Craft content with Copilot in Microsoft Word

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When you're creating documents in Word, you're rarely starting from scratch. Most of the time, you're working from ideas surfaced through emails, meeting notes, or existing files.

Copilot supports that workflow. In this unit, you'll learn where to start in Word, how to write prompts that produce useful results, and how referencing content affects what Copilot generates.

How Copilot uses context when drafting

Copilot in Word can access content you already work with across Microsoft 365, including files, emails, meetings, and chats. When you reference specific sources in a prompt, Copilot uses that content as input. Instead of generating general text, it uses the information from those sources to shape the draft.

The difference is practical:

• A prompt with no references produces general content
• A prompt that includes a project brief, stakeholder emails, and meeting notes produces a draft based on that material

Where to start in Word

Copilot in Word has two primary ways to begin working:

• On-canvas drafting: Use Draft with Copilot at the top of a new document, or highlight text, and select to Edit with Copilot to update content where you're working. Use this when you're building content in the document itself.
• Copilot pane: Open from the Home tab. Use this entry point when you want to ask questions, summarize content, or iterate before inserting results into your document.

Prompt quality

The level of detail in your prompt affects the output. A short or general prompt produces broad results. Adding details such as purpose, audience, structure, and tone results in more targeted output.

Useful prompts for drafting in Word include:

• Summarize this document or Summarize the key points of [section]
• Generate a table of contents
• Rewrite this paragraph [with specific instruction for tone or focus]
• Format this document

Examples of generic vs. detailed prompts

Prompt	Prompt type	What you get
Summarize this document.	Generic	A brief summary that may miss key points or specific nuance.
Summarize the key points of the first three sections of this document, focusing on the main objectives and outcomes discussed.	Detailed	A focused summary of the objectives and outcomes of those sections.
Rewrite this paragraph.	Generic	A rephrased version that may not match the intended tone or emphasis.
Rewrite this paragraph to make it more formal and emphasize the importance of the project's timeline.	Detailed	A formal rephrasing that highlights the project's timeline, aligned to the tone you specified.

Tip

Browse and save prompts in the Microsoft Prompt Library. Prompts are organized by role, function, and industry, and can be shared with colleagues.

Draft a new document

To create a document from a prompt:

1. Open a new blank Word document.

2. Select the on-canvas Describe what you'd like to draft with Copilot prompt box at the top of the document.

3. Enter a prompt that includes the document type, purpose, intended audience, and structure you need. For example:

   

4. Submit the prompt.

5. Review the draft and select Keep it, Regenerate, or Discard. To refine without discarding, enter a follow-up prompt in the compose box, such as Make it more formal or Expand the Implementation Plan section.

Reference sources when drafting

You can ground a draft in your existing content by referencing files, emails, or meetings. Copilot uses that content to shape the output, so the draft reflects the information in those sources instead of general content. You can reference up to 20 items in a single prompt. Supported file types include Word, PowerPoint, PDF, and TXT files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint. You can also reference emails and meetings from your Microsoft 365 account.

Important

Files must be stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, and you must have permission to access them. Files stored only on a local device aren't accessible to Copilot.

To reference sources when drafting:

1. Open a new blank Word document.

2. In the on-canvas prompt box, enter your prompt.

3. Type / followed by the name of the file, email, or meeting you want to reference. Select it from the dropdown list, or select Add content to browse available files.

4. Add other references as needed, up to 20 items total.

5. Submit the prompt and review the draft.

   For example: Create a business proposal for Contoso. Follow the format and style used in /[your_business_proposal_document]

6. Select Insert to add the generated content to your document, or Edit in Word to continue editing directly.

Note

Referencing emails or meetings along with files adds conversational context. For example, referencing a kickoff meeting recap with a requirements document gives Copilot both the documented requirements and the decisions discussed in the meeting.

Automatic citations

When you draft using referenced content, Copilot automatically adds citations that indicate which sources informed the text. Citations appear inline and link back to the original source.

Draft with selected content

You can generate new content based on text, a list, or a table already in your document.

1. Select the content you want to use as context.
2. Open Copilot.
3. Enter a prompt describing what you want Copilot to generate.
4. Review the output and select Keep it, Regenerate, or Discard.

This is different from rewriting:

• Drafting with selected content creates new content based on the selection.
• Rewrite creates alternative versions of the selected text.

Tip

Copilot preserves the formatting of surrounding content, including headings, lists, and text styles, so you don't need to reformat after generating content.