Copilot Chat Is NOW in Word, Excel & PowerPoint — NO Premium Needed

Summary

This video introduces Microsoft Copilot Chat, highlighting seven powerful features in 365 apps like Word, Outlook, and Excel. Users can gain insights from documents, reference other files for context, brainstorm ideas, and even generate and analyze images. Copilot helps simplify tasks by using natural language to interact with documents, generate summaries, and create formulas. Whether you're drafting emails in Outlook or analyzing data in Excel, Copilot streamlines workflows with personalized suggestions. A great tool for boosting productivity, Copilot is accessible to all users, regardless of the add-on license.

Takeaways

• 💡 Copilot Chat is now available across Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote — no additional Copilot add-on license is required.
• 🔒 All Copilot chats include enterprise data protection, ensuring user conversations and data are secure and compliant with privacy standards.
• ⚙️ Users with a Copilot add-on license benefit from deeper integration — Copilot can access work data such as Teams chats, emails, and files for richer insights.
• 📄 Copilot Chat can summarize and extract key insights from documents using natural language, saving time from manually reading or searching through files.
• 📁 You can reference and analyze multiple documents at once without leaving your current file by using the chat’s ‘+’ icon or the forward-slash (/) shortcut.
• 🌐 Copilot can answer questions or brainstorm ideas using its general knowledge or web content, acting as a built-in research and ideation partner.
• 🧠 Crafting effective prompts (prompt engineering) leads to better Copilot results — the quality of your input directly affects the output (‘garbage in, garbage out’).
• 🎨 Copilot can generate and analyze images directly within 365 apps — useful for creating visuals or extracting and tabulating text from images.
• 📧 In Outlook, Copilot helps summarize long emails, draft replies, and adjust tone or style (e.g., casual, formal, persuasive) to match your communication style.
• 📊 In Excel, Copilot can analyze, summarize, and generate insights from your data — ensuring clean tables with headers improves accuracy and results.
• 🚀 Overall, Copilot Chat enhances productivity across Microsoft 365 by combining AI-driven insights, automation, and creative assistance — all accessible within familiar apps.

Q & A

What is Copilot Chat and where is it now available?

Copilot Chat is an AI-powered assistant integrated within Microsoft 365 apps, and it is now available in apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote for all users, even without a Copilot add-on license.

Is a Copilot add-on license required to use Copilot Chat?

No, a Copilot add-on license is not required to use Copilot Chat. However, users with the add-on license have the added benefit of Copilot being grounded in their work data, meaning it can draw insights from emails, Teams messages, meetings, and other organizational data.

How can users access Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 apps?

Users can open any Microsoft 365 app like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote and then navigate to the top-right corner to click on 'Copilot.' This opens the chat pane, allowing users to start interacting with Copilot.

What does the 'Enterprise Data Protection' indicator mean in Copilot Chat?

The 'Enterprise Data Protection' label indicates that the chat is covered by enterprise-level data protection policies. This means user conversations are secured, and privacy standards are applied to ensure data safety within the organization.

How can Copilot help users gain insights from documents?

Copilot can analyze a document and provide summaries, identify key takeaways, or answer specific questions about the content without users needing to read the entire file. It functions like a smart, context-aware search tool that interprets user prompts in natural language.

What are some ways to reference other documents within Copilot Chat?

Users can reference other files by clicking the plus icon in the chat pane to add content from their computer, OneDrive, or SharePoint. Alternatively, they can use the forward slash (/) command to quickly pull up and attach recently used or relevant files.

How does Copilot handle general knowledge or web-based queries?

Copilot can answer general knowledge questions, define terms, identify trends, or assist in brainstorming using information from the web. When it provides web-based insights, it also includes references or sources for transparency and verification.

What is meant by 'garbage in equals garbage out' when prompting Copilot?

This phrase means that the quality of Copilot’s responses depends on the clarity and quality of the user’s prompts. Well-structured and specific prompts yield more accurate and useful results, while vague prompts produce less relevant answers.

What image-related features are available in Copilot Chat?

Copilot Chat allows users to generate images through natural language prompts and can also analyze images by extracting text, comparing visuals, or creating captions. Users without the add-on license can still generate images but may face daily limits.

How does Copilot enhance productivity in Outlook?

In Outlook, Copilot can summarize long emails, draft replies, and help compose messages with customizable tone and style. Users can specify tones such as formal, casual, or persuasive to ensure replies align with their communication style.

How can users get better results when using Copilot in Excel?

For best results, users should ensure their data is in table format with clear headers and clean entries. This helps Copilot accurately understand the data and deliver detailed summaries, analyses, and insights more effectively.

What are the key takeaways from the seven Copilot Chat tips discussed in the video?

The key takeaways include learning to extract document insights, reference files, use general knowledge, craft effective prompts, generate and analyze images, and apply Copilot’s advanced features in Outlook and Excel to boost productivity across Microsoft 365 apps.