Copilot Across Your M365 Apps
Copilot works differently in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Chat. Learn what each app's Copilot can do — and what it can't.
One Copilot, many talents
Think of Copilot like a Swiss Army knife.
The knife is the same, but you pull out a different tool depending on the job. In Word, Copilot is a writing partner. In Excel, it’s a data analyst. In Teams, it’s the colleague who takes perfect meeting notes.
Same AI brain, different superpowers — depending on which app you’re in. The exam tests whether you know which app to use for which task.
Copilot in each app
| App | What Copilot Does | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Word | Draft, rewrite, summarise, change tone, expand/shorten text | Creating documents, rewriting content, generating summaries |
| Excel | Analyse data, generate formulas, create charts, highlight trends, sort/filter | Data analysis, finding patterns, creating visualisations |
| PowerPoint | Create presentations from prompts or documents, add slides, redesign layouts | Building slide decks quickly, transforming documents into presentations |
| Outlook | Draft replies, summarise email threads, coach tone, generate email from notes | Email management, writing professional responses, catching up on long threads |
| Teams | Summarise meetings, catch up on chats, list action items, recap missed calls | Meeting productivity, chat catch-up, action tracking |
| Copilot Chat | Cross-app queries, search across ALL M365 data, compare information from multiple sources | Finding information scattered across apps, big-picture questions |
App-by-app breakdown
Word — your writing partner
Copilot in Word helps you create, edit, and transform written content:
- Draft from scratch: “Write a project proposal for our new customer onboarding programme”
- Rewrite: Select a paragraph → “Make this more concise and professional”
- Summarise: “Summarise this 20-page report in 5 bullet points”
- Change tone: “Rewrite this email draft to sound more formal”
Real-world: Ava drafts a campaign brief
Ava at BrightLoop needs a campaign brief for a new client. Instead of starting from a blank page, she opens Word and tells Copilot:
“Draft a digital marketing campaign brief for a sustainable fashion brand. Include sections for objectives, target audience, channels, timeline, and KPIs.”
Copilot generates a structured brief in seconds. Ava then refines: “Make the tone more casual — this client is a startup, not a corporate.”
Time saved: What used to take 90 minutes now takes 15 — and the structure is better.
Excel — your data analyst
Copilot in Excel works with your spreadsheet data to surface insights:
- Analyse: “What are the top 5 products by revenue this quarter?”
- Formulas: “Add a column that calculates the percentage change month-over-month”
- Charts: “Create a bar chart comparing Q1 vs Q2 sales by region”
- Highlight: “Highlight any expenses over $10,000 in red”
Important: Copilot in Excel works best when your data is in a Table (not just a range of cells). Format your data as a table first for best results.
PowerPoint — your presentation builder
Copilot in PowerPoint creates visual presentations from your input:
- From a prompt: “Create a 10-slide presentation about our Q3 marketing results”
- From a document: “Turn this Word document into a slide deck”
- Add slides: “Add a slide comparing competitor pricing”
- Redesign: “Make this slide more visual with icons and less text”
Outlook — your email assistant
Copilot in Outlook handles email management and composition:
- Draft: “Write a follow-up email to the client about the contract renewal”
- Reply: “Draft a polite decline to this meeting invitation”
- Summarise threads: “Summarise this 30-email thread — what decisions were made?”
- Coaching tips: Copilot provides automatic coaching on clarity, sentiment, and tone when drafting emails
Real-world: Jordan catches up on email
Jordan at Peak Solutions returns from a 3-day sales conference to 200+ emails. Instead of reading each one, Jordan opens Outlook and asks Copilot:
“Summarise all emails from the past 3 days. Group by client name. Flag anything that needs my response today.”
Copilot identifies 8 emails requiring action, groups the rest by client, and highlights one urgent contract question from Raj.
Teams — your meeting companion
Copilot in Teams focuses on meetings and conversations:
- During meetings: “What’s been discussed so far?” or “List any action items mentioned”
- After meetings: “Summarise this meeting” → recap with decisions and follow-ups
- Chat catch-up: “What did the marketing team discuss while I was away?”
- Missed meetings: “What happened in the standup I missed this morning?”
Exam tip: Copilot in Teams requires meeting transcription to be enabled. If transcription is off, Copilot can’t summarise meetings.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat — your cross-app search engine
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (at m365copilot.com, in Teams, or in the M365 app) is the most powerful surface because it searches across everything:
- Cross-app queries: “What’s the latest on Project Phoenix? Check emails, Teams chats, and SharePoint files”
- People insights: “What has Sarah been working on this week?”
- Comparisons: “Compare the budget from the Q2 report with the Q3 forecast spreadsheet”
This is also where you’ll find Researcher and Analyst — specialised agents that help with in-depth research and data analysis (these require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license).
Important distinction: There are two tiers of Copilot Chat. The free tier (included with M365 subscriptions) is grounded in web data only — it cannot search your work files, emails, or chats. The licensed tier (Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on) adds full Microsoft Graph access to your organisational data. The cross-app capabilities described above require the licensed tier.
Choosing the right Copilot surface
| Task | Best App |
|---|---|
| Draft a report from scratch | Word |
| Analyse quarterly sales data | Excel |
| Create a client presentation | PowerPoint |
| Reply to a customer email | Outlook |
| Catch up on a meeting you missed | Teams |
| Find information across multiple apps | Copilot Chat |
| Research a topic in depth | Copilot Chat (Researcher) |
🎬 Video walkthrough
🎬 Video coming soon
Copilot Across Your M365 Apps — AB-730 Module 2
Copilot Across Your M365 Apps — AB-730 Module 2
~10 minFlashcards
Knowledge Check
Marcus at Horizon Logistics needs to catch up on a supply chain meeting he missed yesterday. Which Copilot surface should he use?
Ava needs to turn a 15-page marketing strategy document in Word into a slide deck for a client presentation. What's the MOST efficient approach?
Dana at Oakfield Healthcare wants to find out what decisions were made about the new employee benefits package across emails, Teams chats, and SharePoint documents. Which Copilot surface is BEST for this?
Next up: Not all Copilot answers are equal. Learn how the context you provide — your files, web data, and which app you’re in — shapes the quality of Copilot’s responses.