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Use Copilot for your work

Think of Copilot as a new team member who works alongside you in Microsoft 365. It helps with summaries, drafts, meeting notes, and quick research. You can ask it to review documents, write emails, pull key points from long threads, or generate content based on your work files. This page will show you how to:

Assign roles

Direct Copilot with focused personas

Choose models

Choose Work or Web data sources

Connect tools

Access Copilot in your apps

Refine outputs

Use follow-ups to improve results
You don’t need to learn everything today. Aim for one win: summarise, draft, or action list.

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Direct Copilot with roles

Give Copilot a clear role to focus its response. Pick one of these three starting points based on your task.
The secret sauce: tell Copilot the hat, the output format, and the length. That’s most of “prompting” done.

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Learning about Copilot context

In Copilot, if you want a more precise answer, the answer usually lies in building “context” for Copilot. It usually boils down to four things:
  • Work/Web: are you using Microsoft 365 data, or the internet?
  • App context: are you in Word, Teams, Outlook, or Excel?
  • References: did you point Copilot to the right doc/thread/section?
  • Permissions: do you actually have access to that content?

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Work Tab vs Web Tab

This toggle is located at the top of the chat interface. Copilot Guide Work Tab

Work Tab

Your inside-the-business mode.It can use your Microsoft 365 world (files, email, calendar, Teams chats — apps you’re allowed to access).It’s the pick for anything tied to your organisation or your day-to-day work.

Web Tab

Internet mode.It’s great for external research, general explanations, and “what does this mean?” questions.It can’t magically see your internal files or chats, so anything company-specific will feel vague unless you switch back to Work or attach the info.

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Copilot inside Microsoft applications

Copilot also shows up inside apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.
Think of it like this:
  • In-app Copilot is best when you’re already working in a specific file (rewrite, summarise, improve). The button is usually found on the top right-hand corner of the ribbon.
  • Main Copilot chat is best when you want a broader back-and-forth or multi-step thinking.

Word / PowerPoint

The open file is the context. Copilot is brilliant for drafts, rewrites, and structure when the doc is already there.

Outlook

The email thread is the context. Great for drafting replies, summarising threads, and pulling out actions.

Teams

The chat or meeting is the context (when available). Perfect for recaps, decisions, and “what did we agree on?”

Excel

The sheet (and especially tables) is the context. Best for explaining data, summarising patterns, and helping you decide what to do next.
Integrate Copilot In Apps Pn

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A quick word on personalisation

Some versions of Copilot let you set preferences (like tone, format, and how detailed you want answers).
This is handy because it stops you repeating the same instructions every time. You can access Copilot personalisation by clicking on the triple dot icon on the top right hand corner of the interface → Select “Settings” → “Personalisation”

Custom Instructions

Copilot Guide Custom InstructionsYou can customise Copilot’s response styles. This includes, but not limited to information like: your role, job title, current focus areas, interests, and goals.Copilot can respond and interact with you in a certain way, for example, in shorter responses, bullet points, a friendly tone, and in concise manner.

Copilot Memory

Copilot Guide MemoryYou can directly ask Copilot to remember a certain message or conversation. The information will be stored and referenced in the future.To view, manage, or delete Copilot’s memory, “Manage memories” option, deleting items you no longer want stored. Copilot may also automatically update its memory based on your interactions, which you can curate as needed.

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Quick checkpoint (you’re done when…)

Assign roles

You can explain role assignment in one sentence

Switch modes

You know the difference between Work and Web modes

Use side panel

You opened Copilot in at least one Microsoft 365 app

Refine outputs

You used follow-ups to improve Copilot’s output

Ready to practice?

Complete the mini challenges of the module