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Copilot Tips: Intro to GPT-5 – Tech Tip for August 28, 2025

In this week’s tech tip, we explore the exciting arrival of GPT-5 in Microsoft Copilot. This upgrade brings smarter reasoning, richer answers, and improved writing assistance—all designed to help you work faster, and more creatively. Microsoft, in partnership with OpenAI, has integrated GPT-5 into select Copilot experiences, continuing a collaboration that powers today’s most advanced workplace AI tools. While GPT-5 isn’t yet embedded directly into every Office (Copilot) app, you can start using it today across Microsoft 365 web, Windows, Mac, and mobile. Knowing how to access it, taking advantage of its features and working within its limits will help you get the most from this update. Let’s take a look!

What is GPT-5 and Why It Matters

GPT-5 is Microsoft Copilot’s newest AI model, offering deeper reasoning, better accuracy, and more polished writing. It handles complex questions with ease while still producing fast, relevant results. If GPT-5 reaches its limit or becomes unavailable in your current chat session, Copilot will automatically fall back to GPT-4 Turbo, so you can still keep working—though with slightly less depth in response.

Where You Can Access It Today

You can try GPT-5 right now in several Microsoft Copilot experiences.

  • Microsoft 365 Web Portal: Sign in at microsoft365.com where Copilot access is the default at login. Easy access is also available from the Copilot button in the tabbed navigation at left. Select the ‘Try GPT-5’ button to get started.
  • Windows Copilot App: Open Copilot from the Windows taskbar and switch to ‘Smart mode’ from the ‘Quick response’ button to unlock GPT-5 reasoning.
  • Mac and Mobile Copilot Apps: Access from ‘Quick response’ button. Select the ‘Smart mode’ option.
  • Copilot Studio: If you have an ‘early release cycle’ environment, you may receive the updated experience featuring GPT-5’s ‘high-throughput model and deep reasoning models’ as options, sooner. This release will be phased in later for those not in the early release cycle. Most options will still refer to GPT-4 in ‘Model settings.’

TIPS: Always confirm you are in ‘Smart mode’ or select the ‘Try GPT-5’ button where visible to engage GPT-5. Copilot automatically switches to GPT-4 Turbo when not in this mode.

Licensing and Limits Affect Access:

  • Enterprise and Business Copilot Users: Priority GPT-5 access, reducing slowdowns during peak times. Less likely to hit capacity limits.
  • Personal Microsoft Accounts: Standard access, with a higher chance of fallback to GPT-4 Turbo.

Practical Workflows with GPT-5

You may want to reserve GPT-5 for tougher queries, and stick to GPT-4 Turbo in most instances as it is still the quickest way to receive a response to simple queries, but you can still apply GPT-5 to almost anything in your daily work:

  • Summarize Emails or Meetings: Paste text or threads and ask GPT-5 to create concise bullet points.
  • Draft Content: Use it to write proposals, emails, or reports faster.
  • Brainstorm Ideas: Generate options for campaigns, presentations, or projects.
  • Data Review: Upload spreadsheets or documents for summaries or insights.

TIPS: Use GPT-5 when you need deeper thinking, analysis or creativity.  For quick transactional tasks, GPT-4 Turbo is faster and more than enough.

Improvements in GPT-5

  • Smarter Reasoning: GPT-5 is better at following complex instructions, multi-step logic, and tasks that require connecting multiple pieces of context.
  • Fewer Misinterpretations: GPT-5 reduces ‘hallucinations’ by grounding responses more effectively in Microsoft 365 context (documents, emails, data).
  • More Natural Language: GPT-5 tends to produce smoother, more human-like phrasing (more conversational, less concise) compared to GPT-4 Turbo, especially in longer explanations.

Where GPT-4 Turbo Still Helps

  • Speed: GPT-4 is still faster for lighter tasks, such as quick rewrites or simple Q&A’s.
  • Availability: GPT-4 Turbo remains the default in many experiences until GPT-5 is explicitly toggled or selected.

GPT-5 in Microsoft Copilot is available today across web, Windows, Mac, and mobile. By understanding access and licensing, you can maximize your productivity and uncover smart ways to use the new AI model now. Becoming comfortable with GPT-5 today will ensure that you’re ready when future phases roll out to other experiences and applications. We hope that you’ll give the Copilot GPT-5 AI model a try!

Reach Out to TechWise Group

Interested in learning more about Microsoft Copilot? Reach out to TechWise Group. We’ll help you make the most of your Microsoft tools.

Important Microsoft Announcements:

  • Prepare for Windows Server 2016 End of Support (EoS):
    • Extended Support ends on January 12, 2027.
  • Windows 10 reached End of Support (EoS) on October 14, 2025:
    • Put a plan in place to upgrade to Windows 11.
  • Maximize your organization’s Security with Secure Score and MFA:
    • Get to know your Secure Score—your essential tool for proactive threat management.
    • Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is the best way to prevent cyberthreats.
  • Give your business a productivity boost with Microsoft Copilot:
    • Get started with Copilot consulting services to organize and secure your data, while also training you and your team.
  • Contact TechWise Group to get started.