Free resource · Word + Excel kit
Copilot M365: 50 prompts per application
Fifty ready-to-copy prompts for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, each with what to check and what also works in Copilot Chat. Written for the Microsoft 365 Copilot license, which many organizations call "Copilot Premium," and partially usable without a license.
The Prompts Copilot M365 kit, in brief
- What it is
- A library of 50 Copilot prompts ready to copy, ten per application: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Each prompt indicates the situation, what to check before sharing the result, and whether it also works in Copilot Chat.
- For who
- Copilot users and referents from large organizations, and managers who want to get their team to adopt Copilot.
- License concerned
- Microsoft 365 Copilot, the paid license that many customers call "Copilot Premium" (labeled "M365 Copilot (Premium)" under the username). 33 of the 50 prompts remain usable with Copilot Chat, included in Microsoft 365, by attaching the file or pasting the text.
- Format
- 19-page Word guide in 10 chapters and Excel workbook: filterable library of 50 prompts, My Prompts tab, 20-day challenge, dashboard by application.
- What it contains
- Copilot Chat or “Copilot Premium”: what your license allows; the recipe for a successful prompt; ten prompts for each of the five applications; using these prompts without a license; the 8-point verification checklist; getting a team to adopt these prompts; the sources.
- What is it based on?
- The Microsoft Copilot Prompting Toolkit, Microsoft's official pages on Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat, and our step-by-step guides made on a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
- Price
- Free, in exchange for a professional email address. No unsolicited emails.
- Update
- October 2026 edition. Copilot features often change: check what your license allows before deploying.
- Go Further
- Microsoft 365 Copilot training, Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio kit, AI charter template.
A good Copilot prompt specifies what needs to be produced, for whom, in what format, and from which source. This kit contains 50 prompts written this way, ten for each of the five Microsoft 365 applications where Copilot is most frequently used: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Simply replace the bracketed text with your own.
They're written for Microsoft 365 Copilot, the license your teams might call "Copilot Premium." But not everyone has this license: each prompt therefore specifies whether it also works in Copilot Chat, the version included in Microsoft 365, and how. And because Copilot sometimes makes mistakes, each prompt is followed by what to check before sharing the result.
1. Copilot Chat or Copilot Premium: what your license allows
Before copying a prompt, you need to know which version of Copilot you have. Two versions exist in organizations, and they don't provide access to the same features. The label displayed under your name in Copilot will tell you which version you're using.
| What you see under your name | What it is | What it is often called |
|---|---|---|
| M365 Copilot (Premium) | The paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, assigned by your IT department | "Copilot Premium", "Copilot M365", "Copilot license", "Paid Copilot" |
| Copilot Chat (Basic) | Copilot Chat, included at no extra cost in Microsoft 365 with a business account | "Free Copilot", "Copilot Chat" |
"Copilot Premium" and "Microsoft 365 Copilot license" refer to the same thing. The official name, to be used in a purchase order or tender, is Microsoft 365 Copilot; Microsoft France lists it at €26,00 excluding VAT per user per month with an annual commitment. Be careful not to confuse it with Microsoft 365 Premium, a consumer offering that is completely separate from the professional license.
| Usage | Copilot Chat (Basic) | Microsoft 365 Copilot License (“Premium”) |
|---|---|---|
| Write, summarize, analyze a file that you attach to the conversation | Yes | Yes |
| Copilot directly within Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which modifies the open document | No, since April 15, 2026 | Yes |
| Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents launched from the conversation (new document) | Yes | Yes |
| Summarize and write in Outlook using your own emails | Limited access | Yes |
| Summary of Teams meetings and conversations | No | Yes |
| Questions about your emails, files and meetings without attaching anything (Work IQ) | No | Yes |
Three prerequisites apply to everyone: files saved on OneDrive or SharePoint, as Copilot works on the online version; structured documents with clear section headings and tables with header rows; and, for Teams, transcription enabled during meetings for which you want a summary. For details on both offers, read our comparison. Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot.
2. The recipe for a successful quick fix
Microsoft recommends building a prompt with four ingredients. It's not necessary to include all of them every time, but the more there are, the less revision is required.
| Ingredient | The question to ask oneself | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | What do you want to achieve? | Write a framework document |
| Context | For whom, for what purpose, in what situation? | for the management committee, which must decide between three scenarios |
| Expectations: | What shape, what length, what tone? | in two pages, with a comparative table and a recommendation |
| Source | What should Copilot rely on? | starting from /[filename] only |
The kit adds six key steps: cite the relevant section precisely, make one request at a time, state what should remain unchanged, ask Copilot to flag what's missing, continue the conversation rather than rewriting everything, and always proofread before sharing. The difference, in an example:
Prompt wave. "Give me a summary."
Prompt and efficient. "Summarize the Budget section in three sentences for the finance director, keeping all the amounts, and end with the expected decision."
3. Five examples from the kit
One prompt per application, copied exactly as it appears in the kit, with the check to be performed and its compatibility with Copilot Chat. Replace the highlighted elements with your own.
