Copilot – Microsoft’s clever Ai assistant – took off last November. Meaning we’ve had plenty of time to get to grips with it and find out exactly what it can do. So, if you want to make your day to day a whole lot easier (and who doesn’t), read on for some of our top Copilot tips and tricks. These are some handy hacks you definitely don’t want to miss.
Advanced Copilot tips
Once you start to dig beneath the surface, you’ll get a lot more out of Copilot. These advanced tips will have you off to a flyer…
Ask for multiple suggestions – Don’t just settle for the first thing Copilot gives you. Ask for a few different options instead. You could suggest it to ‘Give me three approaches to this email’ and then choose the best one. It’ll save you brainstorming everything from scratch!
Combine tasks into one request – You don’t have to do every task in order, one thing at a time. It’s a lot easier (and faster) to blend them all together into a single ask. Try something like ‘summarise this report and create a PowerPoint slide from the key points’ and let Copilot tackle the heavy lifting all at once.
Spot data insights – If you work a lot with numbers or data, Microsoft’s Ai might pick out patterns that you don’t. While you handle the basic sums, see what trends it spies in your stats. Ask ‘what are the outliers?’ and it’ll give you a few thoughts on anything you’ve potentially missed.
It’s worth experimenting with what you’re asking as well. Copilot is full of surprises – and you might find a useful workaround or two that we haven’t even mentioned here.
How to customise Copilot
By customising Copilot a bit, you can make sure it works exactly how you need it to. Try out a few of these tricks and see what you think…
Use custom templates – Always creating a lot of the same thing or doing repetitive tasks? Set up a few templates for Copilot to take some inspo from. Then, whenever you need to whip up another report – or send an important email – you’ll have it done even faster.
Adjust the tone and style – That message to your boss probably won’t sound the same as a text to your mates on WhatsApp. Luckily, Copilot can match different tones to suit the situation. Once you’ve got your draft ready, tell it to ‘make this more professional’ or ‘rewrite this in a friendly tone’. Copilot will then follow your lead and save you the hassle of any editing later.
Be clear with requests – Get as specific as possible. If you are, Copilot will do a better job. Instead of telling it to create a document, try something like ‘create a two-page project proposal with a short introduction’. That way, it’ll make something closer to what you’re after.
Adding Copilot into your workflow
Copilot is all about working smarter, not harder – making it an absolute game changer at the office or while you’re working from home.
Pair it with Microsoft Teams – Let’s say you’re in a meeting. Fire up Copilot and ask it to sum up all the key points in real time. Or tell it to assign tasks and draft follow-up emails – all without interrupting the conversation. Nothing will fall through the cracks. And you won’t even have to grab your notepad and pen.
Using cloud services – If your desktop and files are anything like ours, they’re not the tidiest. Copilot to the rescue! It works perfectly with OneDrive, SharePoint, and other cloud systems. Need to find a presentation that’s buried deep in a folder? Ask Copilot to search for it and you’ll have it in no time. And you won’t spend ages trawling through multiple docs to track it down.
Excel excellence – Excel can get tedious fast. Unless you love a spreadsheet, you probably want to get the work over and done with as quick as possible. Data entry. Analysing trends. Creating formulas. Or just making sure everything you’re doing is accurate. Copilot is an Excel whizz and will handle all of that and more. And if you need a chart – and some predictions based on your stats – it’s got you covered there too.
Time saving tricks with Copilot
Like you’ve probably guessed by now, Copilot is there to make your life way easier. So, here are a few of our favourite shortcuts that’ll have you zooming through tasks on the apps you use most.
Automatic task management – With Microsoft To-Do, Copilot becomes your own personal assistant. Ask it to ‘prioritise my tasks for today’ or mention ‘which tasks are crucial this week?’ and it’ll manage your to-do list based on how urgent that job is. There are no excuses for missing a deadline now.
PowerPoint slides in seconds – Left another presentation to the last minute? Copilot can make an entire deck from your notes. Say ‘turn these meetings notes into slides’ and you’ll have something to show there and then. If design isn’t your forte either, add a few finishing touches with a quick ‘improve the look of this presentation’. We reckon your boss will be impressed.
Snappy summaries – For long reports that go on and on, get the Ai to give it a once over. It’ll put together a short summary of all the key points. And you won’t have to spend ages scrolling through pages of chunky text.
Admin? Sorted – Time can really start to add up when you’ve got a stacked inbox to sort through. That’s why you should get Copilot to do it for you. Tell it to ‘reply to this email and confirm the meeting’ and you can hand over all the busy work. Leaving you with more brain power for the important stuff.
Want to learn even more about Microsoft’s Ai wingman? Our article – What is Microsoft Copilot? – gives you a great first look at the super smart tech. And because it’s built into a load of laptops now, your new PC just got even better. Meet the new Ai-powered Copilot+ PCs and find one you click with.
