15 Microsoft Copilot Tips & Tricks You Should Be Using (2026)

Microsoft Copilot has had some major updates. In this video, I'll be covering

updates. In this video, I'll be covering 15 tips and tricks to boost your productivity. These tips will span

productivity. These tips will span Copilot Chat, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams. So, let's get started. First, sign into Microsoft

started. First, sign into Microsoft 365.com. That's the former office.com,

365.com. That's the former office.com, and it will land you right in the M365 Copilot app. My first five tips will be

Copilot app. My first five tips will be here, and then I'm going to move on to the different Office apps. And a quick note, some of these tips work for all Microsoft 365 customers, but some require the Copilot premium license, but

I've labeled each tip in the description below so you can easily tell. Tip number

one is the mode selector. So, in the upper right, you can change how Copilot responds. And I can drop this down and

responds. And I can drop this down and choose auto, which is decides how long to think. You can change to quick

to think. You can change to quick response, which will give you answers right away. I'll choose that first. And

right away. I'll choose that first. And

we'll put in a prompt. So, a simple prompt about latest Copilot features. As

you can see, you get a quick response.

So, pretty basic here. It cites and sources where it's getting that information from. If I choose to go to

information from. If I choose to go to think deeper like this, now I'll click new chat. Now, I'll give it a prompt

new chat. Now, I'll give it a prompt that takes a little more thinking.

Please help me plot out a new marketing strategy for the DG2000 camera and be thorough. And we'll hit go. So, now it's

thorough. And we'll hit go. So, now it's going into reasoning. It's planning out the marketing strategy, looking at search parameters. If you click here,

search parameters. If you click here, it'll actually expand and see exactly what it's doing. So, this is a deeper task. It's thinking deeper. It's done a

task. It's thinking deeper. It's done a lot more work and it has a very detailed response. The other thing you can do

response. The other thing you can do with this mode selector here is you can choose the latest models from OpenAI. If

you drop down more, you can choose GPT 5.2 quick response or GPT 5.2 think deeper. So, if I put on quick response

deeper. So, if I put on quick response here, now I'm using the latest and greatest model from OpenAI. The second

tip is custom instructions. So I can tell Copilot to have specific instructions on how to respond to me. I

go in the upper right. I'll choose the three dot menu and I will choose settings. Now I'll go to

settings. Now I'll go to personalization. And I have custom

personalization. And I have custom instructions. So I'll hit edit

instructions. So I'll hit edit instructions. It says add details you

instructions. It says add details you want Copilot to know about you and specify how you'd like to format its responses. So I can have options here

responses. So I can have options here like use clear and simple language or give honest feedback. I've also added in I'm really interested in TPS reports, red staplers, and making my boss happy.

Please respond in the style of Bill Lumbberg. Okay, let's save those

Lumbberg. Okay, let's save those instructions and close. So, let's give Copilot a prompt. Can you help me prepare for the TPS report offsite

summit? Okay, so here is my Bill

summit? Okay, so here is my Bill Lumbberg response. So, yeah, and it's a

Lumbberg response. So, yeah, and it's a clear noonense plan. I asked for things that are concise and bullet points. So,

Copilot is now responding to my instructions. The third tip is

instructions. The third tip is scheduling prompts. So, I've got a

scheduling prompts. So, I've got a prompt right here. Please act as my chief of staff. Look at my inbox, pull together the top three things I should be focused on this week, then my calendar, and give me a short synopsis

of what's coming up this week. And I'll

hit go. So, Copilot's looking through my inbox, pulling up a set of things about priorities. So, here's my inbox

priorities. So, here's my inbox priorities. I've got links to those

priorities. I've got links to those messages and calendar items. And then a calendar synopsis for the week, a one-on-one with Bill Lumbberg, TPS report planning, and some other things.

