Microsoft 365 Copilot User Guide

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI productivity assistant built by Microsoft for enterprise and education users. It not only leverages powerful large language models (for example, GPT-5), but is also deeply integrated into the apps you use every day—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

Its core advantage is that it connects to Microsoft Graph (the organizational graph): within your access permissions, it can securely read your school email, OneDrive files, Teams meeting records, and chats—so it can generate content based on your real work context.

Reminder: Do not upload confidential files or data to Copilot for processing.

1. Confirm your account status: Make sure you are signed in with the Microsoft 365 account provided by the school, and that the IT Service Desk has assigned you a Copilot license.
2. Software version requirements: Ensure your Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) are updated to the latest version, and that Windows has installed all updates.
3. How to open Copilot:
1. In Office desktop apps: Open Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. On the top ribbon, on the right side of the Home tab, click the Copilot button (with the colorful ring icon) to open the chat pane on the right.

⬆Example: Copilot entry point in PowerPoint

1. On the web: Visit microsoft365.com in your browser. You can also find Copilot or Microsoft 365 Chat entry points in Outlook on the web or in the Teams client.

⬆Copilot entry point in Outlook on the web

⬆Copilot entry point in Teams

1. You can also download and install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. The app supports both Windows and mobile devices.

1. 📝 Word: Draft faster and summarize instantly

Copilot helps you overcome blank-page anxiety and can instantly distill long documents into key points.

• Draft a document: In a blank document, click the Copilot icon and enter: “Based on [enter a file link or file name], draft a teaching plan for the second half of the year. Keep the tone professional and concise.”
• Summarize a long document: Open a report that is dozens of pages long. In the right pane, enter: “Summarize the key points of this document and extract all action items I need to follow up on.”
• Rewrite and polish: Select a paragraph, click the Copilot icon that appears, and choose Rewrite to make the tone more formal or more approachable.

2. 📊 Excel: Data analysis and charting

Note: To use Copilot in Excel, the workbook must be saved to OneDrive or SharePoint.

• Data insights: “Analyze this table. Tell me the main reasons for the change in students’ average GPA last semester, and generate a PivotTable.”
• Generate formulas: “Add a column to calculate the achievement rate between ‘Actual GPA’ and ‘Target GPA’, and use traffic-light colors to indicate whether the target is met.”
• Formatting: “Highlight all rows where the profit margin is below 10% in yellow.”

3. PowerPoint: Create polished slides in one step

Turn text-heavy reports into visual presentations in seconds.

• Create a deck from a document: Open a blank PowerPoint file. In the Copilot pane, enter: “Based on the file [select your Word document], create a 10-slide presentation.”
• Layout and visuals: “Convert the content on slide 3 into a three-column layout with icons, and add an image related to ‘teamwork’ to slide 5.”
• Condense content: “Condense this 50-slide deck into a summary document with 5 key points.”

4. 📧 Outlook: Email management and efficient communication

• Quick replies: When you receive a long email, click Reply with Copilot and provide a simple intent (for example: “Agree with the proposal and suggest meeting next Tuesday afternoon.”). Copilot will generate a polished draft for you.
• Email summaries: In long threads with dozens of replies, click Summary to quickly understand the background and different viewpoints.
• Tone guidance: After drafting an email, ask Copilot to check whether the tone sounds too blunt and to suggest improvements.

5. 💬 Teams: Meeting notes and information alignment

• Meeting recap (transcription required): Joined late or couldn’t attend? During or after the meeting, ask: “I missed the first 15 minutes—what did we discuss?” or “List the decisions from this meeting and each person’s next steps.”
• Chat recap: In a Teams chat, ask: “Summarize the key discussion points from yesterday afternoon’s conversation with Zhang San about Project A.”

6. 🌐 Microsoft 365 Chat (BizChat): A cross-app “super brain”

This is Copilot’s “global mode”. It can search across your email, chats, documents, and calendar.

• Typical use case: “Help me prepare for tomorrow morning’s meeting with students. Summarize our email exchanges from last week, and extract the latest progress from [a project document].”

When using Copilot in a work environment, providing clear context is especially important. Follow the CREATE principle:

1. C – Context: Provide background (for example: “We’re preparing for next week’s quarterly review…”)
2. R – Request: State the task clearly (for example: “Help me write a speech…”)
3. E – Expectations: Specify tone and audience (for example: “The audience is students or teachers; keep the tone confident and data-driven…”)
4. A – Assets (most important): Reference specific files (for example: “Please refer to /Academic Year 2025 Student Report.xlsx and /Student Survey.docx…”)
5. T – Type: Specify the desired output format (for example: “List the key points in 5 bullet points…”)

Use Copilot with confidence—Microsoft 365 Copilot is backed by enterprise-grade security and compliance:

1. Your data remains yours: The prompts you enter, internal school files, and Copilot’s generated responses are not used by Microsoft to train foundation models.
2. Strict permission boundaries: Copilot follows the existing Microsoft 365 permission model. It can only summarize and retrieve content you already have access to, and cannot access other colleagues’ private files without permission.

Q: Why can’t I find the Copilot button in Excel, or why is it grayed out?
A: Make sure your Excel file has AutoSave enabled (saved in OneDrive/SharePoint), and that the data you want to analyze has been converted into an Excel Table (Insert > Table).

Q: What should I do if Copilot can’t find the file I want to reference?
A: Ensure the file is stored in the cloud (OneDrive/SharePoint) and has been opened or modified recently. You can also type / (slash) in the prompt box—Copilot will show a list so you can manually select from recently used files.

Q: Can I use AI-generated content directly?
A: AI is a powerful copilot—but you are the pilot in command. Copilot’s output may contain inaccuracies or omissions. For any formal use or decision-making, please review and revise the content carefully.