# Researcher

> A built-in Microsoft 365 Copilot agent that turns a detailed question into a structured, cited report drawn from your work content and the public web.

**Category:** Copilot

**Researcher is Copilot's specialist for multi-step research.** Ask it a specific question and it gathers from files, emails, meetings and chats you can access, plus the web if you allow it, then returns a report with headings, cited sources, key findings and next steps. It may ask clarifying questions first, including whether to search work content, the web or both.

Depth takes time: simple questions usually take under five minutes, complex ones ten to forty-five. Researcher and [Analyst](/glossary#analyst) share a cap of **twenty-five queries per user per month**, so save it for questions that need several sources weighed. It is a first-party [agent](/glossary#agent): you cannot edit its instructions, and it does not write files back to a folder the way Claude Cowork does.

## At work

A marketing manager asks Researcher how a competitor's enterprise pricing changed over two quarters, then checks one cited source before sharing the report with sales.

## Often confused with

Web grounding in Copilot Chat. Web grounding adds a few fresh web results to a quick answer; Researcher spends minutes weighing many sources into a full report.

## Related terms

- Analyst
- Web grounding
- Agent
- Cowork

## See it in a lesson

[Researcher and Analyst](/en/learn/copilot/working-smart/researcher-and-analyst)

## Further reading

- [Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot (Microsoft Learn)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/researcher-agent): Microsoft's overview of what Researcher does and how to use it.
- [Researcher agent FAQ (Microsoft Learn)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/faq-researcher): Answers on response times, limits, and data handling.

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Last updated: 14/10/2026  
Source: Rollo Academy glossary