Great. This looks good. Now, I'd like this to happen every Monday morning when I come in at 8:00 a.m. I'd like this to run. So, if you hit the three dot menu,

run. So, if you hit the three dot menu, I'll choose schedule this prompt. So,

this is the dialogue. So, we'll choose when it happens. We're going to start this on Monday, January 5th. We will

have this kick off at 8 a.m. And I don't want it to run every day. I actually

just want it every week. And I want it to run on Mondays. And I'll uncheck Friday. So, Monday. And this will run a

Friday. So, Monday. And this will run a total of 15 times. You can even have it send you an email when the response is ready. So when that prompt runs in

ready. So when that prompt runs in Copilot, you can have it send you an email. So I'll hit save.

email. So I'll hit save.

So now it's creating this prompt schedule. Great. Now this prompt is

schedule. Great. Now this prompt is active. Can drop this down and choose to

active. Can drop this down and choose to run it now. I can edit this. I can turn it off or I can delete it. So you can have lots of different prompts that are scheduled in lots of different ways. The

fourth tip is file grounding with Copilot Chat. So I've got a prompt here.

Copilot Chat. So I've got a prompt here.

Please analyze the attached spreadsheet for interesting insights. Now I can add a file directly. So I can add work content and I can search for files, people, meetings, emails, etc. I can

also attach cloud files. This pulls up one drive and other groups you might have over on the left. So lots of options here for files. Cancel. You can

upload files or images directly. Or the

bonus tip is forward slash and you can just start typing to search. So I've got GPU. I found a GPU forecast spreadsheet

GPU. I found a GPU forecast spreadsheet here. So, analyze this spreadsheet and

here. So, analyze this spreadsheet and I'll hit go. So, Copilot looks at the spreadsheet. Okay. Executive takeaways.

spreadsheet. Okay. Executive takeaways.

There's some Nvidia information. The

market's exploding. AMD Intel is recovering slowly. So, a lot of really

recovering slowly. So, a lot of really interesting things inside this spreadsheet. Now, as a bonus to explore

spreadsheet. Now, as a bonus to explore prompts for grounding, hit this view prompts here. There are a ton of

prompts here. There are a ton of options. So, a ton of prompts that

options. So, a ton of prompts that already exist that you can explore. It's

also broken down into task, job type, or even agent. So, a lot of things you can

even agent. So, a lot of things you can explore in that view prompts gallery.

The fifth tip is creating video with AI.

Image creation has existed for a while, but AI video creation is pretty new. And

this is the final core M365 copilot app tip. I'll be moving on to the office

tip. I'll be moving on to the office apps after this. So, on the left, I'm going to choose create. So you default land in the create a video area and it asks you to describe what you want to

create and there's some templates to get started. So right here you can generate

started. So right here you can generate clips or start from a PowerPoint. You

can also create videos from scratch and there are some good starters here or you can create videos directly from presentations that you have and it will animate them and narrate them. But how

about we do a create a video on how to effectively onboard employees. Now right

here it says the video should be professional and feel welcoming. I'm

gonna change this and say the video should be sarcastic and pessimistic. Oh,

okay. And we'll click create.

Okay, my sarcastic and pessimistic video is done. So, I've got the transcript

is done. So, I've got the transcript right here. I like the opener. Need

right here. I like the opener. Need

help? Let's hit play.

>> Nothing says welcome aboard like being tossed into the swirling vortex of forgotten passwords, mysterious jargon, and endless spreadsheets.

>> Very nice, right?

>> Great. So, it's a nice sarcastic video.

I can go over here and change the transcript. I can adjust lots of things.

transcript. I can adjust lots of things.

So, I can change the voice. Maybe I

change the music. Right now, it's chill.

Maybe I want it to be inspirational and sarcastic. And I can go and update and

sarcastic. And I can go and update and generate a new video at any time. So, I

can regenerate and I can add files.

Maybe. Now, I can also open this in ClipChamp. So, then I can do much more

ClipChamp. So, then I can do much more detailed video editing. ClipChamp is our tool that's built into M365. I can

export and share. So, I could export this entire MP4 or I could share this with others. I'll click cancel. This is

with others. I'll click cancel. This is

just a quick tour of AI video creation, but you can imagine you can do lots more with this. The next couple tips are in

with this. The next couple tips are in Outlook. I'm here in the new Outlook,

Outlook. I'm here in the new Outlook, but this also works in the classic Outlook as well as Outlook for the web.

