Prompting in Microsoft Copilot

Copilot inside Microsoft 365 is a little different from a standalone chatbot: it can see the document, spreadsheet, or meeting you’re working in. That changes how you should ask. The general prompting basics still apply — these are the Copilot-specific additions.

Point it at the right content

Copilot works best when it knows which file or thread you mean. In Word it acts on the open document; in Teams you can ask it to summarise a specific meeting or chat. Reference files explicitly with / to pull the right one into context rather than hoping it guesses.

In Word: draft, then shape

Ask for a first draft from a short brief — “draft a one-page project update from these bullet points” — then refine in place: “make the tone warmer”, “cut it to half a page”, “add a risks section”. You’re editing, not starting from blank.

In Excel: describe the outcome, check the formula

Copilot can suggest formulas and summarise data, but it can misread messy columns. Ask for what you want in words (“flag rows where spend is over budget”), then read the formula it produces before trusting the result on real numbers.

In Teams and Outlook: summarise and catch up

The strongest everyday use is catching up: “summarise what I missed in this thread”, “list the decisions and who owns each”. Quick to do, easy to verify against the source right there.

Copilot’s advantage is context. Its risk is that the context is wrong — so check the file it acted on, not just the answer.

Mind the data boundary

Because Copilot reads your real work files, it’s worth knowing where that data goes before you point it at anything sensitive.