Copilot User Guide

Basic & Premium — Tips, Guides & Free Training

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How to use this guide

This guide is split into three tabs: Copilot Basic for browser-based use, Copilot Premium for users with a Microsoft 365 license connected to their work account, and Training & Resources with free, vetted videos and courses.

Both license tabs cover core skills — prompting, drafting, summarizing, and meeting support — so you can see what each license can (and cannot) do.

Prompt patterns Drafting & editing Summaries Meetings & notes App integrations Free training
⚠ Reminder: Copilot is a helper, not an autopilot. Always review the output, correct any issues, and make sure it matches your role, your organization's policies, and your audience before you share it.

What Copilot Premium adds

Copilot for Microsoft 365 connects Copilot directly to your work account — email, calendar, files, chats, and meetings — while honoring your existing permissions. It's embedded inside the apps you already use every day.

Copilot inside your Microsoft 365 apps — top 5 helpers per app

SP
SharePoint
  • Summarize site pages and content instantly
  • Draft news posts and announcements
  • Answer questions about content stored on a site
  • Generate page layouts and descriptions
  • Surface relevant files and documents on demand
Te
Teams
  • Summarize missed meetings with decisions and action items
  • Answer "what was decided?" during or after a call
  • Draft meeting agendas from a chat thread
  • Recap long chat threads in seconds
  • Suggest follow-up tasks after a meeting
Ou
Outlook
  • Draft replies with the right tone in one click
  • Summarize long email threads into key points
  • Suggest follow-up actions from an email chain
  • Rewrite messages to be clearer or more concise
  • Prepare for a meeting using related email context
W
Word
  • Draft full sections from a short outline
  • Rewrite for clarity, tone, or reading level
  • Summarize long documents into key takeaways
  • Generate a first draft from a prompt or template
  • Ask questions about the document's content
Ex
Excel
  • Explain trends and patterns in natural language
  • Suggest and build formulas from a description
  • Create charts and highlight key data automatically
  • Summarize a dataset or table in plain English
  • Identify outliers or anomalies in your data
PP
PowerPoint
  • Create a full draft deck from a Word doc or outline
  • Generate speaker notes for any slide
  • Rewrite slide text for clarity or executive audiences
  • Suggest slide layouts and design improvements
  • Summarize a long presentation into key slides
ON
OneNote
  • Summarize notebook sections into key points
  • Generate a to-do list from meeting notes
  • Draft structured outlines for a new page
  • Rewrite or expand rough notes
  • Answer questions based on your notebook content
Fo
Forms
  • Generate a complete form or survey from a prompt
  • Suggest relevant questions for a given topic
  • Rewrite questions for clarity or plain language
  • Summarize form response data in plain English
  • Draft branching logic recommendations
Pl
Planner
  • Break a project goal into tasks and subtasks
  • Draft task descriptions from a short summary
  • Identify missing tasks in an existing plan
  • Suggest task owners and due date sequences
  • Summarize plan status across buckets
OD
OneDrive
  • Summarize document content without opening the file
  • Answer questions about files stored in your drive
  • Compare two document versions for key changes
  • Draft file descriptions for sharing and metadata
  • Surface relevant documents based on your current task
Lo
Loop
  • Generate structured page content from a prompt
  • Summarize and rewrite collaborative workspace content
  • Draft agendas, briefs, and project plans in a Loop page
  • Suggest follow-up actions from brainstorm content
  • Catch up on changes made while you were away
WB
Whiteboard
  • Generate ideas and suggestions directly on the board
  • Organize sticky notes into categorized groups
  • Summarize a whiteboard session into action items
  • Suggest creative directions based on a prompt
  • Draft a recap of the brainstorm for sharing

Limits and service behavior

Premium licenses are designed for work scenarios and include guardrails that keep content within your permissions.

  • Conversation scope Copilot focuses on the document, email, or meeting you are working in and may reset when you switch context.
  • Rate limits Very long or complex prompts may time out or ask you to simplify the request.
  • Service pauses During high demand you may see messages asking you to retry or return later.

Shorten your prompts, focus on a smaller section, or start a fresh request to work around most limits.

Good habits for Premium users

  • Limit each request to one clear goal — draft, summarize, rewrite, or explain.
  • Use Copilot to speed up your work, not to bypass existing review and approval steps.
  • Be mindful of which documents and chats you include — especially when external parties are involved.
  • Compare Copilot's meeting summaries against your own notes for accuracy.
  • Use track changes in Word so you can see exactly what Copilot changed.

What Copilot Basic is for

Copilot Basic (free or individual plans) runs in the browser and is best for quick questions, drafting, rewriting, and summarizing public or non-sensitive content. It does not have direct access to your work email, calendar, meetings, or files.