Now, the sixth tip is using Copilot to be more productive in your inbox. So, in

the upper right, I'll click the Copilot button. Now, I've got a bunch of emails

button. Now, I've got a bunch of emails here. I'm going to give Copilot a quick

here. I'm going to give Copilot a quick prompt. I've been out for a few days.

prompt. I've been out for a few days.

Can you summarize key points for my inbox or calendar and let me know anything I need to quickly follow up on?

So, Copilot's going to look through my inbox and give me a quick response. Hm.

Looks like Project Red Stapler is still the soap opera and I've got some risks from Milton. Let's see. Status reports

from Milton. Let's see. Status reports

are due. Wow, I've got a lot of stuff.

An action. I need to reply to the Project Red Stapler schedule variance.

Calendar check. Okay. And then some quick follow-ups. So, it's really handy

quick follow-ups. So, it's really handy to get caught up. Maybe you've been out for a week or on vacation. Now, also any mail that you have in your inbox, you can get a quick summary. So, here is a

comprehensive status report on Project Red Stapler. Wow, this looks really

Red Stapler. Wow, this looks really long. Maybe I can use Copilot to

long. Maybe I can use Copilot to summarize this. So, I will click

summarize this. So, I will click summarize here.

Okay. Status, key points, scope, schedule, etc. The seventh tip is setting default respond instructions for co-pilot in your emails. I really like this one. So, I drop down the co-pilot

this one. So, I drop down the co-pilot button and choose settings. Then I will go to draft instructions. And similar as you had in the co-pilot chat custom instructions, this is custom

instructions when drafting email. So,

let's put some in. Please use the following when replying. Very sarcastic

inviting. Use many emojis and length short and bulleted. And click save. Now,

we'll close this. So, I've got an email here. I'm going to reply. And there's a

here. I'm going to reply. And there's a draft with co-pilot option. I'm going to go here and I've got a few different options. I can say thanks for the

options. I can say thanks for the update, clarify next steps, concerns about risk. So, a lot of options I can

about risk. So, a lot of options I can respond with all the way down here, but I'm going to choose clarify next steps.

Now, Copilot's going to draft up a response with my sarcastic and heavy emoji.

Great. So, I've got some emojis here.

I'm sarcastic. It's a masterclass and ambiguity. Stapler is having existential

ambiguity. Stapler is having existential crises. all this good sarcastic emoji

crises. all this good sarcastic emoji and bullet points just like I had suggested. So I can choose to keep this

suggested. So I can choose to keep this and hit send.

Now we're switching over to Excel. The

eighth tip is agent mode in Excel. And

this allows you to use natural language to build rich dashboards, update files, and everything just using Copilot. So I

will go to copilot in the upper right on the home tab and open up the co-pilot pane. Now I'll drop down tools and

pane. Now I'll drop down tools and choose agent mode. Now I can just describe what I'd like to create or edit and I will paste in my prompt. Can you

research the latest data on GPU spin and build the forecast of the top GPU makers in the world? Also talks about charts and make sure to add a pie chart and add research notes and structure my sheets.

And I'll hit go. Now agent mode is going to take a little bit of time and it's going to structure out an entire set of things it does. We're just going to speed ahead a couple of minutes and show what's the final output. So agent mode

is finished and it's created a very rich workbook. So I've got a GPU market data

workbook. So I've got a GPU market data forecast. So all the big manufacturers,

forecast. So all the big manufacturers, assumptions, market insights, growth rates. It even has research notes. So

rates. It even has research notes. So

all the research that it did and where I grabbed these things, sources and citations, and then charts and analysis.

So there's my pie chart that I asked for, revenue forecast, cumulative market, key insights. So just a ton of really cool stuff. In addition to creating things from scratch, agent mode

can look at your existing Excel data and reason over it and make quick operations. Let's show how that works.

operations. Let's show how that works.

So, I've got a new spreadsheet here in agent mode, and I've got first name and last name with a bunch of randomized capitalizations, and I just want to clean that up. So, over in agent mode, I'll just tell it that can you go and

fix the capitalization of the first name and last name columns. And I'll hit go.