Word
Moving from reporting to action
Transform this report into two lists: decisions made, then actions with a responsible party and a deadline. Write "to be specified" when information is missing.
Excel
Commenting on a management table
Write a five-line management commentary on this table for the management committee, citing the three most significant discrepancies and their amounts.
Power point
Rehearsing your oral presentation
Ask me the five most difficult questions a [Chief Financial Officer] could pose a question about this presentation.
Outlook
Sorting through your mailbox after returning from vacation
What emails have been received since the [dated] Are they waiting for a response from me? Sort them by urgency.
teams
Get a summary of a meeting
Summarize the meeting: decisions taken, actions with their manager and points that remained open.
4. Ten prompts per application
The 50 prompts cover the most frequent situations in each application. Each one has a title that explains its purpose, the prompt ready to copy, the point to check, and its compatibility with Copilot Chat. To see Copilot in action, screen by screen, each application has its own step-by-step guide on our blog.
| Application | What the prompters do | Compatible with Copilot Chat | Step by step guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word | Write a first draft from a file, summarize a section, simplify, check the consistency of figures, compare two versions, write the executive summary | On 10 10 | Copilot in Word |
| Excel | Measuring a budget variance, searching for a value in another sheet, combining two dimensions, identifying abnormal values, segmenting customers, commenting on a management dashboard | On 6 10 | Copilot in Excel |
| Power point | Presenting a project to non-experts, structuring it into sections, creating a shorter version, streamlining overloaded slides, preparing an English version, rehearsing the oral presentation | On 6 10 | Copilot in PowerPoint |
| Outlook | Sorting through your inbox after returning from vacation, offering two options, refusing without closing the door, responding to a dissatisfied customer, following up on an unpaid invoice, preparing a meeting | On 8 10 | Copilot in Outlook |
| teams | Get a meeting summary, find out who said what, list objections, catch up on a meeting in progress, write the minutes, check the status of a channel | On 3 10 | Copilot in Teams |
5. License-free: Use these prompts in Copilot Chat
With Copilot Chat alone, Copilot doesn't work within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, or Teams, and it doesn't read your emails or meetings. However, 33 of the 50 prompts in the kit remain useful, provided you give it the necessary input: attach the file to the conversation for prompts that analyze or summarize a document, paste the text from an email or message for drafting prompts, use the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents within the conversation to create a new document, and replace "this document" with "the attached document" in the prompt. The result appears in the conversation: then copy it into your file.
Copilot Chat benefits from corporate data protection: your conversations are not used to train models. However, please respect your organization's rules regarding which documents can be attached; if these rules are not yet in place, our AI charter template gives you a foundation.
6. Check before distributing
Copilot rarely makes mistakes in form, but more often in substance: a figure quoted incorrectly, a conclusion not contained in the text, a fabricated responsible party or date. Eight checks prevent most errors:
- Each digit of the result is found in the source.
- No conclusion, commitment, or date has been added.
- Proper names, amounts and references are identical to the original.
- Reformulations do not change the meaning, especially in summaries.
- In Excel, two rows recalculated manually give the same result.
- The formatting and language of the added text match the rest of the document.
- No confidential information remains in notes, comments, or attachments.
- You take responsibility for every sentence: it is your name that appears on the document.
7. Get these prompts adopted by a team
A Copilot license is only worthwhile if it's used every day. The surest way to achieve this isn't through lengthy theoretical training, but rather a regular practice schedule using the team's actual documents. The kit proposes a 20-day challenge: one prompt per workday, five minutes per person, using a real document.
| Weekdays | Application | Why start there? |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Outlook | The benefit is immediate and visible: everyone writes emails every day. |
| Week 2 | teams | Meeting summaries convince even the most skeptical. |
| Week 3 | Word | Longer documents are the ones that save the most time. |
| Week 4 | Excel and PowerPoint | The most technical uses, once the reflexes are acquired |
Three conditions for success: a shared library of working prompts, adapted to the team's vocabulary; a referent per team, who leads the challenge, answers questions and brings up the best prompts; a measurement point after one month, to know how many people use Copilot each week and for what purpose.
8. What the kit contains
The Word guide has 19 pages in 10 chapters, plus the sources: Copilot Chat or "Copilot Premium"; the recipe for a prompt that works; Word; Excel; PowerPoint; Outlook; Teams; without a license, use these prompts in Copilot Chat; check before distributing; get these prompts adopted by a team.
The Excel workbook contains 50 prompts in a library that can be filtered by application, situation, license, and Copilot Chat compatibility. Each prompt includes a point to check and three columns to fill in: Tested, Rating out of 5, and My Adapted Version. It also features a "My Prompts" tab for your own creations, a 20-Day Challenge tab where the daily prompt is automatically populated and where you can track the time saved, a dashboard for each application, and a Sources tab.
The kit, chapter by chapter: what each chapter contains and what it is used for.
