How to turn messy meeting notes into a clear action plan with Copilot in OneNote

Open the OneNote page with your messy notes

Open the OneNote app on your computer or go to OneNote on the web. Find the page that has your scribbled meeting notes and click it once to open it.

Look for the Copilot button near the top-right corner of the page (it looks like a sparkle or a small chat bubble). If you don’t see it, make sure you’re signed in with the same Microsoft 365 account that has Copilot access.

You’ll see the page open with your notes still in their original messy form. If the Copilot button is missing, look for a “More options” menu (three dots) and choose “Copilot” from the list.

You’ll know it worked when the Copilot panel slides in from the right side of the screen.

Ask Copilot to clean up the notes

In the Copilot panel, you’ll see a text box that says “Ask Copilot about this page…”. Click inside it and type:

Turn these messy notes into a clear summary with bullet points and a list of action items.

Press Enter or click the Send arrow.

The panel will show a spinning circle for a few seconds, then a clean summary appears below your original messy notes.

If the panel stays empty or shows an error, check your internet connection and make sure your Microsoft 365 licence includes Copilot.

You’ll know it worked when you see a neat paragraph that keeps the key points from your original scribbles.

Ask Copilot to list the next steps with owners and deadlines

Below the clean summary, you’ll see another text box that says “Ask a follow-up question…”. Click inside it and type:

List the next steps as a table with columns: Task, Owner, Deadline.

Press Enter or click the Send arrow.

Copilot will create a simple table right under the summary. Each row shows a task, the person responsible, and a suggested date.

If the table doesn’t appear, try rephrasing the request slightly, for example:

Show me the action items with who is responsible and when they should be done.

You’ll know it worked when you see a tidy table with at least two columns: Task and Owner, and a third column for Deadline.

Copy the table into your calendar or task app

Highlight the entire table Copilot created, then right-click and choose Copy (or press Ctrl+C on Windows, Cmd+C on Mac).

Open your calendar app (Outlook) or task app (Microsoft To Do, Trello, Asana). Create a new event or task list and paste (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V) the table into the description.

If the paste doesn’t keep the table format, paste as plain text and manually rebuild the table in your app.

You’ll know it worked when the tasks, owners, and deadlines appear in your calendar or task list exactly as you copied them.

Ask Copilot to draft a follow-up email

In the Copilot panel, type:

Draft a short follow-up email to the team with the action items table.

Copilot will create a short email draft in the panel, including the table and a polite closing.

If the draft is too long or too short, ask Copilot to adjust it:

Make it shorter and more direct.

You’ll know it worked when you see a ready-to-send email with the table embedded and a subject line like “Team follow-ups from 5 June”.

Send or save the email

Highlight the entire email draft, then right-click and choose Copy.

Open Outlook or your email app, start a new message, paste the draft into the body, add any missing recipients, and send it.

If you prefer to save it as a draft, paste into Outlook’s draft folder instead of sending.

You’ll know it worked when the email is in your Sent Items folder (or in your Drafts folder if you chose to save).