Great. So, very quickly, it cleaned that all up and it said, hey, what I did, I applied Excel's proper function and the trim function. So it explains exactly

trim function. So it explains exactly how it did it. Maybe I also want to create a new column and have it do city, state, and then zip code. So let's just ask agent mode to do that. Create a new

column after the zip code column that combines city, state, and zip in that format. Put it into one cell. And there

format. Put it into one cell. And there

it goes. It made a new column. It

explains what it did. It has full address as a label. I didn't even tell it that. And city, state, space, zip. So

it that. And city, state, space, zip. So

some very simple data cleanups and combinations. But you can imagine you

combinations. But you can imagine you can create pivot tables with agent mode.

You can add slicers. You can do all sorts of analysis for new insights. I

just gave you a quick taste here, but agent mode is very powerful. The ninth

tip is the co-pilot function. This is

great for text analysis. I'll show

sentiment analysis here because I have an employee survey and I want to analyze how are the comments coming in and looking and the ratings. So I'll do equals and then co-pilot and then

parenthesis and a quote. And then you're going to put in your prompt. So this

says categorize each piece of employee feedback data as positive, neutral, negative. And then add an appropriate

negative. And then add an appropriate emoji next to each category, comma, and then I'm going to select D2. That's the

cell I want to analyze. And then close the parenthesis and hit enter.

And it says immediately neutral. Great.

Okay. So now I'm going to double click.

And it analyzes each piece of feedback.

So positive, positive, neutral. Needs to

improve teamwork. This one's negative.

So, very quickly, I can do a sentiment analysis. You can also pull in data from

analysis. You can also pull in data from the web in a really easy way. So, I'm

going to go to this tab and we're going to pull in all of the NFL teams. So, I will do equals and then copilot parenthesis quote and then paste in my prompt. Please list the 32 NFL teams in

prompt. Please list the 32 NFL teams in alphabetical order. Put the format as

alphabetical order. Put the format as city, team name, then close quote and close parenthesis and hit enter.

immediately. It has Arizona Cardinals and it has all the 32 teams all the way down to Washington Commanders. And this

is all in alphabetical order. So super

fast way to pull in data like that.

Moving on to PowerPoint. The 10th tip is creating a presentation completely with Copilot. I'll go to file and choose

Copilot. I'll go to file and choose create with Copilot. And this asks me what do you want to create a presentation about? Okay. Create a

presentation about? Okay. Create a

presentation about the cultural impact of the movie Office Space. Please

include Bill Lumbberg, TPS reports, and red staplers. And I will choose the

red staplers. And I will choose the length. I'll make this medium. You could

length. I'll make this medium. You could

add reference files. But I'll just click go. So, it's going to build an outline.

go. So, it's going to build an outline.

Great. So, it's built an entire outline here, and I can edit that. I can add to it. I can delete it. We're just going to

it. I can delete it. We're just going to leave it as it is. Now, when I scroll down, I can choose what style. And

there's lots of different styles to choose from here. I'm going to go and choose this collage style. And now I'm going to choose to preview slides.

Copilot's building at the preview. Okay,

Co-Pilot has created a preview for me to check out. Wow, this looks really

check out. Wow, this looks really powerful. Red staplers, Bill Lumbberg,

powerful. Red staplers, Bill Lumbberg, all sorts of office space stuff. If I'd

like to make changes, I could do that right here. But I'm just going to say

right here. But I'm just going to say add to presentation. It's now making my narrative.

And here is my deck. It looks beautiful.

I'm going to choose to keep it right here. And if I go into view mode, I'll

here. And if I go into view mode, I'll go into normal. And now I've got an entire deck all about office space, the cultural relevance, the red staplers,

Bill Lumbberg, Milton, everything is here. And I can go and tweak things in

here. And I can go and tweak things in whatever way I want. But this just gives you a sense of how powerful this creating with Copilot can quickly create a beautiful presentation.