Chapter 1. Copilot Chat or "Copilot Premium": what your license allows
The labels "M365 Copilot (Premium)" and "Copilot Chat (Basic)", what works with each, the change on April 15, 2026 and the prerequisites: OneDrive or SharePoint, structured documents, Teams transcription.
Chapter 2. The Recipe for a Prompt That Works
The four ingredients recommended by Microsoft (objective, context, expectations, source), six reflexes to adopt and a before and after example.
Chapters 3 to 7. Ten prompts for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams
For each application, there is a starting instruction followed by ten sheets: the situation, the prompt ready to copy, the point to check and the compatibility with Copilot Chat.
Chapter 8. Unlicensed: Using these prompts in Copilot Chat
How to use 33 of the 50 prompts with Copilot Chat: attach the file, paste the text, go through the chat agents.
Chapter 9. Check before you broadcast
The checklist of eight controls and the means to go back in case of error.
Chapter 10. Getting a team to adopt these prompts
The 20-day challenge, week by week, and the three conditions for success: shared library, referent, measurement.
Download the Prompts Copilot M365 kit (Word + Excel, free)
The 19-page guide and Excel library of 50 prompts. Written by NextStart.AI based on official Microsoft recommendations and the Copilot training courses we conduct in large organizations.
- 50 prompts for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams
- For Microsoft 365 Copilot ("Copilot Premium") and Copilot Chat
- The point to check for each prompt and the 8-check checklist
- The 20-day challenge to get a team to adopt Copilot
9. Frequently Asked Questions
Do these prompts work with Copilot Premium?
Yes. "Copilot Premium" is the name many organizations give to the Microsoft 365 Copilot license, displayed as "M365 Copilot (Premium)" under the username. The 50 prompts in the kit are written for this license, which allows Copilot to work directly within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. This should not be confused with Microsoft 365 Premium, a consumer offering.
What if I only have Copilot Chat?
33 of the 50 prompts remain usable with Copilot Chat, included in Microsoft 365: simply attach the file to the conversation, paste the text, or use the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents within the conversation. The result appears in the conversation and is then copied to the file. The Excel workbook allows you to filter these 33 prompts.
What is the difference between Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Copilot Chat, labeled "Copilot Chat (Basic)," is included at no extra cost with a Microsoft 365 work account and works with whatever you provide. The paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, labeled "M365 Copilot (Premium)," adds Copilot to apps, Teams meeting summaries, and questions about your emails, files, and meetings without requiring any additional software.
Why don't I have Copilot in Word or Excel anymore?
Since April 15, 2026, Copilot Chat (Basic) accounts no longer have Copilot directly integrated into Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They still have access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents launched from within the chat, which create a new document. To access Copilot within the open document, a Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required.
Should the prompts be adapted?
Yes. Replace the elements in brackets, such as the file name, column, date, or audience, with your own. Each prompt is followed by the point to check, and the workbook has a "My Adapted Version" column to keep your own version.
How to get a team to adopt Copilot?
The kit proposes a 20-day challenge: one prompt per workday, five minutes per person, on a real document, starting with Outlook, then Teams, Word, and finally Excel and PowerPoint. Three conditions for success: a shared library, a designated contact person per team, and a progress review after one month.
Should the files be on OneDrive or SharePoint?
Yes. Copilot works with the online version of files saved in OneDrive or SharePoint. For Teams, transcription must be enabled during meetings for which you want a summary.
Is the kit free?
Yes. The Word guide and Excel workbook are free, in exchange for a professional email address which will only be used to send you the download link. No unsolicited emails.
10. Going further
To get an entire team to practice these techniques, using their own Microsoft 365 tenant and their own documents, the Microsoft 365 Copilot training This can be done in a one-hour webinar or a half-day workshop, for up to 12 people. When your teams master the prompts, the Copilot Studio kit shows how to switch to the first agent, and the AI charter template sets the rules of use.
Also read: our step-by-step guides Copilot in Word, Copilot in Excel, Copilot in PowerPoint, Copilot in Outlook et Copilot in Teamsand the comparison Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot.
The entire series of free kits. To drive adoption: AI charter template, AI training plan template, AI Ambassadors Kit, Manager's toolkit for dealing with AI, AI-powered time-saving kit, Adoption Roadmap Kit, AI maturity grid, AI Measurement and ROI Kit, AI Governance Kit, Claude Skills kit, Gift Sets Cowork, Copilot Studio kit et Vibe coding kitFor the AI project sponsor: AI Act kit, GDPR kit, Security and data kit, Shadow AI kit, AI and Social Dialogue Kit, frugal AI kit, AI Sovereignty Kit et responsible AI kitBy profession: AI HR kit, AI marketing kit, AI finance kit, AI kit for lawyers, AI kit for salespeople, AI toolkit for project managers, AI innovator kit et communicator's AI kit.
11. sources
The information cited on this page and in the kit is based in particular on the following sources, consulted in October 2026. The kit provides the complete list in its Sources chapter.
- Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot Prompting Toolkit.
- Microsoft France, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Business, pricing.
- NextStart.AI, Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot: Differences and 2026 Prices.