Word Copilot Model Choice in 2026: Switch Between Claude and GPT for Every Edit

Copilot in Word used to be a single voice. You clicked “Ask Copilot,” it drafted or rewrote in one house style, and that was that. As of the June 2026 update, that changed: Word now lets you pick which AI model actually performs your edit, choosing between Anthropic's Claude models and OpenAI's GPT models depending on what the task in front of you needs.

Paired with a set of other changes rolled out the same month — agentic editing that's on by default, inline image generation, and the ability to keep a running conversation with Copilot across sessions — Word's editing experience in 2026 looks less like a single assistant and more like a small toolbox of writing specialists you can call on as needed.

What Changed in Word Copilot This Year

Default document editing — Copilot can now make direct edits to your document without you first toggling an “editing mode” on. Every change stays trackable and fully reversible, the same as a human editor's tracked changes.

Model choice — you can select an Anthropic model for a given editing task, alongside the existing OpenAI options, and switch between them per request.

Inline image generation — Copilot can create and place an image directly into your document as part of an agentic editing flow, no trip to a separate image tool required.

Conversation continuity — you can pick up a previous Copilot conversation about a document instead of re-explaining context every time you reopen the file.

Catchup summaries — open a document that's changed since you last viewed it and get a quick summary of what was edited and why.

Comment-based edits — leave a comment describing a change, and Copilot can apply it automatically rather than you doing the edit by hand.

Mobile agentic editing — the same agentic editing capabilities are now available on iPhone and iPad, not just desktop.

How to Choose a Model for an Edit

Open the document and select the text you want Copilot to work on, or open the Copilot pane for a whole-document task.

Before submitting your prompt, look for the model selector in the Copilot pane — it will show your currently active model with an option to switch.

Choose an Anthropic model for tasks like careful restructuring, nuanced tone adjustments, or long-document summarization where reasoning through structure matters.

Choose the OpenAI option when you want fast, low-latency rewrites for shorter passages or quick stylistic polish.

Submit your prompt as usual — rewrite, summarize, restructure, or refine — and Copilot applies the edit as a trackable change using the model you picked.

When Model Choice Actually Matters

For a one-line grammar fix, the model behind the scenes barely matters. Model choice earns its keep on harder tasks: restructuring a 20-page proposal so the argument flows logically, rewriting a technical section for a non-technical audience without losing accuracy, or condensing a long report into an executive summary that still captures nuance. If a rewrite from your default model feels flat or misses the point of a complex passage, switching models on the same passage is often faster than re-prompting five times.

Inline Image Generation, in Practice

Instead of writing a placeholder like “[insert diagram here]” and switching to Designer or an external tool, you can now ask Copilot to generate and insert an image directly where your cursor sits. This works well for simple illustrative graphics, icons, or conceptual diagrams that support a point in the text — not for polished, brand-accurate graphics, which still belong in PowerPoint's Designer or a dedicated image tool.

Using Comment-Based Edits and Catchup Summaries Together

These two features solve opposite ends of a common workflow problem. If you're the one requesting changes, leave a comment (“rewrite this paragraph to be more concise”) and let Copilot apply it directly rather than assigning it as a task to someone else or doing it yourself later. If you're the one returning to a shared document, open it and check the Catchup summary first — it tells you what changed and why before you scroll through track changes line by line.

Best Practices for Teams Sharing a Document

Keep track changes visible even though editing is on by default — don't accept changes in bulk without reviewing them, especially on contracts or client-facing documents.

Standardize on a default model for your team so reviewers know what tone to expect, and only switch models deliberately for specific hard passages.

Use comment-based edits for collaborative review cycles instead of a chat message elsewhere — it keeps the instruction and the resulting change in the same place.

Check Catchup summaries before every review meeting on a shared document so you're not the person asking “wait, what changed?”

Final Thoughts

Model choice is a small UI addition with an outsized effect on how much you trust Copilot's output. Instead of accepting whatever a single model produces, you can now match the tool to the task — and that alone makes agentic editing in Word feel less like a gamble and more like a genuine writing partner. Open a document today, try the same rewrite with two different models, and see which one actually gets your argument right.