Microsoft 365 Copilot adds AI assistance to the apps your team uses every day. Used well, it saves hours on routine work. Here are 10 practical ways to use it, plus the groundwork that makes it safe. Features and licensing change often, so check what is currently available for your plan.
1. Copilot Chat for everyday questions
Copilot Chat is a conversational assistant for research, brainstorming, rewriting and quick answers. Users with a work account get a secure chat experience, and paid Copilot licences add answers grounded in your own work data.
2. Catch up on Teams meetings
Copilot can summarise a meeting, list action items and answer questions such as “what did we decide about the budget?”, so you can catch up in minutes instead of watching a recording.
3. Draft and summarise email in Outlook
Ask Copilot to draft a reply, adjust the tone or condense a long thread into the key points. It is especially useful after time away.
4. Write first drafts in Word
Describe what you need and Copilot can create a first draft, rewrite a section, shorten it or change the style. You stay in control of the final wording.
5. Analyse data in Excel
Copilot can suggest formulas, highlight trends, build charts and explain what a dataset is telling you, which helps people who are not spreadsheet experts.
6. Build presentations in PowerPoint
Turn a document or a few prompts into a structured slide deck, then refine the layout, notes and wording.
7. Search across your work
Instead of hunting through folders and inboxes, ask a question in plain language and Copilot can find relevant files, emails, chats and meetings that you already have access to.
8. Use agents for repeatable tasks
Agents are focused assistants built for specific jobs, such as researching a topic or analysing data, and they can take multi-step actions to get a task done.
9. Build custom agents with Copilot Studio
Businesses can create their own agents for role-specific work, for example an internal helper that answers HR or IT questions using approved company documents.
10. Stay in control with security and insights
Copilot works within Microsoft 365’s security and compliance model. It only surfaces content a person already has permission to see, and Microsoft states that your prompts and responses are not used to train its foundation models. Administrators also get usage insights to see where Copilot is helping.
Before you switch it on
- Fix permissions first. Because Copilot can find anything a user can access, over-shared files and open SharePoint sites will be exposed more easily. Tidy them up.
- Label sensitive data. Sensitivity labels and data loss prevention add a safety net.
- Start with a pilot. Choose a group with clear use cases and measure the results.
- Train your team. Good prompts get better results.
Key takeaways
- Microsoft 365 Copilot adds AI assistance to the apps your team already uses, including Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Copilot Chat gives users with a work account a secure chat experience, and paid Copilot licences add answers grounded in your own work data.
- Features and licensing change often, so check what is available for your plan.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: frequently asked questions
What can Microsoft 365 Copilot do?
It can summarise Teams meetings and list action items, draft and condense email in Outlook, write first drafts in Word, suggest formulas and trends in Excel, and turn documents into slide decks in PowerPoint.
Do we need a paid licence to use Copilot Chat?
Users with a work account get a secure Copilot Chat experience. Paid Copilot licences add answers grounded in your own work data. Features and licensing change often, so check what is currently available for your plan.
How should we start with Copilot?
Start with a pilot group that has clear use cases and measure the results, and train your team, because good prompts get better results.
Related reading: Microsoft 365 Copilot consulting. For Microsoft or government guidance, see Microsoft 365 Copilot overview.
Total Solutions IT helps businesses prepare for and adopt Copilot safely. Call 02 6061 4222 to talk it through.
