Microsoft 365 Copilot Tutorial for Beginners 2026

Summary

This tutorial introduces Microsoft Copilot, a powerful AI assistant integrated into Microsoft 365 apps, designed to help users work smarter. The video covers a five-level system, starting with the basics of Copilot's functionality, followed by tips for crafting effective prompts. It explores how Copilot enhances productivity within apps like Word, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint, and dives into more advanced features like agents and notebooks. With real-world examples and practical workflows, users will learn to leverage Copilot's AI to streamline tasks and improve collaboration.

Takeaways

• 😀 Copilot is an AI tool integrated into Microsoft 365, acting as a personal assistant to help users create faster, stay organized, and work smarter.
• 😀 To use Copilot, users need the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license, and it is accessed through the new Microsoft 365 homepage's chat area.
• 😀 In the web experience, Copilot can be used for open-ended tasks, such as brainstorming event ideas, while in the work experience, it can reference emails, files, and other work-related content.
• 😀 The key to effective Copilot prompts is crafting them with context, layout, expectations, attitude, and reference materials for clear and accurate outputs.
• 😀 Copilot can assist in apps like Word, Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive by summarizing documents, helping with email replies, drafting content, and generating insights from meetings.
• 😀 In Word, users can select text to have Copilot rewrite or generate summaries, and in Teams, Copilot can help generate pros and cons tables from meeting transcriptions.
• 😀 Microsoft Loop integrates with Copilot to generate content for plans, presentations, and more, with the ability to refine results by referencing specific documents.
• 😀 Copilot in PowerPoint can help users convert Word documents into presentations with just a few clicks, and it can compare documents in OneDrive to create summaries.
• 😀 Level 4 introduces advanced Copilot tools like search, agents, conversations, pages, and notebooks, which enhance productivity and organization.
• 😀 Agents are specialized AI assistants for tasks like research or analysis, and users can interact with them directly or mention them in the chat to guide workflows.
• 😀 Notebooks allow users to store and reference documentation for focused conversations with Copilot, helping organize specific tasks, such as managing puppy training sessions.

Q & A

What is Microsoft Copilot and what is its main purpose?

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered assistant integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem that helps users create content faster, stay organized, and work more efficiently by leveraging AI within familiar Microsoft 365 apps.

What license is required to use Microsoft Copilot in a work environment?

To use Microsoft Copilot in a work environment, you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license, which enables the Work toggle and access to organizational data.

What is the difference between the Web and Work experiences in Copilot Chat?

The Web experience is designed for open-ended tasks using general knowledge from the internet, while the Work experience allows Copilot to reference internal organizational data such as files, emails, meetings, and chats.

How can users narrow down what content Copilot references in the Work experience?

Users can click the plus icon to add specific work content, such as particular files, emails, meetings, or people, to refine the scope of Copilot’s responses.

What is a prompt, and why is it important when using Copilot?

A prompt is the natural language instruction you give Copilot. It is important because the quality of the output depends heavily on how clearly and effectively the prompt is written.

What is the CLEAR prompt formula introduced in the tutorial?

The CLEAR formula stands for Context, Layout, Expectations, Attitude, and References. It is a structured approach to crafting effective prompts that lead to better Copilot outputs.

What is the Microsoft Prompt Gallery and how can it help beginners?

The Microsoft Prompt Gallery is a curated collection of example prompts that users can browse, save, and reuse to quickly get started and learn effective ways to interact with Copilot.

How can Copilot be accessed within Microsoft Word documents?

Copilot can be accessed in Word by selecting the 'Draft with Copilot' icon within the document or by opening the Copilot chat from the top-right corner to ask questions or request feedback about the document.

What are some examples of how Copilot helps in Outlook?

In Outlook, Copilot can summarize long email threads, generate AI-based email summaries, and help draft replies or extract unresolved action items from conversations.

How does Copilot enhance productivity in Microsoft Teams meetings?

When meetings are recorded and transcribed, Copilot can analyze the content to generate insights such as summaries, pros-and-cons tables, and key discussion points.

What are Copilot agents and how are they used?

Copilot agents are specialized AI assistants, such as the Researcher or Analyst agents, designed to handle specific tasks like research or data analysis. They can be invoked directly or mentioned within chat using @mentions.

What is the purpose of Pages in Microsoft Copilot?

Pages allow users to turn Copilot-generated content into editable Microsoft Loop pages, making it easier to collaborate, refine, and reuse AI-generated outputs.

What are notebooks in Copilot and why are they useful?

Notebooks provide a focused AI environment where users can define instructions and attach reference documents, ensuring Copilot responses are grounded in specific context and tailored to a particular workflow or client.

What is the main focus of Level Five in the Copilot system?

Level Five focuses on applying Copilot in real-life workflows, demonstrating how all the features—especially notebooks—can be used practically to solve everyday business problems.