🔖 GitHub Copilot FAQ

[Akash1134]

GitHub Copilot FAQ

Your complete guide to using GitHub Copilot effectively. Whether you're just getting started, troubleshooting issues, or exploring advanced features, you'll find answers and resources here.

Note
Last updated: January 9, 2026 | For real-time Copilot status, check GitHub's Status page

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Quick Start

New to GitHub Copilot? Start here:

Getting Started with Copilot:

1. Choose your plan (Free, Pro, Business, or Enterprise)
2. Install the extension for your IDE (VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, or others)
3. Sign in with your GitHub account
4. Start coding—Copilot will suggest completions and answer questions

Quick Resources:

• What can GitHub Copilot do? - Real-world examples
• How to use GitHub Copilot - Official documentation
• GitHub Copilot FAQs - General questions answered

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Choose Your Plan

Copilot Free - Limited access, no credit card required

• Up to 2,000 code completions per month
• Up to 50 messages per month in Copilot Chat
• Available in VS Code
• Learn more

Copilot Pro - Full access for individuals ($20/month)

• Unlimited code completions and Chat messages
• GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini models
• Early access to new features
• Available in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, and more
• Try free for 30 days

Copilot Business - Team collaboration and org-wide management

• Everything in Pro
• Organization policies and controls
• Usage tracking and insights
• Contact sales

Copilot Enterprise - Full AI development platform for organizations

• All Business features
• Custom models trained on your codebase
• Code search and repository indexing
• Contact sales

Free for Students & Teachers

• Full Copilot Pro access
• Verify through GitHub Education
• Includes Copilot Coding Agent (new!)
• Apply now

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Copilot Free

GitHub Copilot Free provides limited access to select Copilot features, allowing you to experience AI-powered coding assistance without a subscription.

Key Features:

• Up to 2,000 code completions in IDEs per month
• Up to 50 premium requests per month
• Limited access to Copilot Chat (50 chats per month)

For more details, see the announcement Introducing GitHub Copilot Free. Visit the immersive experience and announcement blog. Read the comprehensive FAQs on GitHub Docs.

Education Note: If you had Copilot Free and are now a verified student or teacher, learn how to transfer to Copilot Pro. The Copilot Coding Agent is now available to all GitHub Education students and educators.

See also: How to use GitHub Copilot: What it can do and real-world examples

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Getting Help

Quick Troubleshooting

Copilot isn't working?

1. Check GitHub's Status page for service incidents
2. Verify you have a valid subscription or are using Copilot Free
3. Restart your IDE
4. Reinstall the Copilot extension

Still having issues?

Common Issues and Solutions

Extension Issues

• Unable to use the GitHub Copilot extension
• GitHub Copilot not working in some files
• Content exclusions not being applied
• Connection and activation errors
• Multi-line code suggestions not working

Network and Firewall

• Diagnosing network issues
• Troubleshooting proxy errors
• Troubleshooting certificate errors

Copilot Chat Issues

• Version incompatibility issues
• Authentication issues in editors
• Response filtering errors
• Copilot Spaces loading issues

Billing & Subscriptions

Getting a refund:
We offer self-serve refunds for Copilot. Visit the Help with your account section.

The Virtual Agent can often provide immediate refunds. If your concern isn't resolved, use the contact form to reach the billing team.

Need help with your subscription?

• View your billing information in your GitHub account settings
• Contact GitHub Support for billing questions

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Troubleshooting

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For Organizations

Setting Up Copilot for Your Team

Copilot Business - Collaboration and management tools

• Enable Copilot for your organization
• Manage organization policies and controls
• Track usage and insights
• Copilot coding agent for teams

Copilot Enterprise - Full platform with custom models

• Everything in Business, plus:
• Custom models trained on your codebase
• Code search with Copilot
• Repository indexing
• Contact sales

Network Routing
Copilot requests route through different endpoints based on your subscription:

• Learn about subscription-based network routing

Key Features for Teams

GitHub Copilot Coding Agent

Automate implementation of GitHub issues.

What it does:

• Simple issue assignment via GitHub.com, GitHub Mobile, or CLI
• Automated environment setup with GitHub Actions
• Regular progress updates through draft PRs and session logs
• Built-in security policies and review requirements
• MCP server support for additional context
• Vision model support for screenshots and mockups

Availability:

• Copilot Enterprise: available now
• Copilot Pro+: available now
• Copilot Business: available since June 24, 2025

Get started with the coding agent

Copilot Spaces

Centralize project context for more relevant AI responses.