The 11th tip is AI image editing in PowerPoint using Copilot. So, I've got an image here of my good friend Bill Lumbberg. I'm going to select this and I

Lumbberg. I'm going to select this and I will go to picture format and there's this new edit picture and I'll click this. This uses the same AI image

this. This uses the same AI image editing that Microsoft Designer uses, but this is all now inside of PowerPoint. So, one thing I can easily

PowerPoint. So, one thing I can easily do is just remove background. Great.

Really easy. Single click. I'll undo

that. Another option is autoenhance.

This one isn't as crisp as I'd like it to be. So I'll click autoenhance and a I

to be. So I'll click autoenhance and a I will analyze the image. And now I've got a before and after. So let's look at before. Okay. And now if I go to after.

before. Okay. And now if I go to after.

Oh, that's very nice. I think I'll accept this one. You can do things like add text. We'll choose this. Yeah, I'm

add text. We'll choose this. Yeah, I'm

going to move this over here. Maybe I

want to angle that a little bit and choose to update. I can add effects right here. So things like glass and all

right here. So things like glass and all sorts of other options. So you can play around with this AI enhanced editing the picture. And I'll hit update. Looking

picture. And I'll hit update. Looking

good. Now we're switching over to Word.

And the 12th tip is using agent mode in Word. And this is similar to Excel agent

Word. And this is similar to Excel agent mode where I can use natural language and chat to create documents and edit them, etc. On the home tab, click the

co-pilot button to open up chat. Now

drop down tools and choose agent mode.

And I'm going to paste in my prompt.

Please create a status report based on this file. and I'll do forward slash.

this file. and I'll do forward slash.

And now I'm going to scroll down and choose my file. It's a PowerPoint deck.

It's the DG2000 product pitch. And it's

for advanced cameras. Now, in addition to that status report, I'm going to paste in a set of things I'd like agent mode to do. So, start with a clear title and cover sheet, add an executive summary, organize content, keep

paragraphs short and focused, etc. So, a whole bunch of details on how I'd like this document structured. Now, I'll

click go.

And agent mode, just like in Excel, is going to kick into gear and it's going to reason out a set of steps. And we're

just going to speed ahead and show what that looks like. So agent mode is done.

It's done a bunch of things here, explained what it did. We're going to scroll down and see. So I've got my product overview, key features. I've got

a beautiful table here, benefits, performance and ratings, pricing options, conclusion, and next steps. So

it followed my instructions and made a really nice status report. So I'll keep this. I can also have agent mode update

this. I can also have agent mode update and edit my document. So, I'm going to scroll down here and let's say I've got pricing options. I'd like to turn this

pricing options. I'd like to turn this into a table. So, let's ask agent mode to do that. Turn the content under pricing options into a table. Very

quickly, it turns this into a table, and I'll choose to keep it. You can also do things like update font size and style.

So, let's have this executive summary change a bit. Change the font in the executive summary into comic sands and size 20. Ah, that is beautiful. Font is

size 20. Ah, that is beautiful. Font is

size 20 and comic sands. We'll keep

that. That is definitely classy. The

13th tip is using this describe what you'd like to draft with Copilot. So,

I'm going to give it a quick prompt.

Please draft a cover letter to apply for the job of assistant to the regional manager at the Dunder Mifflin paper company. And I'll hit go. So, Copilot's

company. And I'll hit go. So, Copilot's

quickly going to create a draft. Great.

So, I've got a nice basic letter here. I

can choose to keep it, but I can also make changes right here, make it more pointed and sharp, and add my beat farming experience. Great. My time as a

farming experience. Great. My time as a beat farmer has honed my ability to solve problems creatively. So, you can keep editing and tweaking, and you can go back to the original draft by just

clicking these edits right here. So,

Copilot can help you have a really nice way to get started on whatever you're doing. In addition, I can select any

doing. In addition, I can select any paragraph after I've created and choose the Copilot button. And now I've got choices. is auto rewrite, structure and

choices. is auto rewrite, structure and refine, make it shorter, writing suggestions. Let's get some suggestions.

suggestions. Let's get some suggestions.

Well, here's some suggestions. There's a

couple here, one and two. I can also choose to apply these suggestions. So,

I'll do this. And it's done a nice little rewrite. And I will hit go. Okay,

little rewrite. And I will hit go. Okay,

this looks a little bit better. I'll

choose replace. And now it's replaced that initial selection with this updated one.

