I tested ChatGPT against Copilot in Microsoft Word

Date:
Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:01:39 +0000

Description:
I tried ChatGPT and Copilot side by side in Microsoft Word, and I was surprised by what I found.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Microsoft Word has spent the past few years getting increasingly acquainted with AI. Copilot can already draft text, rewrite passages, summarize documents, and answer questions about whatever you have open. Microsoft has even been rolling out more advanced editing capabilities that let Copilot make broader changes directly inside a document.

Now there is another AI sitting in Word. OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Word,
via a plug-in, on September 17, putting a ChatGPT sidebar directly inside Microsoft's word processor. It works across ChatGPT's plans, including Free, although your normal ChatGPT usage limits still apply.

That creates a slightly peculiar situation. Microsoft has spent considerable effort building Copilot into Word, and now I can install its most famous AI rival in the same application. Naturally, I wanted to see which one I would actually reach for. I came away liking both, although for rather different reasons. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: (Image credit: OpenAI) Installing ChatGPT in Word is straightforward, although there is one extra step compared with Copilot if Microsoft's assistant is already part of your Microsoft 365 setup. OpenAI's ChatGPT add-in is available through Microsoft Marketplace . Once installed, you can open it from the Word ribbon, sign-in to your ChatGPT account, and have the familiar chatbot appear in a sidebar. The integration works with ChatGPT's Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, with the usual usage limits applying to each. The big difference with regular ChatGPT is that all conversations inside Word are separate from the ones in the regular ChatGPT app, and ChatGPT's memory does not follow you into Word either. That is worth remembering if you are accustomed to the regular
chatbot already knowing your preferences. You may like ChatGPT has stopped taking your prompts so literally, and thats a big deal ChatGPT's new Side
Chat features enhance browsing in Chrome I gave Gemini 3.6 Flash and GPT-5.6 access to my entire digital life Test 1: Planning a trip I started with a blank document and asked each AI to respond to a request for a reusable vacation-planning template that I asked for using natural language in the sidebar.

I wanted somewhere to keep travel details, hotel information, reservations, restaurants, packing notes, and a loose daily itinerary without creating the sort of schedule that makes a vacation feel suspiciously like work. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

ChatGPT produced a thoughtful setup, including the expected travel and accommodation details, but with added sections for reservation deadlines, estimated travel times, priority activities, backup plans, and ideas that had not yet made the final itinerary. Instead of filling every day with morning, afternoon, and evening slots, it left more space for a main activity and optional plans, which made the template feel less rigid. (Image credit: Word) In contrast, Copilot gave me the more conventional Word template. It neatly divided the document into sections for transportation, accommodation, daily plans, activities, dining, and packing, with plenty of space to fill everything in later. The structure was clean and immediately usable, and because Copilot is so closely integrated with Word, tweaking individual sections and reorganizing the document felt particularly easy.

Copilot was stronger at quickly producing a polished template that looked and behaved like something created specifically for Word. ChatGPT was better at considering the practical problems that tend to emerge while planning an actual vacation and building the document around them. What to read next Can ChatGPT really replace your apps? I tried using the chatbot for 12 everyday tasks on my phone heres what happened I let ChatGPT organize my scattered thoughts I thought ChatGPTs new umms and hmms were incredibly annoying

I ultimately preferred ChatGPT's version because it felt more flexible, although Copilot's was arguably easier to start using immediately. ChatGPT
did a little more thinking about what information I might eventually wish I had included. Test 2: Editing down nonsense I then decided to see how they compared at editing. I pasted in an old, absurdly long set of instructions
for an AirBnB I had saved years ago out of amusement, complete with information about plants, deliveries, Wi-Fi and several unnecessary
paragraphs devoted to where various things were stored.

I selected a particularly rambling section and asked ChatGPT to shorten it while preserving anything somebody would actually need.

The main problem is repetition rather than the amount of information," The AI wrote. It mentions the delivery instructions twice and explains the location of the spare supplies in more detail than someone staying for a weekend probably needs. Id keep the Wi-Fi information, the plant-watering schedule
and anything involving keys or access exactly clear. The rest can be
condensed into a short Around the house section so the useful details are easier to find.

Copilot is hardly incapable of that conversation. It can answer questions about a document, provide summaries and respond to prompts about unclear passages, and provide references showing where information came from. But I would tend to pull up Copilot only when I already knew what I wanted it to
do.

Selecting some text and telling Copilot to rewrite it produces versions that can be replaced or inserted directly into the document, and Microsoft now allows editing inside its suggestion box before accepting the result. Which did I prefer? ChatGPT's biggest practical advantage may simply be accessibility. OpenAI says ChatGPT for Word is available on all ChatGPT
plans, including Free. Copilot availability varies according to Microsoft 365 subscription, Copilot license and organizational settings, while some of Microsoft's newer 'Edit with Copilot' features are still rolling out to eligible users.

There are good reasons to prefer Copilot. Its integration with Word is
deeper, and Microsoft has built features specifically around manipulating
Word documents rather than placing a general AI assistant alongside them. Depending on your setup, Copilot can also draw on Microsoft files, emails and meetings, which could matter far more than conversational style for people already living inside Microsoft 365.

For quick mechanical changes, particularly when I knew exactly what needed rewriting, Copilot's tighter relationship with Word made sense. It felt like an extension of the application rather than another destination. ChatGPT was the one I preferred when the problem was fuzzier. The two assistants overlap considerably, but they did not feel identical when I actually used them. Copilot often felt like an AI feature of Word. ChatGPT is a more fully-featured chatbot, while Copilot simply augments Word with AI features. Either is fine, it's just that ChatGPT feels more flexible. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. The best business laptops for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/chatgpt/copilot-worked-best- when-i-knew-what-i-wanted-chatgpt-was-better-when-i-didnt-i-tested-both-ai-ass istants-in-word-and-i-wasnt-expecting-the-difference-to-be-so-obvious


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