Introduction: A productivity paradox

Modern office environments depend on tools that work in harmony. Copilot promises to streamline drafting, data analysis, and content organization across the Microsoft 365 suite. Yet many users are discovering a stubborn incompatibility: when several Office applications are open at once, Copilot may fail to appear or function as expected. The root cause isn't a single app error but a deeper interaction between Office and a rendering engine called WebView2 that Copilot relies on to display its interface.

What's happening: The WebView2 coordination challenge

Copilot's user interface is rendered through WebView2, a technology shared by multiple Office apps. The issue surfaces when one application-say, Excel-already initiates a WebView2 session, and another app (for example, Word) attempts to start a second session. In this overlap, the Copilot pane in the second app often fails to launch. If you close the first application, the Copilot pane in the second app usually opens correctly. This behavior indicates a conflict in how WebView2 handles concurrent instances across Office apps on the same system.

Affected apps and typical scenarios

The problem is reported when any of the core Office apps-Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, and Access-are opened simultaneously on a single device. A common workflow example is a user drafting a report in Word while analyzing a data model in Excel. If Copilot is required in both apps at the same time, you may encounter the described launch failure in one of them.

Symptoms and impact: Why it matters

The most noticeable symptom is the Copilot pane not appearing as expected. Because Copilot relies on WebView2 for its interface, other features tied to that rendering engine-such as collaborative sharing, Room Finder, or related Office features-can also be less reliable when multiple apps contend for WebView2 resources. For teams that depend on Copilot to accelerate writing, data interpretation, or presentation tasks, this disruption can slow down workflows and create friction during multi-app sessions.

What Microsoft is doing: status and guidance

The Office development team is actively investigating this WebView2-related conflict and will share further details or a fix as soon as they become available. In the interim, users are encouraged to monitor official update channels for announcements. While a formal fix isn't yet published, keeping software up to date is a practical step toward reducing the likelihood or impact of the issue.

Related issues and broader context

Microsoft has been addressing a variety of Office-related bugs over the past months, ranging from Outlook stability to drag-and-drop performance and keyboard-driven typing experiences. While not all of these reports are directly connected to Copilot, they illustrate a broader pattern: as Office interoperability expands, so does the potential for cross-application conflicts. In many cases, formal updates or temporary workarounds are deployed to keep productivity tools running smoothly while developers work on deeper fixes.

Understanding the root cause: WebView2 conflicts explained

WebView2 is a runtime that lets Office render web-based UI components inside desktop apps. When two or more Office apps attempt to start their own WebView2 instances at the same time, competing resource requests and session management can lead to one or more instances failing to initialize correctly. Since Copilot's UI is delivered through WebView2, any instability in this environment can prevent the Copilot pane from launching or rendering properly. Resolving this requires coordinated updates across the Office apps and adjustments to how WebView2 is instantiated and managed across multi-app sessions.

Practical steps you can take now

• Update regularly: Ensure that both Windows and all Office applications are on the latest builds. Updates frequently include fixes that improve WebView2 handling and Copilot stability.
• Limit concurrent Copilot usage when needed: If Copilot is essential across multiple apps, consider working with Copilot in one app at a time and closing others while you access Copilot in that app.
• Use a quick restart workflow: If Copilot doesn't launch, save your work, close other Office apps, and reopen the app where you want to use Copilot.
• Monitor official status channels: Check Microsoft support pages or Office update notes for any known issue advisories, workarounds, or confirmed fixes.
• Gather diagnostic details if you need support: Document the exact steps to reproduce, your OS version, Office build, and which apps were open when the problem occurred.

Conclusion: What to take away

Copilot's disruption when multiple Office apps run concurrently highlights a growing challenge in cross-app features that rely on WebView2. It's a known issue that developers are actively addressing, with a path forward that includes updates, coordinated fixes, and practical workarounds. For everyday users and IT teams, staying current, adopting sensible multi-app work patterns, and keeping a clear line of communication with official status updates will help minimize the impact while the underlying fix is developed. By understanding the root cause and applying measured workarounds, you can maintain productivity and reduce frustration as Microsoft continues to refine Copilot's cross-application experience.