Ultimate Guide: How AI Credits Work in Microsoft 365 and Copilot (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Designer…)

The integration of the Artificial Intelligence in Microsoft 365 has completely changed the way we use classic Office applications and other Microsoft programs. Copilot, the AI-powered assistant, is becoming an indispensable tool for those looking to save time, automate tasks, and increase productivity, whether at home or at work. However, its use is regulated by a monthly credit system that limits how many times you can take advantage of the AI. Become, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Notes, Designer, Paint and Photos, among other applications.

What does this AI credit system actually consist of? What can and cannot Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Copilot Pro, or those who only use Microsoft XNUMX do? apps Free plans like Designer? How are these credits managed, what happens when you run out of them, and what are the differences between the plans? In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know, with practical examples. Tricks, precautions and recommendations so you can make the most of each artificial intelligence credit your subscription grants you.

What are AI credits in Microsoft 365?

The Microsoft 365 AI credits These are digital units used to measure and manage the use of artificial intelligence features within Microsoft applications. Each time you ask Copilot (or another AI feature) to generate text, edit an image, create a table, summarize a document, or perform any other intelligent process, a credit is deducted from your monthly balance. This allows Microsoft to balance access to AI and control its consumption, ensuring that all subscribers can benefit from these features without overwhelming available resources.

This system is similar to a monthly bonus: You are assigned a certain amount of credits, and as you use them, they are automatically deducted. When they run out, your access to the AI ​​is blocked until the next month unless you upgrade to a higher plan like Copilot Pro. Unused credits at the end of the month are lost, as do not accumulate for the following month.

Who does the AI ​​credit system apply to?

Microsoft distributes AI credits differently depending on the type of application and subscription:

• Microsoft 365 Personal & Family: Users with these subscriptions receive 60 AI credits per month for Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Designer, Paint, Photos, and Notepad.
• Microsoft Designer (free): Users who only use the free app receive 15 monthly credits for AI-powered image generation and editing.
• Copilot Pro: This plan removes the monthly credit limit, allowing unlimited use of AI features.
• Companies and AI Builder: There are more advanced and customizable credit systems available in business plans or professional solutions like AI Builder, with separate rules and limits, which we'll discuss later.

Note: You must be the subscription owner to access credits. For Microsoft 365 Family, only the primary user has access to the monthly credit balance;

Other members you share the subscription with will not be able to use Copilot in Word, Excel, etc. This may change in the future, but currently, the account holder has the full benefit.

Credit system: how it works and what you can do

Each relevant action you take with Copilot or AI features counts as one credit consumed.

• For example, asking Copilot to help you compose an email or summarize a text in Word will deduct one credit.
• In PowerPoint, asking the AI ​​to generate a presentation from scratch with images and diagrams will count as another consumed action.
• Within Designer, each time you generate or edit an image with AI, a credit will be deducted from your monthly fee.

The credit counter is reset on the first day of each month, whether you have a paid plan or use only free apps.

Keep in mind that Credits are personal and non-transferableYou cannot transfer your unused credits to another user or carry over any remaining credits to future months.

Credits in Copilot: monthly limit and consumption

Within Microsoft 365 Personal & Family, The standard limit is 60 monthly creditsThese credits affect:

• Become
• Excel
• Power point
• Outlook
• OneNote
• Designer
• Paint
• Photos
• Memo pad

Each relevant use of AI in these applications will deduct one credit. For instance, If you use Copilot 60 times in a month, your system will stop allowing you additional AI actions until your monthly balance is restored.

How to know the credit balance?

From your profile in account.microsoft.com You can see your updated AI credit balance. Go to Manage Microsoft 365 and check the AI ​​credit balance. This will tell you how many more times you can invoke Copilot or use AI that month.

Remember Every month the counter is reset to zero and you receive your credits again, but what you don't use is lost..

What happens if you use up all your AI credits?

When you finish your 60 monthly credits in Microsoft 365, You will no longer have access to premium AI features until next month unless you upgrade to Copilot Pro, which has no limit. Microsoft uses this system to promote the Copilot Pro plan (currently €22 per month), where the credit system is eliminated and you can use the AI ​​as many times as you want.

In practice, If you work intensively with AI, you may run out of credits before the end of the month.Businesses and professional users often opt for Copilot Pro, but for most home users, 60 credits are sufficient for regular use.

Are there any tricks or methods to get the most out of them? Yes, you can plan your AI actions, use more precise prompts, and, most importantly, reserve credits for truly important tasks instead of unnecessary experiments.