What it includes:

• Curated code, documents, and custom instructions
• Organization-level spaces for shared expertise
• Automatic updates as repositories change
• Support for issues and pull requests (as of June 19, 2025)

Try Copilot Spaces

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Latest Features & Updates

New in 2025

• Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4 — Now generally available in GitHub Copilot.

• Improved attachments and larger context in Copilot Chat — In public preview.

• GitHub Desktop 3.5 — Commit message generation now generally available.

Important: Model Changes

• Upcoming deprecation of o1, GPT-4.5, o3-mini, and GPT-4o — Plan your Copilot usage accordingly. Alternative models available.

• Enforcement of Copilot premium request limits — Now in effect. Understand your usage patterns.

Public Preview Features

Try these new capabilities:

• Agent mode and MCP support for IDEs — JetBrains, Eclipse, and Xcode

• Copilot Spaces with issues and PRs — Bring more context to your spaces

• Copilot-powered code reviews — AI-powered feedback on pull requests

• GitHub Copilot Autofix for Dependabot — Fix breaking changes (TypeScript)

• App modernization for Java and .NET — Modernize legacy code

• Copilot fine-tuned models — Models trained on your codebase

• GitHub Copilot Autofix for Partner Tools — Fix vulnerabilities from partner tools

Note: GitHub Pre-release License Terms apply to preview features.

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AI Models in GitHub Copilot

Choose the right model for your task:

Model	Best For	Speed	Cost
GPT-4o	General-purpose coding	Fast	Standard
o3-mini	Simple, quick tasks	Very Fast	Low
Gemini 2.0 Flash	Visual analysis (diagrams, UI)	Fast	Standard
Claude Sonnet 3.5	Everyday coding tasks	Fast	Standard
Claude Sonnet 3.7	Complex multi-file tasks	Moderate	Standard
Claude Sonnet 4	Advanced reasoning	Moderate	Standard
Claude Opus 4	Complex problem-solving	Slower	Higher

Compare models with examples

Deprecations Coming: o1, GPT-4.5, o3-mini, and GPT-4o models will be deprecated. Plan your usage accordingly and explore alternatives above.

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Security, Privacy & Compliance

We prioritize security, privacy, compliance, and transparency in GitHub Copilot's development.

Key Resources:

• GitHub Copilot Trust Center FAQs - Comprehensive answers to trust-related questions
• Product Specific Terms - Legal terms
• Pre-release Terms - For beta features

Contact GitHub with security questions

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Learn and Grow

Training and Certification

Validate Your Skills:

• GitHub Copilot Certification — Become certified in AI-powered development
  • Structured learning resources
  • Practice questions
  • Start your certification journey

Learning Resources:

• GitHub Copilot Fundamentals — Understand the AI pair programmer
• GitHub Copilot Learning Pathways — Structured learning
• Copilot Documentation — Official docs
• GitHub Copilot Blogs — Latest updates and insights
• YouTube Playlist — 79 video tutorials

Community & Events

Get Involved:

• Events — Webinars, Conferences
• Recorded Content — Watch past webinars
• Community — Join discussions

Stay Updated:

• Subscribe to "copilot" posts via RSS
• Follow GitHub Changelog on Twitter

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More Information

GitHub Next (Research)

Our researchers are prototyping transformative tools for the future of software engineering:

• Active research areas
• Previous research areas

Quick Links

Common Questions Answered:

• What can GitHub Copilot do? - Real-world examples
• General Copilot FAQs - Product information
• Accessibility - Using Copilot accessibly

Support & Help:

• Status page - Service status
• GitHub Support - Contact support
• Report an issue - Create a discussion

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Get Started Today

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Get Started Today

1. Choose your plan — Free or Pro ($20/month)
2. Install your IDE extension — VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, or other IDEs
3. Sign in — Use your GitHub account
4. Start coding — Copilot will offer suggestions and answer questions

Not sure where to start?

• Try Copilot Free (no sign-up needed)
• Read What can Copilot do?
• Take the certification to deepen your skills

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Have a Question We Didn't Answer?

Please create a new discussion in the Copilot Conversations category. You'll get help from the community and GitHub staff.

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