AI WORLD HQStart Using Microsoft Copilot in Word, Excel, and Outlook
Discover how to draft documents, analyse data, and manage your inbox more efficiently with Microsoft's built-in AI assistant.
Imagine having a helpful, incredibly fast assistant sitting right inside your everyday office apps, ready to write drafts, crunch numbers, and clear out your inbox. This guide will show you how to start using Microsoft Copilot to save time and reduce office stress today. While Copilot can draft text, analyse data, or summarise emails, remember it's an AI assistant — you'll still need to review, edit, and send your work, as it cannot perform actions like sending emails or saving files on its own.
- You need an active Microsoft 365 Business account with a Copilot licence. This is a paid add-on that enables Copilot's features within your Microsoft 365 applications.
- Access to Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, either the desktop versions installed on your computer or through a web browser. Ensure you're logged into your Microsoft 365 account.
- A stable internet connection is essential, as Copilot relies on cloud-based AI to process your requests.
- Allow about 15-20 minutes to follow along with these steps across the different applications.
Start a draft in Word
Open Microsoft Word and begin a new, blank document. As the document loads, you'll typically see a small, colourful icon on the page that looks like a stylised ribbon or a simple 'AI' symbol. This is your Copilot button, and it's your gateway to interacting with the AI assistant. Click this button to open a chat box directly within your document. This chat box is where you'll type your instructions, known as prompts (which is simply the plain-language command you give to the AI assistant, just as if you were speaking to a colleague).
If it looks different: The Copilot icon might also appear in the 'Home' tab of the Word ribbon at the top of your screen, or as a small icon in the top-right corner of the window. Look for something that clearly says "Copilot" or has the colourful ribbon logo. If you don't see it, ensure your Copilot licence is active and Word is updated. You'll know it worked when: A side panel or a chat box appears, usually on the right or in the centre of your document, with a text field asking "Draft with Copilot" or "What would you like to do?".
"Write a three-paragraph project proposal for a new staff wellness initiative, including a suggested timeline and a bulleted list of benefits."
Generate and refine your Word draft
Once you've typed your prompt into the Copilot chat box, press the 'Enter' key on your keyboard or click the send button (often a paper aeroplane icon) within the chat box. Copilot will then process your request and begin generating text directly into your Word document, usually appearing on the page as it's written. After Copilot has finished generating the text, you'll see options within the chat box, such as 'Keep it' to accept the text, or 'Regenerate' to try again. You can also give further instructions to refine the draft. For instance, you might ask it to change the tone or expand on a specific section.
If it looks different: If Copilot takes a moment to respond, you might see a 'Generating draft...' message in the chat panel. If the generated text isn't quite right, don't worry – simply type a new, more specific instruction into the chat box to guide it further. You'll know it worked when: The generated text appears on your document page, and the Copilot chat box offers options like "Keep it", "Discard", or allows you to type more instructions to refine the output.
"Make the tone of the proposal more formal and add a section about potential budget considerations."
Prepare your data in Excel for analysis
Open a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel that contains data you want to analyse. For Copilot to understand your data properly, it needs to be organised into an official Table. Think of a Table as neatly labelled boxes for your data — it helps Excel (and Copilot) know exactly where your information starts and ends, and what each column represents. To convert your data, first highlight all the cells that contain your information (including any column headers). Then, look for the 'Home' tab in Excel's ribbon at the top of the screen. Within this tab, find and click the "Format as Table" button, and then choose any table style from the drop-down menu. Make sure to check the box that says "My table has headers" if your first row contains titles for each column.
If it looks different: If you can't find "Format as Table" in the 'Home' tab, you might also find a "Table" option under the 'Insert' tab in the ribbon. Alternatively, select your data and press Ctrl + T (Windows) or Cmd + T (Mac) as a shortcut.
You'll know it worked when: Your data visually transforms with banded rows, and header cells automatically get small filter arrows, indicating it's now a structured Table that Copilot can interpret.
