Getting Started (1 minute for chat, 15 minutes for Office)
Go to copilot.microsoft.com and sign in with a Microsoft account (or skip sign-in for basic chat).
Type a question or request in the chat box. Copilot searches the web and responds with sourced answers.
Try image generation: type "Create an image of [your description]" - Copilot generates images using DALL-E.
For the full experience in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint: You need a Microsoft 365 subscription plus a Copilot license. Look for the Copilot icon in the toolbar of any Office app.
Prompt Templates
In Word: "Draft a proposal for [project] that includes an executive summary, scope, timeline, and budget. Use a professional tone."
In Excel: "Analyze this data and create a pivot table showing sales by region and month. Highlight the top 3 performing regions."
In PowerPoint: "Create a 10-slide presentation about [topic] based on this Word document. Include charts where relevant."
In Teams (after a meeting): "Summarize this meeting. What were the key decisions and action items? Who's responsible for each?"
In chat: "Compare [product A] vs [product B] for a small business. Include pricing, features, and your recommendation."
Pro Tips
Copilot in Excel is the standout feature. It writes formulas, creates charts, spots trends, and answers questions about your data in plain English. Ask "What's driving the decline in Q3?" and it analyzes your actual spreadsheet.
Meeting recaps in Teams are automatic. After a Teams meeting, Copilot generates a summary with action items. You can ask follow-up questions: "Did anyone mention the timeline?" and it searches the transcript.
Use the Copilot sidebar in Edge. Right-click any webpage and ask Copilot to summarize it, compare products across open tabs, or draft content based on what you're reading.
What It's NOT Good For
Anyone not using Microsoft products. The real power is inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams. The standalone chat at copilot.microsoft.com is fine but not meaningfully different from ChatGPT's free tier.
Budget-conscious individuals. Free Copilot chat is decent, but the full Office integration costs $30/user/month on top of your existing Microsoft 365 subscription. That adds up fast for a small team.