Free resources
Prompts and guides I use in my training sessions, free to copy and use at work. I will keep adding to this page, including short how-to videos.
Microsoft 365 Copilot prompt guide
Copilot can already see your emails, files, meetings and chats. These prompts show you how to point it at the right ones, so the answers fit your work instead of sounding generic.
Type / in Copilot, then choose the person, file, meeting or site. That is how Copilot knows exactly which one you mean.
Replace these with your own project, customer, names or dates. The more specific you are, the better the result.
Available when you use Copilot with your work account. Make sure it is switched on, so these prompts draw on your organisation's emails, meetings and files.
Basic licence? Type these prompts in the Copilot chat box inside Outlook.
Level 1
No files to attach. Copilot already has your work context.
Prompt 01
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
Summarise my unread messages from /[manager name] and /[skip manager name]. Categorise them by /[project] and highlight anything that requires my response.
It names two people, filters by one project and flags what needs your reply. Using / makes sure Copilot picks the right people.
Prompt 02
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
Identify tasks or action items assigned to me by my manager in this week's emails, Teams chats and meeting notes, and compile them into a checklist.
Copilot searches your emails, chats and meeting notes for you, so three manual searches become one checklist.
Prompt 03
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
Draft a follow-up email based on the discussion from the recent meeting /[meeting series]. Add a table at the end of the email listing each action item and its owner.
The decisions and actions are already in the meeting transcript. Copilot turns them into the email you would normally write yourself.
Level 2
Pull together what happened across emails, chats and meetings.
Prompt 04
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
I was away from [start date] to [end date]. Catch me up on what materially changed across [project/team/customer], including emails from /[employee name], Teams conversations and [meeting name]. Separate it into decisions made, new information, open questions and anything requiring my attention.
Instead of one long recap, you get four clear groups: decisions, new information, open questions and items that need you.
Prompt 05
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
For [project/workstream], identify the important decisions made over the last [timeframe] across /[meeting series], emails with /[employee/team] and relevant Teams conversations. For each, tell me what was decided, what was unresolved, when, and the source. Flag where a later conversation appears to revisit or change an earlier decision.
Each decision comes with its source, and Copilot points out where a later conversation changed an earlier one.
Level 3
Name a customer, a project or your calendar, and Copilot drafts the brief for you.
Prompt 06
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
Prepare me for the week ahead by looking at my upcoming calendar. Prioritise /[project/customer], upcoming meetings with /[employee/stakeholders] and /[milestone/deadline]. Tell me my top [3 to 5] outcomes to drive, decisions likely to come up, open commitments to close, meetings that need preparation and context I may have missed.
Your calendar becomes your plan for the week: outcomes to drive, decisions coming up, commitments to close and meetings to prepare for.
Prompt 07
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
Create a 360-degree overview of [project name or customer name] for an upcoming meeting, based on recent emails, meetings, status reports and recent company news. Propose an agenda for the meeting and list questions that might be asked.
Emails, meetings, status reports and company news come together in one brief, with the questions you are likely to face.
Prompt 08
Where to type it: Microsoft Copilot app, Work chat. Basic licence: the Copilot chat box in Outlook.
I need your help preparing for my upcoming meeting with [company name]. Prepare a customer brief with the latest customer feedback from /[SharePoint site] in a table, and an overview of our communications from the last [timeframe]. Then draft an email update to my leadership based on the customer brief.
One prompt gives you two outputs: a feedback table for your own preparation and an email update ready for your leadership.
Level 4
Longer tasks that run on their own: a note-taker in a live meeting, a researcher that adds market insight to your discussion.
Prompt 09
Where to type it: A live Teams meeting with the Facilitator agent.
@Facilitator create a Word document about the product strategy discussed.
Use it during a live Teams meeting. The document is ready before the meeting ends.
Prompt 10
Where to type it: Researcher agent in the Microsoft Copilot app.
Based on the internal meeting discussion on [topic], draft a comprehensive research report evaluating the ideas proposed. Include relevant insights from external market research, customer meetings and internal information.
Researcher combines your internal discussion with external market research. It works through the task in depth, so allow minutes, not seconds.
The one rule
Copilot shows its citations, so click one. Start with Level 1 and try one prompt this week.
Prompts adapted from the Copilot Prompt Guide by @digitalsamaritan.
Get in touch
Tell me about your team, the work they do and what you want AI to improve, with preferred dates and the number of participants. I will recommend a programme and send a course outline.