CoPilot
100 COPILOT TIPS
1. PRODUCTIVITY
Teams, Outlook, Word & PowerPoint tips to capture insights, draft faster, and stay organized. 1. Team Meetings — Summarize — "Summarize key points and outcomes from this meeting" Capture key points fast. 2. Team Meetings — Action Items — "List action items with owners + due dates (if mentioned)" Extract action items with owners. 3. Team Meetings — Decisions — "What decisions were made? What's still open?" Pull decisions made. 4. Teams Meetings — Recap Tab — If transcription/recording is turned on during the meeting, recap content is available for Copilot in the Recap tab. 5. Teams Recap — Use Recap to find notes, tasks, and mentions if you missed the meeting. 6. Teams Chat — Catch Up — "Catch me up on what I missed" Catch up on long threads; get main points, action items, or decisions. 7. Teams Chat — Open Questions — "What questions are unresolved, and who is supposed to answer them?" Identify open questions. 8. Teams Compose — "Make this clearer and more formal" Use Copilot to rewrite/edit and adjust tone/length. 9. Teams Files — In Teams chats, Copilot can create a short summary of a shared Word file. 10. Outlook — Thread Summary — Select Summary at the top of the email thread to look for key points and create a summary for you. 11. Outlook — Attachments — If an email has attachments (PDF/PowerPoint/Word), you can select "Summarize a file". 12. Outlook — Coaching — Use "Coaching by Copilot" to improve tone, clarity, and reader sentiment. 13. Outlook — Draft Like You — Make drafts sound like you: go to Settings → Draft instructions → Save. 14. Outlook — Priority — You can assign priority to emails as they arrive; filter to show high priority. 15. Outlook Voice — "Voice catch-up" lets you play back summaries and even flip/pin/mark read/archive/delete and draft replies. 16. Outlook Chat — You can chat with Copilot in Outlook about org data, even from a file you're viewing. 17. Word — Structure — "Format this document with clear headings and logical structure" Improve readability and flow. 18. Word — Summarize — "Summarize this document into 10 bullets + next steps" Summarizing a long document. 19. Word — Citations — Ask questions about the doc and it will show references/citations to where it pulled info. 20. PowerPoint — Summarize — Ask "Summarize this presentation" — then show key slides and action items. 21. PowerPoint — From Scratch — "Quickly create a presentation" option to draft a deck from scratch. 22. PowerPoint — From File — "Create a presentation about X" Create a deck from an existing file. 23. PowerPoint — Add Slide — "Add a slide about [details]" works with a quick description; more detail usually helps. 24. PowerPoint — Rewrite — Rewrite text with Copilot to refine text and regenerate with new instructions. 25. PowerPoint — Rehearse — Rehearse with Coach to get feedback on how to improve and see a summary of your rehearsal.
2. PROMPTING
Best practices for models, modes, frameworks, and structured prompting. 26. Use Latest Model — Make sure to use the latest model for better output (try GPT-5 / Quick Response | Think Deeper). 27. Choose Web for Public Info — "[Web] Summarize the latest public info on X and include citations" 28. Choose Work for Internal Info — "[Work] What do our emails/files say about X?" Summarize and cite work sources. 29. Use Quick Response Mode — Select Quick response for lightweight responses and quick tasks. 30. Use Deep-Thinking Mode — Select deep reasoning mode for later reasoning model for heavy tasks. 31. Use Agents (related to task) — Use Researcher for research, Analyst for analysis (discover more in AI Agents tab). 32. Protect Sensitive Data — Never paste client names or salaries unless you're on an enterprise workspace, or Default Work. 33. CXI = EIF Framework — (Context + Specific + Instruction + Format + Identity) = consistent output. 34. Chunking — Chunk Inputs (split, process, recombine). 35. Few-Shot Prompting — Provide 2–3 specific examples of the input & desired output format. 36. Reverse Prompting — Paste a report or email and ask: "What prompt would generate this response?" 37. Role-Based Prompting — "Act as a CFO and review this P&L for risks and opportunities" 38. Goal-Context-Expectations — "Goal: … Context: … Expectations: format/tone/length — Source: use this file/email" 39. Identify Audience — "Write this for executives / a client / internal team, assume they know/don't know …" 40. Specify Success Criteria — "A good answer must include: 3 options, pros/cons, cost/risk, and a clear recommendation" 41. Constrain Scope on Purpose — "Use only the attached doc / selected files; if it isn't in the sources, say 'Not Found.'" 42. Force the Output Format — "Return as a table with columns: Finding / Evidence / Impact / Next step" 43. Ask Clarifying Questions — "Before answering, ask me 3 clarifying questions that would improve the output" 44. Use Context ID to Specify — "Using [chat ID/meeting/person], summarize decisions + next steps" 45. Outline First, then Draft — "Propose an outline first. WAIT. Then draft section-by-section" 46. Separate Facts vs Suggestions — "Split your answer into (A) supported facts from sources and (B) recommendations/ideas" 47. Compare with Decision Lens — "Compare Option A vs B in a table: cost, risk, effort, timeline, dependencies. Then recommend" 48. Bookmark Your Prompt — Hover over the prompt & click the bookmark to save your prompt. 49. View Prompts in Library — You can view all the prompts you saved in the Copilot Prompt Gallery. 50. Share Prompt to the Team — Open Prompt Gallery → your prompts → hover → share to team.
