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Compare Microsoft 365 Copilot features in E3 and E5 licenses

  • Applies to: ✅ Microsoft 365 Copilot

Choosing between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses for Microsoft 365 Copilot requires understanding the key feature differences that prepare your data for AI-powered productivity.

The Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses offer different features that help you get your data ready for Copilot. These features can:

  • Help prevent oversharing
  • Declutter data sources
  • Identify and label sensitive data in your Microsoft 365 app files

This article helps you understand the features available to your organization based on your license. If your organization is not yet licensed, this article can also help you decide. Choose which license is right for you based on the features your organization wants and needs.

This article applies to:

  • Microsoft 365 Copilot
  • Microsoft SharePoint Advanced Management
  • Microsoft Purview

Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5 license features for Copilot

The following tables list some of the features that can help get your data ready for Copilot. These features affect Copilot results and can help you manage Copilot interactions.

For more information on these features, see Copilot Control System security and governance.

Note

As of early 2025, SharePoint Advanced Management is included with your Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Microsoft Purview features

Feature Microsoft 365 E3 Microsoft 365 E5
Sensitivity labels ✅

- Create custom labels.
- Manually apply labels.		 ✅

- Create custom labels.
- Create default labels and their policies.
- Manually apply labels.
- Automatically apply labels.
- Apply labels to containers, like a SharePoint or Teams site
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) ✅

Policies can target:

- SharePoint
- Exchange
- OneDrive		 ✅

Policies can target:

- SharePoint
- Exchange
- OneDrive
- Teams
- Endpoints
Adaptive Protection n/a ✅
Data lifecycle management ✅

- Create retention policies
- Manually apply retention labels
- Use Content explorer		 ✅

- Create retention policies
- Manually apply retention labels
- Automatically apply retention labels
- Use Content explorer
- Use Activity explorer
- Use Data Lifecycle Management or Records Management
Communication Compliance n/a ✅
eDiscovery ✅

Can search.		 ✅

Can search and delete.
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI ✅

- View app info
- Export activity
- Turn on auditing		 ✅

- View app info
- Export activity
- Turn on auditing
- View prompt & response

For more information, see the following articles:

SharePoint Advanced Management features

Feature Microsoft 365 E3 Microsoft 365 E5
Site ownership policy ✅ ✅
Site lifecycle management ✅ ✅
Data access governance (DAG) reports ✅ ✅
Restricted access control (RAC) ✅ ✅
Restricted content discoverability policy (RCD) ✅ ✅
Change history report ✅ ✅

For more information, see the following articles:

Next step

The next step is to start using the features in your license:

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