Guide · AI
Unused Copilot licenses: what to do now
The licenses are paid for, the rollout was a few months ago, and not much has changed day to day. A few people have Copilot summarize meetings. Everyone else tried it twice and forgot about it. That leaves a lot of unused Copilot licenses, and it is rarely the tool's fault alone. Before you cancel licenses or schedule another training session, take a closer look: who actually uses Copilot, for what, and what is getting in the way for everyone else? This guide walks through five steps to find out and to put Copilot to work where it pays off. This guide is about Microsoft's paid Copilot license, now called Microsoft Copilot and previously Microsoft 365 Copilot. The free Copilot Chat that comes with a work account only comes up briefly.
Step 1: Measure who actually uses Copilot
Microsoft provides the numbers. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Reports, then Usage, then Microsoft Copilot, then Copilot. The report has two tabs:
• Readiness: How many licenses are assigned, how many are sitting unassigned, and which people meet the technical requirements?
• Usage: How many licensed people were active, in which apps, and who, for example, hasn't used Copilot in the past 28 days?
Only intentional use counts as active, such as submitting a prompt. Just opening the Copilot pane doesn't count. The data shows up with a delay of two to three days.
For leaders, there is also the Copilot Dashboard in Viva Insights. According to Microsoft, it doesn't require a separate Viva Insights license. With at least one Copilot license, it shows organization-wide figures, and with 50 or more licenses, additional insights.
Individual data
The reports can show usage data for individual people. If you plan to evaluate or approach individuals, check with HR, legal and privacy first. In some countries, such as Germany, the works council also has a say. To find out whether Copilot is taking hold, the overall numbers are usually enough.
Step 2: Understand what's getting in the way
Numbers show that something is off, but not why. Talk to three to five people who barely use Copilot and to one or two who use it a lot. Three reasons usually come up:
1. No concrete reason to use it. "Use AI" isn't a task. If people don't know which part of their work Copilot helps with, they try it once and drop it.
2. Poor results. Copilot doesn't find the right files because storage is messy, or it finds files the person shouldn't see at all. Both cost trust.
3. No habit. The old way is faster until you've taken the new one a few times.
A fourth reason is often overlooked: some tasks don't fit a chat at all. Work that comes up every week in the same form, such as entering invoices or preparing replies to inquiries, runs better as a fixed workflow in the background. More on that in Step 5.
Step 3: Define two or three use cases per role
Instead of rolling out Copilot in general, define two or three tasks per role where it measurably helps, each with a ready-made example prompt. For example:
Sales
Summarize a long email thread with a client before replying (Outlook)
Project lead
Pull decisions and action items from the transcript after a meeting (Teams)
Operations and admin
Draft a document from existing files, such as a summary for leadership (Word)
Leadership
Before a meeting, gather recent emails, files and meetings on a topic (Microsoft Copilot (chat with work data))
What matters is that the examples come from your real work and someone on the team demonstrates them. One person per department who knows Copilot well and answers questions usually achieves more than one big training session.
Step 4: Clean up storage and permissions
Copilot sees everything the person using it is allowed to see in Microsoft 365. If folders and SharePoint sites are shared too widely, confidential material shows up in answers. If storage is full of old versions, Copilot finds the wrong file. You can tackle both:
• Review sharing. In the SharePoint admin center, the data access governance reports show which sites are shared with the whole organization or through open links. These reports are part of SharePoint Advanced Management. According to Microsoft, the SharePoint Advanced Management features intended for Copilot are included with the Copilot license.
• Keep sensitive sites out of Copilot. With "Restricted content discovery", content from selected sites no longer shows up in organization-wide search or Copilot answers, including recently used files. Permissions stay the same, so people with access can still open the content directly.
• Archive old content. Inactive sites and outdated versions make answers worse. What nobody needs anymore belongs in the archive.
This is work for IT or your service provider, but it is worth doing even without Copilot.
Step 5: Reassign unused Copilot licenses and add fixed workflows
After four to six weeks with concrete use cases, the usage report shows who now uses Copilot regularly. Licenses of people who still don't need it can go to someone else. For occasional questions, many people are fine with Copilot Chat, which is available with a work account without the paid license, unless your admin has turned it off. Whether and when you can cancel licenses altogether depends on your contract term.
For recurring tasks with a fixed pattern, a background workflow is often a better choice than a chat. It runs without anyone having to remember it, and a person only approves. Examples are automating invoice processing with AI and automating customer inquiry replies. For when to use which, see our guide Copilot vs. ChatGPT Business vs. a fixed AI workflow.
Where this reaches its limits
If the licenses were bought mainly because "we need AI now", even good use cases won't help much. Then the honest question is which tasks take up a lot of time in the first place. Sometimes the answer is that Copilot is enough for a small group and the bigger gain lies in two or three fixed workflows.
How aenuma helps
aenuma looks at where your team loses the most time and shows which tasks fit Copilot and which run better as a fixed workflow. We build fixed workflows in your environment, for example with Microsoft 365, n8n, or Make, and test them with real examples. Then we introduce the workflows to the people who use them and keep supporting you if you want.
Frequently asked questions
How many employees typically use Copilot?
There is no reliable general benchmark, because it depends heavily on roles and use cases. The trend in your own usage report is more telling: does the number of active people go up after you introduce concrete use cases?
Should we just cancel unused licenses?
Measure first, then decide. Reassigning unused licenses to other people is the quickest step. Whether you can reduce the number of licenses depends on your contract term.
Do we need Viva Insights to see usage?
No. The usage report in the Microsoft 365 admin center is available with your Copilot licenses. According to Microsoft, the Copilot Dashboard in Viva Insights doesn't require a separate Viva Insights license either.
Who can see the usage reports?
The admin center report is visible to people with the appropriate admin role. The Copilot Dashboard is available to leaders and people who have been given access. Agree with HR, legal and privacy on who may see which data.
Sources
Microsoft Copilot readiness report (Microsoft Learn)
Microsoft Copilot usage report (Microsoft Learn)
Connect to the Microsoft Copilot Dashboard (Microsoft Learn)
Get ready for Microsoft Copilot and agents with SharePoint Advanced Management (Microsoft Learn)
SharePoint Advanced Management features in Microsoft Copilot licenses (Microsoft Learn)
By Joshua Schütt, founder of aenuma. Last updated: October 2026.
Where are your Copilot licenses sitting idle?
Tell us how Copilot was rolled out at your company and what it's used for today. We will tell you which tasks fit and where a fixed workflow does more. Not sure where to start? The Time Sink Check shows which task makes a good first workflow.
Book a call