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All about AI Credits in Microsoft 365

Microsoft has rolled out a new AI credits system for its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers. It’s a fixed monthly limit on Copilot AI features across all Microsoft applications.

They are a key part of the HUGE changes to Microsoft 365 but somewhat overlooked in the media coverage.

What Are AI Credits?

AI credits measure the usage of AI features within Microsoft 365 and Windows applications.

Credits can be used for various tasks, including drafting letters, photo editing, travel planning, job search, and personal finance management.

Each action involving AI, such as generating text or editing an image, counts as one credit. For instance, asking Copilot to summarize an Outlook inbox would cost one AI credit.  Asking Copilot to rewrite a paragraph or summarize a document also uses an AI credit.

It’s easy to use up the monthly AI credit ration, if you’re not careful.

Monthly AI Credits Allocation

  • Microsoft 365 Personal subscribers get 60 AI credits per month.
  • Only the owner of a Microsoft 365 Family plan gets 60 AI credits per month.
    • The other ‘sharing’ Family plan users don’t get any more AI credits.
  • Copilot Pro subscribers get “extensive usage” of AI features without worrying about credit limits.
  • All Microsoft account users receive 15 credits per month, that includes anyone with a free account (i.e. no Microsoft 365 plan).

How many AI credits do I have?

See your AI Credits status on your Microsoft account page under “AI credit balance” you can see your monthly ration of credits and how many used so far.

Managing AI Credits

AI credits reset on the first day of each month, regardless of the Microsoft 365 billing cycle.  It’s not clear what exact time the reset happens, is it midnight in local time zone, UTC/GMT time or even Seattle (Microsoft head office) time?

The only way to get more credits is by subscribing to Copilot Pro for a separate monthly fee.

Important Notes

  • AI benefits are exclusive to the subscription owner and cannot be shared with additional Microsoft 365 Family members.
    • The only way for people to get Copilot when sharing a Family plan is to either pay for Copilot Pro or drop their shared plan and buy a Personal plan (which gives them 60 AI credits)
  • Microsoft 365 Personal users get 60 AI credits each month.
  • Unused credits do not roll over to the next month.
  • Copilot in Excel requires AutoSave to be enabled, and Copilot features in Outlook are only available for Microsoft hosted email accounts.

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