A more connected workspace

What is Office in Copilot?

Office in Copilot brings familiar Office capabilities into the Copilot experience. Microsoft describes a workflow where you can ask for a document, workbook or presentation, then continue refining the editable file alongside your AI conversation.

For example, you could start with a request to prepare a project brief, review the draft and make changes in the same workspace. Microsoft says changes stay in sync between Copilot and the Office apps.

The change discussed here is where you create, edit and collaborate on files. It does not mean AI drafting, spreadsheet help or presentation creation are entirely new capabilities. The examples below illustrate useful tasks, rather than features that are exclusive to this update.

The potential benefit is less time spent moving between an AI conversation and the file you are trying to finish. Reviewing the actual output remains an essential part of the workflow.

Source: Microsoft’s announcement of the new Copilot experience.

Practical example · Word

Turn project notes into a clearer brief

A useful project brief needs more than polished sentences. It needs a clear purpose, agreed scope, responsibilities and next steps.

Before asking AI to help, gather the approved notes and identify the intended reader. Then give it a specific task.

Example prompt

Using the supplied project notes, draft a one-page brief for our operations manager. Include the objective, scope, agreed deadlines and outstanding decisions. Use Australian English. If an owner or date is missing, mark it as “To be confirmed”.

Review the result against the original notes. Has a suggestion become a commitment? Has an unresolved question been presented as a decision?

Those checks are often more valuable than another round of wording changes. A document can sound convincing while still misrepresenting what the team agreed.

Practical example · Excel

Make a budget easier to review

For an Excel exercise, work on a separate copy of a small, well-labelled sample budget containing planned and actual expenditure. Keep the original file separately; a prompt asking AI to preserve data is not a backup.

Decide what you want to understand before requesting changes.

Example prompt

Review this sample budget and propose a summary comparing planned and actual expenditure by category. Define expenditure variance as actual minus planned, so a positive result means overspending. Flag missing values and do not treat them as zero. Describe your proposed calculations before making changes. Keep the source data unchanged.

Inspect the proposed approach before relying on it. Check whether positive variance means overspending or underspending. Confirm that totals include the correct rows and that blanks have not been treated as confirmed zero values.

Practical example · PowerPoint

Build a presentation around a decision

A presentation should help its audience understand something or make a decision. Start by defining that purpose.

Example prompt

Using this approved project summary, prepare a six-slide presentation for the leadership team. Cover the objective, progress, budget position, risks, decisions required and next steps. Clearly distinguish confirmed facts from recommendations. Do not add unsupported figures.

When reviewing the result, ask whether the main decision is obvious. Check that the presentation has retained important qualifications and that every number matches the source material.

Also review readability. A slide can be accurate and still contain too much information for an audience to absorb.

Better context makes your request more useful

For these exercises, we suggest a five-part briefing checklist:

• The outcome: What do you need to produce?
• The audience: Who will read or use it?
• The source: Which approved information should guide the work?
• The boundaries: What must remain unchanged or be excluded?
• The checks: What needs to be flagged for your review?

You do not need a complicated prompt. You need a clear request.

Instead of “make this better”, explain what better means: shorter for a busy manager, clearer for a new employee or more focused on a specific decision.

Work in stages when a task is complex. Review the structure first, then the content, then the final presentation.

Microsoft’s own prompting guidance describes four elements: goal, context, source and expectations. Our checklist adapts that approach for these workplace exercises. Read Microsoft’s prompting guidance.

What should you check before getting started?

As at 29 October 2026, Microsoft’s roadmap lists Office in Copilot under Frontier. Early access is not the same as availability across every workplace, and Microsoft notes that roadmap information can change.

Before using it for a team process, confirm with your Microsoft 365 administrator:

• Whether your account has access to the required experience.
• Which features your organisation has enabled.
• Which information you are permitted to use.
• Whether the intended workflow has additional usage costs.

Begin with one repeatable task and approved sample data. Compare the result with your usual process, including the time spent correcting and reviewing it.

Source: Microsoft’s AI at Work roadmap and release information.