What AI functions are covered under the credit system?

The system covers Copilot requests and AI actions in virtually all modern Microsoft 365 appsHere are some practical examples:

• Word: generate drafts, adapt the tone of a text, summarize documents, compose automated emails, create smart tables and list controls.
• Excel: create automatic templates, analyze data, generate summaries of financial variables, automate formulas or transform data sheets.
• Power point: Create presentations from scratch using text, insert AI-generated images, organize information, and design optimized slides.
• Outlook: compose tailored emails, summarize long conversations, schedule automatic responses, prioritize messages with AI.
• OneNote and Notepad: Smart note organization, list creation, quick suggestions for planning or reminders.
• Designer, Paint and Photos: generating and editing unpublished images, removing elements from a photo, creating visual compositions from text, automatically enhancing photos.

Ultimately, anything that involves asking AI to do the heavy lifting for you (whether with text or images) will consume one of these credits.

Limits, exceptions, and considerations depending on the app and user type

Microsoft has defined several important limits and exceptions:

• Age restrictions: The use of AI may be limited by legal age, which varies by region. If you don't meet the legal minimum, even if you have a license, you won't be able to use AI.
• Only the owner uses the credits in Family: The Family subscription doesn't distribute credits among all members; only the holder receives them. Other users have basic access without premium AI.
• The free version of Copilot (or apps like Designer) only gives access to limited features and a lower number of monthly credits.
• There may be differences in the number of credits or apps included in previous versions of the software or in specific regions.

Also noteworthy is the possibility that Microsoft could differentiate itself by launching promotions or trial versions, where credits may be higher for a limited time.

What happens with Professional or Enterprise plans? (AI Builder and Power Platform)

The credit system in business plans is much more complex and scalable. This is where products like AI Builder, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dynamics 365 come into play, where credits are used not only for AI in Office but also for custom models, automations, and advanced analytics.

These credits can be assigned globally for the entire organization, or to specific environments based on needs and roles.

How are these business loans acquired and managed?

• Included with some premium licenses (per user, per app, per process, etc.) but in general it is common to have to purchase additional AI Builder credit packages to adapt the capacity to actual needs.
• Consumption is monitored in the Power Platform Admin Center, where administrators can see how many credits are assigned and how many have been spent by different users or applications.
• When capacity is exhausted, the system progressively blocks the creation and editing of AI models in environments that have exceeded the limit. A temporary credit extension (200.000 complimentary credits) can be requested, although It is not a solution to cover structural deficiencies.
• Usage resets on the first day of each month, and unused credits do not carry over to the next period.

In the professional environment, each license type includes a certain number of credits (for example, Power Apps Premium includes 500; Power Automate Premium, 5.000; AI Builder add-ons, 1.000.000, etc.). The details of the amounts and rules are frequently reviewed in the Official guide to Microsoft Power Platform.

What actions consume AI credits in Power Apps, AI Builder, Power Automate, etc.?

In the professional world, Almost any action developed using IA Builder involves spending credits:

• Training object detection or document processing models
• Generate text with AI within Power Apps, Power Automate, or Copilot Studio
• Scan business cards, analyze documents, classify images, detect objects
• Run automated flows with AI actions in Power Automate
• Generate smart messages in custom apps or bots

Exact consumption varies depending on the model, amount of data and tokens processed. Microsoft publishes an official guide with rates and credit equivalencies that you should consult to estimate your monthly spending.

Monitoring, review and management of credits

So as not to be surprised, It is essential to review your credit usage periodically from your Microsoft account website or, if you are an administrator, from the Power Platform Admin Center..

In the home environment, the information is simple and visual; in the business, the report is more detailed, allowing you to see which users, apps, or environments are spending the most and adjust policies or reallocate capacity based on business priorities.

Microsoft allows administrators to block the use of unallocated credits, reallocate capacity between environments, and request temporary extensions in the event of excess capacity, ensuring critical processes don't come to a complete halt.

What happens if you exceed the credit limit?

When you exceed the monthly credit limit, Microsoft progressively blocks access to advanced AI features.

• Initially, only the creation/editing of new AI models or flows is blocked.
• If the excess is significant (consumption well above the limit), the execution of AI tasks is completely blocked until the following month.
• Credit extensions should only be used as a temporary solution and never to cover ongoing shortfalls.

Each environment/user is independent: if one environment/user exceeds its limit, other environments/users are not affected, unless all of the organization's global credits are consumed.

