Microsoft 365 Copilot: 10 Useful Prompts for Work

A useful prompt does not just ask Copilot to "summarize": it specifies the sources to examine, the expected result and what must remain to be verified. Here are ten reusable requests for handling emails, preparing meetings and working in Excel, PowerPoint and Word, without confusing an AI proposal with confirmed information.

Before you start: check the license and the context

Prompts that automatically cross-reference emails, files, Teams conversations and meetings require Microsoft 365 Copilot with the Premium license. According to the license comparison published by Microsoft Learn, Copilot Chat without this license relies on the web rather than on all of your work data. It can nevertheless use an attached file, content open in Outlook or Teams, or certain pay-as-you-go agents.

The former "Work" and "Web" tabs have been replaced by the Work IQ button. It turns the use of work data on or off; it is enabled by default with the Microsoft Copilot add-on license, as stated in the Microsoft documentation on the information Copilot uses. Before requesting a cross-source summary, check the button and the license rather than assuming that Copilot can see your messages.

Work IQ: four prompts to pick up the thread of conversations

The first case is returning from an absence. Ask for a classification by project, then distinguish decisions, open actions and information that is already outdated. The result can be requested as an interactive HTML checklist; if the generated file does not suit you, a task table is simpler to check.

Prompt 1 — Catch-up: "Review my emails and team conversations during my absence, from [date] to [date]. Classify the information by project: decisions, topics still open and messages that no longer require action. Produce a checklist with owner, due date and a link to each source item; if possible, provide it as an HTML file with checkboxes and a status filter."

A checklist is not a register of truth. In a return-from-leave scenario, a project lead may have confirmed a decision in one thread and then changed it elsewhere. Open the cited messages before following up with the team.

The second prompt looks for commitments you made yourself. It targets promised replies, files to send and announced follow-ups, rather than every task mentioned in your inbox.

Prompt 2 — Commitments: "Go through my sent emails and my recent Teams messages. Identify what I promised to do, and indicate to whom, by what date and in which conversation. Separate the commitments that are still open from those for which a later reply or delivery appears. Provide the references needed to verify each status."

To prepare for a meeting, the goal changes: you need to find the last agreement reached and the disagreements that are still active. Microsoft presents a comparable preparation example with Work IQ, based on work conversations and documents.

Prompt 3 — Upcoming meeting: "Prepare my next meeting with [person or team]. Use the relevant emails, conversations, files and meetings. Indicate the participants, the last explicit agreement, the unresolved points and the documents to reread. Cite the items on which each conclusion is based."

After the meeting, avoid letting a date proposed by Copilot look like a collective commitment. The fourth prompt enforces this distinction in the action plan and in the draft email.

Prompt 4 — Follow-up: "Based on the meeting of [date], draw up a plan with task, owner, due date and status. When no due date was agreed, suggest one and mark it as 'proposed'. Then write a follow-up email to the participants, without presenting the proposals as settled decisions."

Outlook: reply without inventing what the attachment does not say

The fifth prompt is useful when a correspondent asks several questions and only some of the answers appear in a document. In Outlook, open the relevant email, attach the relevant document to Copilot's context and ask for a question-by-question reply. The open content can thus serve as a starting point, even when automatic grounding on all work data is not available.

Prompt 5 — Controlled reply: "Write a reply to this email, addressing each question separately. Rely on the attached seminar plan. When an answer does not appear in it, write 'to verify' at the relevant spot instead of filling in by assumption. Do not present any unconfirmed information as established."

The "to verify" instruction is the safeguard. It reflects the expectations element of the prompt framework recommended by Microsoft Learn: context, goal, source and expectations. Before sending, compare the draft with the original email and the attachment: a fluent reply can still omit a question.

Excel: clean up registrations, then monitor requests

Prompts six and seven ask Copilot to act on a workbook. Start by identifying the source table and checking that edit mode is enabled if you expect modifications. If the data is not yet in an Excel table, select it and use Ctrl + T before phrasing the request.

Prompt 6 — Registrations: "Clean up this registration table without deleting any rows. Split full names into first name and last name, standardize the capitalization, dates, departments and session labels. Add a column flagging missing or duplicate emails, then create a summary sheet. Present the changes to check before validation."

