What it does

The usage report in the Microsoft 365 admin center shows who has a Copilot licence and who's actually using it, broken down by app (Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Copilot chat).

Key facts

• Lives under Reports > Usage in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• Shows enabled users, active users and last-activity dates per app.
• Names can be de-identified via the admin center privacy setting; if that's on, you'll see anonymised entries instead of real names.
• Data is delayed — figures lag by a couple of days, so don't treat "today" as live.
• This is activity data, not sentiment or value. It tells you if Copilot was touched, not whether it helped.

When to use / skip

Use it for licence hygiene and spotting dormant users. Skip it if you want depth on how people work with Copilot — that's the Viva Insights Copilot dashboard's job.

Configuration decisions

• Whether de-identification is on (privacy vs. the ability to target reluctant users by name).
• Who gets access to the report — reports reader role at minimum.

Gotchas

• De-identified data can't drive targeted nudges; teams turn it on for privacy then wonder why they can't chase non-adopters.
• Activity counts flatter you: a single click registers as "active." Don't mistake it for genuine adoption.
• The reporting lag catches people out during go-live standups.

Consultant notes

• Pair usage data with the Viva Insights dashboard — one tells you who, the other tells you how well.
• Set the de-identification decision with the customer's HR and privacy people before go-live; flipping it later is awkward.
• Use dormant-licence data to reclaim and redeploy rather than buy more.
• Report "active with intent," not raw activity, or leadership will draw the wrong conclusions.

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Recheck when the usage report gains new app breakdowns or metrics.