3. DATA
Excel, Python in Excel, Power BI, and data-handling techniques. 51. Copilot Chat — Summarize Report — "Summarize this (uploaded file): Top 5 drivers, anomalies, and what changed vs last period" 52. Copilot Chat — Convert PDF to CSV — "Extract all tables in (uploaded file) and format as CSV I can paste into Excel" 53. Excel — Format CSV to Excel — "Format CSV (uploaded file) as Excel formulas + paste formula in empty Excel cell" 54. Excel — Start with a Table — Copilot works best when your data is formatted as an Excel Table or supported range. 55. Excel — Sanity Check before Pivot — "Add a Totals row and checks: row count, sum of Amount, duplicates, missing dates" 56. Excel — Import Data from Web + Work — Copilot can pull from web, OneDrive/SharePoint files, and org info (if enabled). 57. Excel — Import from Another Workbook — "Import the Transactions table from 'workbook' and create a refreshable connection" 58. Excel — Insights on Numeric Data — "Analyze X vs Y by cost center, trends, top variances, and outliers" 59. Excel — Insights on Text Columns — "Review the customer feedback on this sheet and identify major themes" 60. Excel — Create a Pivot Table — "Create a Pivot Table: Rows=X, Columns=Y, Values=Z (More detail = better result)" 61. Excel — Ask Pivot Structure — "For Sales by X by Y, tell me what goes in Rows/Columns/Values/filters; create it" 62. Excel — Create Charts — "Create a line chart of Y over X with labels + gridlines, add to a new sheet" 63. Excel — Highlight / Sort / Filter — "Highlight invoices >100,000, filter Status=Overdue, sort Days Past Due desc" 64. Excel — Clean Up Inconsistent Data — "Fix inconsistencies in spacing, capitalization, number formatting, and text formatting" 65. Excel — Create Lookups Across Sheets — "Create a column that looks up X from the mapping sheet based on Y" 66. Excel — Generate Formula — "Add a column that calculates X / Y + suggest formula columns and explain them" 67. Excel — Explain Formula — Select cell → Copilot sparkle → "Explain this formula". 68. Excel — Use COPILOT() — Using =COPILOT(prompt, range) for summarizing/classifying/generating sample data. 69. Python in Excel — Build DataFrames — "Using Python, turn this table into a pandas DataFrame and return summary by X and Y" 70. Python in Excel — Pandas Range — "Write Python that uses xl() to read this table, clean it, and return clean DataFrame" 71. Python in Excel — Monte Carlo — "Run a Monte Carlo simulation (instructions) + run in Microsoft Cloud, return output" 72. Python in Excel — Reference — "Using this table, do a groupby by X, and return a clean summary table" 73. Power BI — Summarize a Report — Generate summaries/insights grounded in the report data. 74. Power BI — Create a Narrative Visual — Visualizations → Narrative → Choose narrative type (Copilot) → Create narrative. 75. Power BI — Ask Questions with Filters — You can ask questions that respect existing filters/slicers on the report page.
4. ADVANCED
Researcher, Analyst, Agent Mode, Power Automate, Workflows & App Builder. 76. Researcher — Ask for a Sourced Report — Researcher is designed for complex, multi-step research using web + work content. 77. Researcher — Outline-First Workflow — "Propose the report outline → questions to answer first, wait approval, then write the report" 78. Researcher — Web vs Work — "Separate outputs into (A) web evidence and (B) work evidence, cite sources in each section" 79. Researcher — Prep for Meetings — "Help me prepare for my meetings next week: summarize purpose, recent emails/chats, files" 80. Researcher — Prep Checklist — "For my next meeting, propose a preparation checklist based on my calendar, emails, and files" 81. Analyst — Ask for a Report Spec First — "Propose the analysis plan + final report outline first (sections + tables), then execute" 82. Analyst — Reconcile Conflicting Numbers — "Reconcile differences across sources: list mismatches, likely causes, and what to verify" 83. Analyst — Multi-File Consolidation — "Combine these files (instructions)" — attach multiple files and ask Analyst to consolidate. 84. Analyst — Force Assumptions + Checks — "List assumptions and build a checks section (tie-outs, missing values, duplicates)" 85. Analyst — Outliers + Verification — "Flag outliers, propose 3 hypotheses per outlier, and list the exact data checks to confirm" 86. Analyst — Produce Decision-Ready Output — "Deliver: exec summary, top drivers, risks, recommended actions, and a data appendix" 87. Excel Agent Mode — Multi-Step Builds — Excel Agent Mode is intended for complex, multi-step builds vs one-off tasks. 88. Excel Agent Mode — Merge + Build Pivots — "Merge these sheets into a single Table, then build PivotTables for spend by cost center/month" 89. Excel Agent Mode — Scenario Model — "Create a scenario model with assumptions, best/worst cases, and a summary table" 90. Excel — Refreshable Imports via Chat — "Import the Transactions table from Budget.xlsx into this workbook and refresh" 91. Excel — Multi-Source Data Hub — "Bring in sales from Excel file and the latest FX rates from the web into this workbook" 92. Excel — Ask for Python Analytics — "Using Python, clean table Y, run a correlation analysis between Y and Z on a new sheet" 93. Power Automate — Create a Cloud Flow — Copilot can create a cloud flow from your scenario and iterate via chat. 94. Power Automate — Refine Existing Flow — Copilot supports change requests (update/replace actions) on existing flows. 95. Power Automate — Expressions — Copilot can create or edit expressions from natural language. 96. Workflows — Use Agent Flows — In Copilot Studio, use agent flows to automate repeatable workflows with triggers + actions. 97. Workflows — Trigger Strategy — "Create workflow that runs on upload + weekly scheduled summary + manual 're-run' trigger" 98. App Builder — Build App Through Chat — Prototype ideas, build working apps, share to your team with a simple link. 99. App Builder — Turn Data into Dashboard — "Build a dashboard app for X and Y using these Excel files (upload files)" 100. Copilot Studio — Build an Agent — Create productivity-focused agents with custom instructions focused on different tasks.