An organization that receives registrations under the labels "HR", "hr" and "Human Resources" can ask for them to be grouped. Do not automatically validate the equivalence: two sessions labeled "morning" and "9:00" may refer to the same slot, but that rule must come from the business. Keep the original table to compare rows and dates after processing.

The seventh prompt turns a support log into a management view. It combines indicators, a chart and the identification of requests open for more than five days; the threshold comes from the request, not from a universal rule.

Prompt 7 — Support: "Add a summary sheet for my manager: number of requests and average open duration by category, a monthly chart by category and three findings phrased simply. In the original table, highlight requests that have been open for more than five days. Do not delete or reclassify any row without telling me."

Check the calculation on a few requests, particularly those close to the threshold, then verify that the chart and the findings describe the same categories. For other targeted tasks by application, see our six actionable Copilot prompts in Microsoft 365.

Work IQ: prepare a review without overstating results

The eighth prompt gathers evidence of work accomplished. It helps prepare an interview, but it must not turn participation in a project into a result attributed to a single person.

Prompt 8 — Review: "Based on my emails, meetings, conversations and files from the last three months, identify my main achievements. For each one, distinguish what I delivered, the documented result and what remains to be confirmed. Add the references, then suggest a five-sentence text for my interview."

Reread each sentence with this question: does the source demonstrate the delivery, the stated effect and your exact role? If only the deliverable can be verified, remove the claim about its impact. The summary written by Copilot is a basis for discussion, not additional proof.

PowerPoint and Word: produce a deliverable without losing the source

The ninth prompt starts from a survey document to build a presentation. Ask PowerPoint to limit the number of slides, reuse the figures from the document and add speaker notes. A template in the organization's colors can guide the form; it does not exempt you from comparing each figure with the survey.

Prompt 9 — Presentation: "Based on the attached survey document, create a presentation of at most seven slides. Devote the central slides to the three main problems with their figures, then address the most exposed populations. Add speaker notes and do not invent any percentage absent from the document."

The tenth prompt concerns an HR policy in Word. The comparison must separate the observed changes from the message that HR will actually choose to send. If Copilot adds a summary you did not request, also check the custom instructions before assuming that this behavior will be identical for your colleagues.

Prompt 10 — HR policy: "Compare the open version of the hybrid work policy with the attached previous version. Present the verifiable changes, then prepare an email to employees explaining what changes and from what date, as well as an FAQ. Flag any dates or rules that the two documents do not allow you to confirm."

Finally, a complementary use is to ask PowerPoint to "create an interactive slide" from a roadmap slide. Treat this skill as an option to test in your environment, not as an essential step: check the clickable elements in presentation mode and plan for a static slide if interactivity does not suit you. To structure other reusable requests, see our five Microsoft 365 Copilot skills to master.

Frequently asked questions

Can Copilot Chat without a Premium license use these ten prompts?

Not all of them under the same conditions. A request based on an attached file or open content can remain relevant, but automatic search across emails, meetings, chats and files via Work IQ requires the Microsoft 365 Copilot Premium license.

Where did the "Work" and "Web" modes go?

Selecting them now goes through the Work IQ button, which turns the use of work data on or off. Check its state before running a prompt that asks to cross-reference several internal sources.

Does a due date suggested by Copilot count as a decision?

No. A date proposed in a follow-up plan must remain labeled "proposed" until confirmed by the participants. The same rule applies to the owner of a task when the meeting did not clearly designate one.

Start with a verifiable case

First choose a file whose conversations and documents you know well. Run a prompt, open its references and note what it omitted or interpreted. You can then adapt the wording before distributing it to a team.

If your organization handles HR policies or sensitive follow-ups, start with the prompts that produce a draft to validate, rather than those that modify a workbook. Once the wording is stable, document and save your Copilot prompts with the expected checks.

Going further

• Microsoft Copilot license comparison — to choose the data context suited to each prompt.
• Microsoft Learn training on Copilot prompts — to apply the context, goal, source and expectations framework.
• Copilot Prompt Gallery from the PnP community — to find other wordings to adapt to your checks.