Copilot Tips and Tricks

Quick Links: | Copilot for Windows | Copilot for m365 |

Copilot is an AI companion that can assist you with various tasks, such as providing information, answering questions, engaging in conversation, and generating creative content. Copilot has different versions for different platforms, such as Windows and Microsoft 365.

Copilot for Windows is a chat-based assistant that can help you with Windows-related tasks, such as launching apps, changing settings, troubleshooting issues, and more. Copilot for Windows can also access your Windows environment metadata to provide personalized and contextual assistance.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is a productivity assistant that can help you with Microsoft 365-related tasks, such as creating documents, presentations, spreadsheets, emails, and more. Copilot for Microsoft 365 can also access your Microsoft 365 data and services to provide relevant and useful suggestions.

Copilot for Windows

Windows Copilot leverages copilot.microsoft.com in a secure way in which your company data is only stored for the copilot session, then is discarded.  This is different from other public AI models that may retain your data once you've submitted the prompt.

Windows Copilot is accessible on Windows 11 build 23H2 and newer by clicking the Copilot for Windows button shown below, or by pressing  Windows + C.  If you do not have the current version of Windows 11, you can upgrade in the Software Center.

When you start Windows Copilot, make sure "Work" is selected, or that you see a "lock" icon indicating that your company data will not be saved.

Windows Copilot is not able to access your company data unless you paste it into the window.

Copilot for m365

Copilot for m365 leverages Chico State data you have access to in locations such as OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, Outlook, and Teams.  It uses a "Semantic Search" which helps it reference more recent documents accessed by you and your coworkers, rather than leveraging stale data.  Currently Copilot for m365 can be accessed in Teams, Office Apps, and Outlook.  Copilot for OneDrive will be released at a later date.  Additional functionality is planned, and you can see in demo videos, such as managing your calendar and e-mail, but may not be available to Chico State right now.

Copilot in Office Apps

• Outlook - Compose emails, schedule meetings, reply to messages, follow up on tasks, and more. Copilot can also help you with email etiquette, tone, and style
  Copilot in Outlook - Microsoft Support
• Word - Generate text, rewrite sentences, paraphrase paragraphs, summarize documents, check grammar and spelling, and more. Copilot can also help you with research, citations, formatting, and design.
  Copilot in Word - Microsoft Support
• PowerPoint - Create slides, add animations, transitions, and effects, and more. Copilot can also help you with presentation design, content, and delivery.
  Copilot in PowerPoint - Microsoft Support
• Excel - Create formulas, charts, tables, pivot tables, and more. Copilot can also help you with data analysis, visualization, and insights.
  Copilot in Excel - Microsoft Support
• OneNote​​​​​​​ - Take notes, organize information, capture ideas, and more. Copilot can also help you with handwriting recognition, audio recording, web clipping, and sharing​​​​​​​.
  Copilot for OneNote - Microsoft Support

Copilot in Teams

Copilot in Teams has many potential use cases.  This article will touch base into the content creation aspects and the ability to summarize calls and meetings.

• Content Creation - In the Teams "Chat" tab, Copilot appears across the top menu.  This will give you access to a Chat interface that can address content relevant information.  This chat can pull data from E-mail, OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, and other data sources connected to Microsoft Graph.  For example, try some of the following prompts:
  • What's the latest from <user>? - This will summarize information you already have access to and provide content the user has been recently working on.
  • What are the key points from <file>? - This will parse a file that you have access to in your Team, OneDrive, SharePoint, or E-mail.  You do not need to tell the cat where the file resides, only mention it by the name.  For example, copy the campus strategic plan into your OneDrive account and ask Copilot questions about it here.
  • Draft an Knowledge Base article based on <file|topic>. - This will create information that you can put into a Knowledge Base article based on the topic or file.
• Summarize meeting or call - Copilot can summarize a meeting or call if it has access to transcripts.  Note that transcripts and captions are different.  Both show a speech to text conversation, however transcripts are stored and captions are not stored.  To start transcriptions during meetings and phone calls, select "Start Transcript" under the "Record and Transcribe" menu.
  

For more information, refer to Copilot in Microsoft Teams meetings - Microsoft Support.

Faculty: If you need help on how to integrate the technology into your coursework, please contact the Technology and Learning Program.