Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant that lives within your favorite Microsoft tools. This tool from Microsoft integrates seamlessly with services such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and Windows 11, acting as your personal productivity powerhouse. Microsoft Copilot is great at streamlining repetitive tasks. Need a clear and concise email? Copilot can draft it based on your input. Struggling with complex data in Excel? Copilot can automate calculations and generate reports for you without the need for a complex formula.
But Copilot goes beyond mere automation. It enables creativity by suggesting new content ideas, helping you overcome writer's block or brainstorm a brand-new sales copy. Whether you're a student, professional, or entrepreneur, Copilot is designed to assist and boost your productivity. Here are some ways you can use Copilot to enhance your work.
What are some of the best uses of Microsoft Copilot?
The versatility of Copilot allows it to be used as a problem solver, whether it is related to programming, work, or studies. Its ability to perform repetitive tasks with efficiency boosts individual and organizational productivity. Here are some uses of Microsoft Copilot.
1) Summarize long content
Reading through lengthy documents and email threads can be time-consuming. Thankfully, Copilot can act as your personal summarization assistant. While data summarization is not new to Copilot, it is unique in how it integrates into Microsoft Windows and Office.
Within Microsoft Word, simply ask Copilot to summarize a document, and the AI will break down the whole content into digestible key points. This is particularly helpful for grasping the gist of lengthy reports, contracts, or articles. The summarization feature is one of the best ways for efficient information processing.
2) Data analysis in Excel and PowerBI
One of the best uses for Microsoft Copilot comes in the form of complex data analysis in Excel and PowerBI. In Excel, there is no need to fiddle around with complex formulas. Simply tell Copilot in Excel what results you want, and the AI will generate a formula and output. Copilot can also highlight, filter, and sort your data using simple text commands.
Copilot in PowerBI allows you to easily create a report page or a summary page. It can analyze data and provide charts, graphs, and trend analysis. It can also answer specific questions related to the data, such as the increase or decrease in data points, a summary of the report in bullet points, etc.
3) Writing emails, reports, and sales copies using Copilot
Copilot shines in tasks that require a specific text structure and format. It can quickly provide a first draft to get you started with work. It can also iterate on the said draft by suggesting changes in style, tone, structure, and length.
Certainly, one of the best uses of Microsoft Copilot comes in rephrasing and paraphrasing lengthy text. You can ask AI to rewrite the same information with a different tone or style. It can also help overcome writer’s block by providing various suggestions and improvements.
4) Meeting summary using Microsoft Copilot
Copilot for Microsoft Teams can summarize key discussion points, suggest actionable items, and prepare a real-time transcript of the meeting. It can also recognize what participants said and what topics they agreed or disagreed on.
The collected data can be revisited to find the important points of discussion during the meeting or summarize the discussion points for any participant who joined late.
5) Explanation of complex topics
Just like other AI chatbots on the internet, Copilot can be a powerful tool for understanding complex topics. It analyzes the context of your query and suggests related information.
The AI acts as your personal teacher and provides you with information in simple, digestible language. Since the LLM (Large Language Model) allows you to hold one-on-one conversations with it, you can cross-question it and seek more information to get comprehensive knowledge on any particular topic.
6) Writing and understanding code using Copilot
Github Copilot provides suggestions for programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, Ruby, C#, C++, etc. Copilot is different from ChatGPT for programmers because of its ease of access. It is integrated into Visual Studio Code and allows programmers to view code suggestions and errors directly in their code editors.
You can ask the Copilot to check for improvements, coding best practices, and more. The AI will then describe the flaws and provide examples of potential fixes. If you face difficulty understanding any piece of code, you can ask the AI to break it down into simple words.
7) Preparing content plans using Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot can assist in the preparation of a content plan. It can help brainstorm and outline keywords, target audiences, and desired content types.
Copilot can also help you write scripts for videos and act as a researcher to back up your content with statistics and data points. Although it cannot completely automate the task, it can significantly help streamline specific aspects of content planning and can be used as a powerful tool for research, analysis, and fact-checking.
