These are 14 Microsoft Copilot prompts for everyday work in Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, each built on Microsoft's own four-part prompt structure: goal, context, source and expectations. This page is about Microsoft 365 Copilot, the assistant inside Microsoft's work apps. For the coding assistant, see the GitHub Copilot prompts page instead.
One naming note before you start. Microsoft's Copilot Chat privacy page now says: "Microsoft 365 Copilot is now named Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is now named Microsoft Copilot Chat." Many screens and licenses still show the old names during the transition, so this page uses both.
How to use these prompts
Each prompt is ready to paste into Copilot. Replace the blanks in double braces, or keep the default after the colon: {{audience:my leadership team}} means "my leadership team" unless you change it.
Where a prompt says to point at a file, email or meeting, type / in the Copilot box and pick it from the list. Microsoft's Word guide describes this: type "/" and start typing the name of a document, email or meeting. If your version doesn't offer that, attach the file or paste the text.
Check what Copilot gives back before you send or share it. Microsoft's own advice is "Review and verify responses you get from Copilot," and it warns that the same prompt can return different answers each time.
How do you write a Copilot prompt that works?
Microsoft's support article Learn about Copilot prompts breaks a prompt into four parts:
| Part | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | What you want Copilot to do. The only required part. | "Draft a status update" |
| Context | Why you need it and who is involved | "for my director, who missed the review" |
| Source | The information Copilot should use | "using /Q3 launch plan and this week's emails from Priya" |
| Expectations | How the answer should look | "five bullets, plain language, under 150 words" |
The same structure is taught in Microsoft Learn's training module Write effective prompts. Every prompt below fills in all four parts, so you mostly swap names and files.
Which Copilot do you have?
What Copilot can read depends on your license, and Microsoft shows a label in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote to tell you which one you have. Based on the Microsoft Copilot Chat overview, which defines the labels and explains what each experience is grounded in:
| Label you see | What it means | What Copilot can use |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Chat (Basic) | No add-on license, and no Copilot chat in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote | The web, plus files and text you give it. In Outlook, your inbox, calendar, meetings, chats and limited related content |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic) | No add-on license, but standard access to Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote | The open file and anything you provide |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) or (Pro) | Add-on license with the full experience and priority access | Your emails, meetings, calendars, chats, documents and files across Microsoft 365, within your existing permissions |
If a prompt asks Copilot to search your chats or files and it can't, you probably don't have the add-on license. Paste or attach the material instead and the prompt still works.
Which Copilot prompts help with email in Outlook?
The Copilot in Outlook guide lists the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac. Open Copilot from the button near the top of the window.
1. Triage a full inbox
For the first hour after a trip or a long weekend.
Look at my unread emails from the last {{days:3}} days. I'm a {{role:project manager}} and my priorities this week are {{priorities:the launch and the budget review}}.
Sort them into three groups: needs my reply today, can wait, and FYI only. For each email in the first group, give the sender, the subject, what they need from me and any deadline. Put the most urgent first. Keep it to one line per email.
2. Summarize a thread and draft the reply
For long threads with many people where you need to answer without rereading everything.
Summarize the email thread about {{topic:the vendor contract renewal}} in five bullets: what was decided, what is still open, and who owns each open item.
Then draft my reply to {{recipient:the whole thread}}. I want to {{my_position:agree to the new terms but push the start date to next month}}. Tone: {{tone:friendly and direct}}. Keep it under {{length:120}} words and don't repeat the summary in the reply.
3. Prepare for tomorrow's meetings
For the end of the day, so tomorrow starts with context.
Check my calendar for {{day:tomorrow}}. For each meeting, list the time, the purpose, who is attending, and the related emails or chats from the past {{window:two weeks}}.
Then tell me what I should read or prepare before each one, and flag any meeting where I'm expected to present or decide something. Use a table with one row per meeting.
For more email prompts that work in any assistant, see the email writing prompts.
Which prompts recap Teams meetings and chats?
During a meeting, Copilot needs live transcription on before you can ask it about the meeting. Microsoft's Copilot in Teams meetings guide says "Transcription isn't required for turning on Copilot in a meeting," but asking questions about it or seeing the conversation history afterwards does need transcription. The same page says intelligent recap comes with Teams Premium or the Microsoft Copilot license.
4. Recap a meeting you missed
Run it from the meeting's chat or recap after it ends.
Recap the {{meeting:weekly product sync}} meeting for someone who missed it.
Give: the three most important points, every decision made, and each action item with its owner and due date. Then list any question that was raised but not answered. Quote the speaker when a decision was contested. Keep it under {{length:200}} words.
5. Read the room during a meeting
For live use when a discussion is going in circles. Microsoft's own examples include asking where people disagree.
Based on the transcript so far, where do people disagree about {{topic:the release date}}? For each point of disagreement, name who holds each position and their main reason.
Then suggest two questions I could ask to move the group toward a decision in the next {{minutes:10}} minutes.
6. Catch up on a busy chat
For a project channel or group chat you haven't opened in days.
Summarize the messages in {{chat:the Launch team chat}} since {{since:Monday}}.
Group the summary by topic. For each topic, say what was decided, what is still open, and anything that needs a reply from me, {{my_name:Sam}}. Put items that mention me first. Ignore greetings and reactions.
To turn a transcript into formal minutes in any tool, use the meeting notes prompts.
Which prompts draft and edit documents in Word?
