If your company pays for Microsoft 365 Copilot, it already sits inside the apps you use all day. Here are my five prompts, one per app, and where to click to use each one.
Summarize this email thread. Then list every decision that was made, and who owes what by when, as a table with three columns: owner, task, deadline. If a deadline was never set, write "not set".
Create presentation from file [pick your Word document]. Keep it to [10] slides for [who the audience is]. Put one main point on each slide and add speaker notes.
What did I miss? Was my name mentioned, and was anything assigned to me? List any decisions made so far.
Highlight in red any rows in the [Sales] column that look unusually high or low compared with the rest. Then calculate the average [margin] by [region] and show it in a small summary table.
Rewrite this email so it sounds direct, professional and calm. Keep every fact and every request. Remove anything that sounds annoyed or sarcastic, and keep it under [120] words.
The Teams, PowerPoint and Excel features above need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license from your company. Copilot works on what you give it, so check names, numbers and dates before you forward anything it writes.
Open the thread and click Summary by Copilot at the top for a quick read. For decisions and owners, open Copilot, type / to pick the email, and ask it to list every decision and who owes what by when, as a table. Picking emails with / needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Yes. Save the Word document to OneDrive, open a new blank presentation, select Copilot on the ribbon, type Create presentation from file and pick your document. Tell it how many slides and who the audience is. On a personal Copilot Pro plan it works from a single Word file; PDFs need a work license.
Yes, if your company has Microsoft 365 Copilot and transcription or recording is on. Select Copilot in the meeting controls and ask what you missed and whether anything was assigned to you. If you join more than five minutes late, Copilot sends a notification offering to catch you up. After the meeting, the Recap tab shows what you missed.
Save the workbook to OneDrive or SharePoint with AutoSave on, format your data as a table, then select the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner. Type what you want in plain words, like highlighting unusual values in red or averaging margin by region. Copilot shows the change and you may need to select Apply.
Yes, Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint needs a Copilot license. Every Outlook subscriber gets some Copilot features, and Copilot in Teams meetings needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license from your company. If you're not sure which one you have, ask whoever manages Microsoft 365 at work before you try the prompts.
Microsoft says a good Copilot prompt has four parts: goal, context, source and expectations. The bonus turns that into a fill-in template, plus three more prompts I'd use every week.
Goal: I want you to [what you want Copilot to produce]. Context: This is for [who it's for] because [why you need it]. [Anything Copilot should know about the situation.] Source: Use [type / and pick the file, email, meeting or person]. Expectations: Write it as [format, e.g. 5 bullets or a one-page memo] in a [tone] tone. Keep it under [length].
I'm meeting [/pick the person] on [day] about [topic]. Go through our recent emails, chats and shared files and give me: a short background, any open questions or promises still outstanding on either side, and three questions I should ask. Keep it to one screen.
Summarize messages from [/pick the person] over the past two weeks. Call out any deliverables, due dates and action items for me. Put anything waiting on my reply at the top.
Draft my weekly update for [manager or client] based on my emails, meetings and chats from the past five business days. Use three short sections: done this week, in progress, needs a decision. Plain language, no more than [200] words.
Prompts, step-by-step guides and checklists you can put to work today.