The Copilot button in Word can draft, summarize, and rewrite your text. In Excel it can explain your data, build formulas from plain English, and suggest charts. You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, but no technical skills at all.
That small purple Copilot icon has been sitting in your toolbar for months. Maybe you've been ignoring it, unsure what it actually does. You're in good company — most people who use Word and Excel every day still haven't clicked it. This guide walks you through exactly what happens when you do.
Find the Copilot button
Open any Word document or Excel spreadsheet. Look for a purple or blue icon near the top-right of the toolbar — it usually has the word Copilot next to it. Clicking it opens a chat panel on the right side of your screen.
If you don't see it, your Microsoft 365 account may not include the Copilot add-on license. Ask your IT department or visit your Microsoft account page to check.
Summarize a long Word document
Open a report, contract, or meeting notes that would normally take you ten minutes to skim. Click the Copilot button, then type into the panel: "Summarize this document in five bullet points."
Copilot reads the whole file and returns a condensed version in seconds. This is one of the most immediately useful things it does — you get the key points without reading every paragraph.
Draft new text in Word
Click in your document where you want to add text. A small Copilot icon appears in the left margin — click it, or use the Copilot panel directly. Type what you need, like: "Write a short introduction for a report about our Q2 sales results."
Copilot generates a draft paragraph you can keep, edit, or throw away. Think of it as a first draft you didn't have to write yourself.
Rewrite or improve existing text
Highlight any text you've already written. Right-click and look for a Copilot option, or paste the text into the Copilot panel and describe what you want.
Requests that work well:
- "Make this shorter and easier to read."
- "Rewrite this in a more professional tone."
- "Simplify this for someone outside our industry."
Copilot offers a revised version. You decide whether to use it.
Switch to Excel: ask Copilot to explain your data
Open a spreadsheet with rows and columns of data — a budget, a list of sales figures, anything. Open the Copilot panel and ask a plain-English question about it.
Try: "What does this data tell me about spending over the last three months?" or "Which product had the highest total?" Copilot answers in normal sentences. No formulas needed to get basic answers.
Build a formula from plain English
Instead of searching online for the right Excel formula, describe what you want to Copilot. In the panel, type something like: "Give me a formula that adds up all sales in column B where column A says 'North.'"
Copilot writes the formula and explains what each part does. Copy it into your cell. Always test it on a few rows whose correct answers you already know — Copilot occasionally gets the cell range wrong.
Create a chart or visual summary
Select your data range in Excel, open the Copilot panel, and type: "Create a bar chart showing monthly revenue." Copilot can suggest chart types and insert one directly into your sheet.
If it doesn't look right, describe the change: "Show only the top five categories" or "Switch to a line chart." Keep refining until it looks the way you need.
What to try next
Now that you know the basics, sharper prompts will get you much better results. The guide on writing AI prompts that actually work shows exactly how to phrase requests so you get what you want on the first try. If your workplace uses Google tools instead of Microsoft, Gemini in Gmail and Google Docs covers the same ground for that ecosystem.