Tips, tricks, and frequently asked questions

• Plan your AI actions so as not to waste credits on irrelevant tests.
• Make prompts more detailed and concise to achieve better results with fewer interactions.
• Check your credit balance before taking any important actions.
• If you need unlimited AI, consider upgrading to Copilot Pro or, for businesses, purchasing additional packages.
• Remember that credits are not transferable. and that consumption is monthly, not annual.

Some recurring doubts:

• Can I purchase additional AI credits for a specific month in Microsoft 365 Personal or Family? No, the only way to remove the limit is to upgrade to Copilot Pro.
• What happens to unused credits? They are lost, not accumulated.
• Does Copilot Free have credits? Yes, but in much lower numbers and for limited functions.

How do I enable or disable Copilot and AI services?

Microsoft has included options to turn Copilot on or off in each main application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) from the settings menu itself. This is useful for users who prefer to work manually or for academic environments and organizations that require greater control over their use of AI.

Similarly, you can manage which accounts have access and who owns the subscription, especially relevant in the case of Microsoft 365 Family.

Microsoft Designer and AI for Images: Specific Credits

Designer, Microsoft's AI-powered image generation and editing app, is also included in the Personal and Family plans. AI credits for Designer are shared with the monthly limit for other apps.

Therefore, if you create a lot of images or make automatic edits in Designer, Paint, or Photos, you'll use up your AI balance for that month sooner. The Copilot Pro plan removes these restrictions.

The free edition of Designer offers only 15 monthly credits, which is geared toward casual users.

Key differences between Microsoft 365, Copilot Pro, AI Builder, and free plans

The key lies in controlling credits, the type of actions allowed, the exclusivity of AI features, and the user profile that each plan takes advantage of:

• Microsoft 365 Personal/Family: 60 monthly credits, access to Copilot and integrated AI apps, only for the owner on the Family plan.
• Copilot Pro: Unlimited AI use, early access to new features, image generation advantages, designed for advanced/professional users.
• Designer (free): 15 monthly credits for AI images only.
• AI Builder/Companies: Much higher credits, configurable by environment and user, with centralized monitoring and management.
• Free Copilot: Limited access, with fewer credits and supported apps.

The pricing update and the inclusion of AI in all accounts is making it more and more valuable for users, and Microsoft is offering alternatives for those who don't need or want to use AI (Basic, Personal Classic, Classic Family plans, etc.).

Privacy: Do you use Copilot… and your data?

Microsoft guarantees that the data you share with Copilot in Microsoft 365 (documents, prompts, images, responses) is not used to train external models or shared with third parties. Everything is geared toward AI assisting the user without compromising their privacy. Plus, you can configure permissions and access from the suite itself at any time.

This approach allows users to take advantage of AI with the peace of mind that their files will not be analyzed for commercial purposes or to improve general models.

Prices, changes and subscription alternatives

The arrival of premium AI has led to an increase in subscription prices: Both Microsoft 365 Personal and Family have increased by 3 euros per month After expanding access to Copilot and associated credits, current users will retain the previous price until their next renewal.

If you don't want to use AI, you can opt for plans without Copilot or credits, such as the Basic Plan, Personal Classic, or Family Classic. These maintain standard features but without access to artificial intelligence.

Real-life use cases: How to leverage Copilot with your credits

The potential for AI in Microsoft 365 is enormous. Here are some examples of what you can do in each app while you have credits available:

• Word: Create professionally structured and formatted documents in seconds, ask Copilot to suggest style or grammar improvements, and automatically summarize long reports.
• Excel: Ask AI to generate calendars, budgets, charts, or analyze large databases in record time.
• Power point: Generate presentations from a checklist or document, insert AI-generated images, and adjust the visual layout and content with a simple prompt.
• Outlook: Summarize chains of emails, compose quick responses with the right tone, organize your inbox using artificial intelligence.
• OneNote: Automatically structure meeting notes, create to-do lists, and receive suggestions for organizing your ideas.
• Designer/Paint: Generate images for work, projects, presentations, or social media from a textual description.

It's a good idea to plan your month and set aside some credits for key tasks. If you see that you're going to run out of credits, prioritize complex or higher value-added actions.

As you've seen, the AI ​​credit system in Microsoft 365 is designed to distribute resources fairly and encourage the adoption of AI tools at all levels. Whether you're a home or business user, The key is to know your monthly limits, understand which actions consume credits, and plan their use based on your actual needs. Microsoft periodically adjusts the details of its fees and plans, so you'll want to check your terms and conditions regularly. Enjoy the AI ​​revolution in your daily life, but do so wisely... and without running out of credits before the end of the month!