Copilot in Word opens in a chat pane. Microsoft's Word guide notes that choosing Chat only gets you answers without changing the file, and that in shared documents Copilot shows a preview of suggested changes in the chat first.
7. First draft from your own files
The prompt that saves the most time in Word, because it starts from your material, not a blank page.
Draft a {{doc_type:project proposal}} for {{audience:the operations leadership team}}.
Use {{sources:/Q3 planning notes and /customer feedback summary}} as the source. Structure it as: the problem, the proposed solution, cost and timeline, risks, and the decision we need. Write in plain language, short paragraphs, about {{length:two pages}}. Where the sources don't give a number or a date, write [TBD] instead of guessing.
8. Rewrite for a different reader
For turning an internal draft into something a customer, an executive or a new hire can read.
Rewrite this document for {{audience:a customer who isn't technical}}.
Keep every fact and number the same. Remove internal jargon and acronyms, or explain them the first time. Shorten long sentences. Change the tone to {{tone:warm and confident}}. Don't add claims that aren't in the original. After the rewrite, list any sentence you weren't sure how to simplify.
9. Executive summary of a long document
For a 30-page report you need to understand in five minutes.
Read this document and write an executive summary for {{reader:a director with five minutes}}.
Include: the main conclusion in one sentence, the three findings that support it, any numbers that matter, and the recommended next step. Then list anything in the document that looks inconsistent or unsupported. Use headings and keep the summary under {{length:250}} words.
Which prompts analyze data in Excel?
Microsoft's Get started with Copilot in Excel page describes three modes. Allow editing, the default, makes changes in the workbook. Plan shows the steps first so you can approve them. Chat only analyzes the data without changing anything. Use Plan or Chat only the first time you run a prompt on a workbook that matters.
10. Find the story in a dataset
For a sheet of numbers you need to explain in a meeting.
Analyze the data in {{range:the Sales table}}. I need to explain it to {{audience:my manager}}.
Tell me: the three most important trends, the biggest outliers and what might explain them, and how {{metric:revenue}} changed between {{period:Q2 and Q3}}. Show each finding with the numbers behind it. Don't change the workbook; just answer in chat.
11. Add a calculated column
For when you know what you want but not the formula.
Add a column to {{table:the Orders table}} called {{column:Days to ship}} that calculates {{calculation:the number of days between Order date and Ship date}}.
Leave the cell blank when either date is missing. Explain the formula in one sentence so I can check it, and tell me how many rows have a blank result.
For formulas you build yourself, see the Excel formula prompts.
12. Build a summary and a chart
For a quick report tab from raw data.
Create a new sheet that summarizes {{table:the Expenses table}} by {{group_by:department and month}}, showing total {{value:amount}}.
Add a {{chart:clustered column}} chart of the totals with a clear title and axis labels. Highlight any department that is more than {{threshold:10%}} over the previous month. Show me the plan before you make changes.
Which prompts build a PowerPoint deck?
Microsoft's guide to creating a presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint gives three tips for building from a Word document: use Word Styles so Copilot can see the structure, start from your organization's template if it has one, and keep the Word file smaller than 24 MB.
13. Deck from a Word document
For turning a report or proposal into slides without starting from scratch.
Create a presentation from {{source:/Q3 project proposal}} for {{audience:the steering committee}}.
Make about {{slides:8}} slides: a title slide, the problem, the proposal, cost and timeline, risks, and the decision we need, then a closing slide. One idea per slide, no more than four bullets each. Add speaker notes with what I should say for each slide. Keep the tone {{tone:confident and plain}}.
14. Tighten an existing deck
For a deck that runs too long or too wordy before a big meeting.
Review this presentation for a {{length:15}} minute slot with {{audience:senior leaders}}.
Suggest which slides to cut or merge, rewrite any slide with more than {{max_words:40}} words so it fits, and make every slide title a full sentence that states the point. Add a summary slide near the start with the key message. List your changes before you make them.
For more slide prompts, see the presentation prompts.
How do you save and share prompts in Copilot?
Microsoft's guide to saving your favorite prompts gives the steps: run the prompt, hover over it to reveal the bookmark icon and select Save prompt, then rename it if you want. The article says saved prompts are "only visible to you," and you find them on the Your saved prompts tab in Prompt Lab.
The separate Copilot Prompt Lab app was discontinued in July 2025, according to Microsoft's notice about the change. Your prompts now live in Prompt Lab inside Copilot Chat: select a prompt pill or the ... button below the input box. The same steps work in the Copilot Chat pane in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, where Microsoft prompts and your own prompts are listed. Older pages and links still use the name Prompt Gallery, so look for either name.
To share one, run it, hover over it and select Copy, then paste the link into a Teams chat or a OneNote page. Microsoft's sharing guide says this needs a Microsoft Copilot work or school license.
For prompts written for your role, browse Microsoft's Scenario Library, which groups Copilot scenarios by function and industry, with downloadable scenario kits and guides.
How do you keep a copy outside Copilot?
Prompts saved in Copilot stay in your work account and only work in Copilot. If you also use ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant, or you change jobs, a portable copy helps. Kipt keeps prompts as Markdown files in a private GitHub repo you own, with the same {{name:default}} blanks used on this page, tags, and Cmd+K search. Check your company's policy first if a prompt includes anything confidential.
For the people side of the job, the performance review prompts work in Copilot too.