Now, we'll move on to Teams integration and Teams with Copilot. The 14th tip is using C-pilot to catch up on a meeting where you may have joined late or missed the meeting entirely. So, there's this

TPS report offsite summit planning meeting and this is in Teams and I'm going to join this and it's already been going on and I'm going to need to catch up and see what's happening. So, I'll

hit join.

Oh, it looks like the TPS report offsite summit is in full swing and it looks like Bill Lumbberg's been already meeting with everyone. Okay, so I'm just going to hang back here and I'm going to open up co-pilot.

Now, this is my co-pilot. other people

can't see this conversation. So, I'm

going to have Copilot generate some notes and what the tasks are and stuff that I missed. So, I'm going to go down here and ask Copilot that. Can you catch me up on what's happened and any tasks

assigned to me? Now, let's send. Oh,

here's the meeting summary. Bill assigns

specific responsibilities to participants, including agenda planning, food arrangements, ice breakers, etc. Follow-up items. The group will reconvene in two weeks. There's some

tasks for Megan. Oh, my tasks. Alex

Wilbur. food and catering agenda and icebreers and the TPS report design.

Man, I've got a lot of stuff going on.

Okay, explain what Bill said about the importance of the summit. This is a suggested prompt. Okay, what did he say

suggested prompt. Okay, what did he say about the importance of the summit? He

emphasized the TPS report offsite summit is a critical event and the importance of the date and location and it's essential for revisioning TPS reports.

Wow, it sounds like I missed some important stuff. Now, if I want to see

important stuff. Now, if I want to see other prompts, I might ask. Here are

some things. Recap the meeting so far.

Main ideas. Generate meeting notes.

Okay, I'm going to generate meeting notes right here.

Oh, there's a lot of stuff that happened. Red staplers. Retiring the red

happened. Red staplers. Retiring the red staplers. Oh, Milton's going to freak

staplers. Oh, Milton's going to freak out. Wow, a lot of things happen. Lots

out. Wow, a lot of things happen. Lots

of tasks, lots of follow-ups. So, this

is how Copilot can help you catch up on a meeting that you join late. You can

also use co-pilot if the meeting ended and you want to go and ask those same type of questions privately just to you.

The 15th tip is co-pilot powered group chats in teams. So we're back in co-pilot chat and I'm Alex here and I'm going to have a prompt that I've started

up about a TPS report offsite.

So co-pilot has a nice schedule here.

Everything is proposed but I want to actually collaborate with people in teams to have more details and figure out what we want to do. So, in the upper right, I'm going to click down this and say start a group chat in Teams. And

it's going to ask me who do I want to add. Okay. Well, of course, I've added

add. Okay. Well, of course, I've added Bill Lumbberg and Adele and Megan. And

it's going to include the messages that I've already been having with Copilot.

And I'll click create. So, now Copilot is creating a group chat in Teams. So, now I'll switch to Teams. And there's this brand new chat. And Copilot is in the chat. It's got me and Adele and Bill

the chat. It's got me and Adele and Bill and Megan. And it has the entire set of

and Megan. And it has the entire set of prompts right here. It has all the sources. So, Copilot has brought this

sources. So, Copilot has brought this conversation into the group chat. And

here is that TPS report off-site schedule. And now anyone can reference

schedule. And now anyone can reference C-pilot and have Copilot be part of the conversation. So, I've at mentioned

conversation. So, I've at mentioned Copilot and I say, "We want to make sure Bill Lumbre gives the keynote kickoff.

Can you put him into the agenda?" And

we'll hit go. Copilot's typing and now co-pilot will update that agenda right here in the chat. Great. Keynote kickoff

and goals. He's the speaker. Welcome to

the ground rules. and we'll just say, "Can you show us the full agenda now?"

Great. Here's the full agenda, keynote, Bill Lumbberg, etc. So, you have co-pilot right here in a group chat, so everyone can interact, and it's kind of like being in the co-pilot chat, but now you're in Teams. If you want to keep up

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