guide. The wider programme is in cybersecurity basics for Australian SMBs.

Company-approved AI: Copilot Chat

People still need help with writing, summaries, and "can you make this clearer?" That help now lives in Microsoft Copilot Chat, signed in with your work account. It is included with your Microsoft 365 plan, so there is nothing extra to buy or install.

Try it now

Open Microsoft Copilot Chat and sign in with the same work email and password you use for Outlook.

1. Check you are signed in with your work account, not a personal Microsoft account. Work and personal accounts are kept separate, and workplace protections apply only to your work account. Microsoft shows a green shield and a "Work" label when you are signed in with a work account.
2. Try a first prompt, such as "Rewrite this email so it sounds warmer and clearer", then paste in your draft.
3. Ask a follow-up, such as "Make it shorter" or "Give me three subject lines".

Your organisation's usual rules for client information still apply. You will also find Copilot Chat in the Microsoft 365 app, Outlook, Teams, and Microsoft Edge when you are signed in with your work account.

How your chats are protected

When you sign in with your work account, your chats are covered by Microsoft's workplace data protection terms, the same kind of protections as your email and files. Microsoft states that prompts and responses are not used to train foundation models, and that conversations are encrypted and kept separate from other organisations' data.

When Copilot Chat searches the web for you, those searches go to Microsoft's Bing search service under separate terms, with your user and company identifiers removed. That makes Copilot Chat a better fit for client and business information than a free public chatbot.

Layer 3's overview of the paid add-on, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, has more on what the full version adds for Australian workplaces and not-for-profits.

What Copilot Chat is good for

• Drafting an email, then asking for a warmer, more professional tone
• Turning rough notes into a clearer first draft
• Summarising a long PDF or pulling out the key figures
• Brainstorming wording for a customer update, internal note, or board summary
• Researching a topic on the web
• Asking everyday work questions while you stay in Microsoft 365

You still send the final message. Copilot helps you get to a clear draft faster.

What's included, and what isn't

Copilot Chat is the web chat that comes with your Microsoft 365 plan. On Business Basic and Business Standard, that is the version you have. The Copilot buttons inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint belong to the paid Copilot licence, so you will not see them unless the organisation has bought it. That is expected, not a fault.

• Chat to draft, summarise and brainstorm. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Yes. Paid Copilot licence: Yes.
• Paste or upload a document to work on. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Yes. Paid Copilot licence: Yes.
• Research a topic on the web. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Yes. Paid Copilot licence: Yes.
• Copilot buttons inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Not included. Paid Copilot licence: Included.
• Copilot in Outlook. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Limited: summarise emails, draft replies, calendar-aware help. Paid Copilot licence: Full.
• Search across your emails, files, meetings and Teams chats. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Limited. Paid Copilot licence: Yes.
• Advanced agents. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Limited. Paid Copilot licence: Yes.
• Cost. Copilot Chat (included with your plan): Included in your plan. Paid Copilot licence: Paid add-on, per user.

Copilot Chat works mainly with what you give it. It does not automatically read your emails, files or Teams chats (Outlook is the one exception, with limited access), so paste in the text or upload the file you want help with. It respects your existing permissions and does not show anything you could not already open.

Microsoft adjusts what appears in each app from time to time, so what you see may vary a little. If you are unsure, ask IT. Microsoft's Copilot Chat overview explains the difference between the included chat and the paid licence.

How this compares with ChatGPT and similar tools

Public consumer tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are familiar, and they sit outside your Microsoft workplace. Prompts and uploads are not covered by your organisation's Microsoft 365 protections. Depending on the tool, the plan, and your own settings, that content may be retained, or used by the provider to improve its models. That is a poor place for client files, payroll, or internal drafts. It is the same reason phishing and public file-drop sites show up in our guide to the most common cyberattacks Australian businesses face.

Copilot Chat covers the same everyday jobs people often use those tools for: writing, research, and making sense of a document. The difference is where the conversation lives. With a work account, it sits inside your organisation's Microsoft 365 protections, with enterprise data protection, rather than in a public consumer chat.

Safer browsing supports that approach. Approved Copilot stays available. Public consumer AI sites can be steered away from company devices, with a friendly pointer back to Copilot Chat so you can keep working.

For Microsoft's own wording on work-account protection, see enterprise data protection in Microsoft Copilot Chat.

If a site does not open

You might see a message along these lines:

Example message. This site has been blocked by your administrator. Public AI chats sit outside your encrypted Microsoft workplace and are not suitable for client or internal information. For company-approved AI, please use Microsoft Copilot Chat: https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat

That is the intended path: close the public consumer tool, keep the private work chat.

If the page you needed was not an AI site, and it is part of your job, ask IT to review it. Unblock requests and small policy changes are a normal part of settling in.

Frequently asked questions

Will this slow the internet down?

Filtering happens as a small check before a site or app connects. Most people never notice it. If something feels off, IT can walk the path with you.

Can I still use Copilot at home on a work laptop?

Yes. Safer browsing travels with the device. Copilot Chat still opens when you sign in with your work account.

Is our work data used to train public AI?

No. When you use Copilot Chat with your work account, Microsoft states that prompts, responses, and the data it accesses through Microsoft 365 are not used to train foundation models. Chats remain inside your organisation's protection boundary.

Why can't I see Copilot in Word or Excel?

On Business Basic and Business Standard, Copilot Chat is the web chat. Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote needs the paid Copilot licence. Use Copilot Chat in your browser and paste in or upload what you want help with.

Can Copilot Chat read my emails and files?

Not automatically. It works mainly with what you paste or upload, apart from limited help in Outlook. The paid Copilot licence is what lets Copilot search across your emails, files, meetings and Teams chats.

The page asks me for a personal Microsoft sign-in. Is that okay?

Sign in with your work account instead. Work and personal accounts are kept separate, and the workplace protections described here apply only to your work account. If you cannot sign in, ask IT.

What if I already have a ChatGPT habit for work writing?

Shift that habit to Copilot Chat. Sign in with your work account, paste the same kind of prompt, and keep going. You get a similar writing helper, with the conversation staying in the Microsoft tools the workplace already trusts.

Who do I ask if something I need is missing?

Start with IT, or the person who looks after Microsoft 365 in your organisation. If you want Layer 3 to help set safer browsing and Copilot Chat up for your workplace, get in touch.