Core capabilities

AreaWhat you can do
Prompting Ask questions, brainstorm ideas, and follow up with clarifying questions in the same chat.
Drafting Generate first drafts of emails, outlines, messages, or lists based on your instructions.
Summarizing Summarize pasted text, web pages, or non-sensitive documents into shorter formats.
Reasoning Compare options, list pros and cons, and explain concepts in simpler language.
Web search Find and synthesize up-to-date information from the web as part of your response.

Limits and cooldowns

Basic accounts have limits on messages per conversation and may pause during high demand. When you hit a limit, start a new chat, narrow your request, or try again after a short cooldown.

  • Conversations can time out — you may see "This conversation has reached its limit."
  • Occasional "try again later" messages during peak usage periods.
  • No memory between sessions — each new chat starts fresh with no prior context.

Prompting basics (Basic)

A good prompt tells Copilot who you are, what you need, and what kind of answer you want. Use this pattern:

🎯
Role
Describe who you are or who you're writing for.
✏️
Goal
Say what you need: summarize, draft, rewrite, or explain.
👥
Audience
Explain who will read it — staff, leaders, public, etc.
📋
Format
Ask for bullets, a paragraph, a table, or numbered steps.

Prompt template

"You are a writing assistant. Summarize the text below for [audience] in [number] bullet points and one short paragraph. Use clear, neutral language and do not add new facts."

Everyday examples

  • "Draft a short email that thanks the sender, confirms receipt of their request, and lists three next steps."
  • "Rewrite this paragraph in plain language suitable for the general public."
  • "List the key risks and open questions based on this description."
  • "Summarize these meeting notes into 5 bullet points with action items."

Good habits for Basic users

  • Use non-sensitive content when practicing prompts.
  • Copy output into your own document and edit before sharing.
  • Track which prompts gave you the best results so you can reuse them.
🎓 Copilot Basic — Free Training

Free resources from Microsoft and reputable platforms to get started with Copilot in the browser. No license required.

Microsoft — YouTube 📹 Video · 18 min · Beginner Microsoft 365 Copilot Tutorial – Beginner's Guide (2025) End-to-end walkthrough of the all-new Copilot app. Covers Copilot Chat, AI creation, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Free for all M365 users. Watch on YouTube → YouTube — 2025 📹 Video · Full Course · Beginner Microsoft Copilot Full Course for Beginners (2025) Comprehensive beginner course covering Copilot fundamentals, prompting techniques, and everyday use cases. Great starting point for new users. Watch on YouTube → LinkedIn Learning 🎓 Course · 40 min · Beginner Learning Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (Free Version) Master prompt writing, understand license types, and apply Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Practical and hands-on. View on LinkedIn Learning → Microsoft ⚡ Interactive Practice Try Copilot in the Browser The best way to learn is by doing. Open Copilot directly and try sample prompts, drafting, and summarizing right away — no install needed. Open Copilot →
⭐ Copilot Premium — Free Training

Official Microsoft training and top-rated courses focused on Copilot inside Microsoft 365 apps — Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.

Microsoft Learn — Official 🎓 Learning Path · Free · Self-paced Get Started with Microsoft 365 Copilot Microsoft's official free learning path. Covers Copilot in all M365 apps with hands-on exercises, knowledge checks, and a completion badge. Start on Microsoft Learn → Microsoft Learn — Official 🎓 Module · Free · ~45 min Introduction to Microsoft 365 Copilot Official introduction module. Learn what Copilot is, how it integrates with M365, and how to use it responsibly. Includes a completion certificate. Start on Microsoft Learn → Microsoft Support 📹 Video Library · Free Microsoft 365 Copilot Video Tutorials Official short video tutorials for each Microsoft 365 app. Covers Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more — each video under 5 minutes. Watch the tutorials → LinkedIn Learning 🎓 Learning Path · 8 courses Get Started with Microsoft Copilot (Learning Path) 8-course path covering Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and Outlook. Includes AI-driven data analysis, presentations, and collaboration. View on LinkedIn Learning → Coursera · Microsoft 🎓 Course · Free to audit Introduction to Microsoft 365 Copilot Microsoft-authored course on Coursera. Free to audit. Covers core capabilities, responsible AI use, and app-specific features with quizzes. View on Coursera → Microsoft 📖 Guides + Demos Copilot for Work — Scenarios & Guides Real-world scenario guides for how to use Copilot in work tasks. Covers common job roles and workflows with step-by-step examples. Explore scenarios →

This guide is for training and orientation only. Features, limits, and available apps may change as Microsoft updates Copilot and Microsoft 365 services. Always follow your organization's data security and acceptable use policies.