Analyse your Excel data with Copilot
With your data now formatted as an Excel Table, it’s ready for Copilot. Look for the Copilot icon, usually found on the right-hand side of the Excel ribbon under the 'Home' tab or as a prominent button on the right edge of the window. Click this icon to open the Copilot chat panel. Once the chat panel is open, you can ask Copilot specific questions or give it instructions about your data. Copilot acts like a friendly data coach, making complex analysis straightforward by quickly processing numbers and providing insights, or even making visual changes to your spreadsheet (e.g., creating charts, highlighting cells).
If it looks different: The Copilot button might also be in the 'Data' tab or appear as a separate panel on the right side of the screen. If it doesn't appear, ensure your Excel version is up to date and your Copilot licence is active, then try restarting Excel. You'll know it worked when: The Copilot chat panel appears, often on the right side of your Excel window, ready for your input, and it might even greet you or offer initial suggestions based on your data.
"Show me the total sales for each region and highlight the top three performing products in green."
Summarise an email thread in Outlook
Returning to a massive chain of emails can be daunting. Luckily, Copilot can quickly summarise long email threads in Outlook, saving you from reading every single reply. To use this, first open the email thread you want to summarise by clicking on it in your inbox. Look near the top of the reading pane for a button that says Summary by Copilot, or a similar button featuring the distinct colourful Copilot icon. This feature is designed to give you the key takeaways without manual effort. Click this button, and Copilot will begin to process the entire conversation, acting like a diligent assistant sifting through all the replies to pull out the most important information.
If it looks different: The button might be labelled "Summarise" or just show the Copilot icon. It's usually located prominently at the top of the email's content area, either as a direct button or within a menu in the ribbon when an email is open. If not visible, ensure you're viewing an email thread, not a single message. You'll know it worked when: A neat list of bullet points appears at the top of the email thread, outlining what has been decided, who is responsible for what, and any open questions that still need answers.
Summary by Copilot
Draft quick email replies in Outlook
Instead of staring at a blank reply box trying to find the right words, you can let Copilot draft your response for you. Open an email, then click the standard 'Reply', 'Reply All', or 'Forward' button. Inside the email composition window that appears, look for the "Draft with Copilot" icon. This is often a small, colourful ribbon icon located in the menu bar at the top of the reply window, or it might appear directly above the text input area within the body of the email itself. Click this icon to open a small prompt box where you can tell Copilot what kind of reply you need. Copilot will then generate a polite, complete email based on your instructions and the context of the original message. You can often adjust the length and tone (from casual to formal) using any drop-down menus provided, before you send it.
If it looks different: The "Draft with Copilot" option might be found under a 'Copilot' tab in the ribbon of the new email window, or it could be a small button that appears directly above the text input area. Look for the distinct colourful icon. You'll know it worked when: Copilot generates a draft email response directly into the body of your reply window, ready for your review and any final edits.
"Reply to Sarah. Agree to the meeting on Tuesday at 10:00am, but ask if we can keep it to 30 minutes because of another commitment."
- Expecting perfect accuracy (hallucinations): Copilot, like all AI, can sometimes make mistakes or confidently present incorrect facts or numbers, a phenomenon often called hallucinations (where the AI makes things up).
- Fix: Always double-check important dates, figures, names, and critical information before sending or saving any work generated by Copilot. Treat its output as a helpful first draft, not a final version.
- Using loose Excel data: If your spreadsheet contains raw numbers without being formatted as a proper Table, Copilot won't be able to process it effectively and will likely ask you to convert it first, or it might struggle to understand your query.
- Fix: Take five seconds to highlight your data and click "Format as Table" (under the 'Home' tab) before trying to use Copilot in Excel. This gives Copilot the structured data it needs.
- Being too brief with prompts: If you type a vague instruction like "write a report," Copilot has to guess what you want, often leading to generic results that don't quite fit your needs.
- Fix: The more specific and detailed your prompt (e.g., target audience, length, tone, specific points to include), the better and more relevant your first draft will be. Tell it exactly what you're hoping for.
Open Microsoft Word, create a new document, and click the Copilot icon. In the chat box, type: "Write a short thank you note for a team member who helped me with a difficult project." See what it generates!
✦ Original step-by-step guide by AI World Co.'s AI editorial team. Written in plain language, reviewed for accuracy.
← Back to all stories