Understand Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
What is Copilot Chat?
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is at the center of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Grounded in both web and work data, Copilot Chat helps you incorporate your work content, such as chats, email, and files. You can find Copilot Chat in the apps you use every day, like Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft Edge. Copilot helps you stay connected, be creative, and more productive.
How does it work?
Copilot Chat integrates data from various sources, including documents, presentations, emails, calendars, notes, and contacts within Microsoft Teams. Imagine preparing for a client pitch. You need all relevant information in one place. You can ask, Can you gather all documents related to the XYZ project? Copilot creates a unified information hub, making it easier for you to find and use information that might otherwise be buried in documents or lost in conversations. Copilot enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of your business communication by bringing together disparate data sources.
Copilot Chat also provides contextual insights that help you make informed decisions. For example, when preparing for a meeting or drafting a document, you can ask Copilot to pull relevant information from previous conversations, emails, and documents, offering a comprehensive view of the topic at hand. You might prompt, Can you provide the key points from all email exchanges regarding the Q1 report? This contextual awareness empowers you to respond more effectively and make decisions based on a complete understanding of the available information.
Iterative responses
Copilot Chat is designed to get better over time by learning from your interactions and feedback. As you use it, it gathers insights about your preferences and needs, which help Copilot to provide more accurate and personalized responses. For example, if you ask for help with drafting an email and then give feedback on the draft, Copilot Chat will use that feedback to improve future drafts. This continuous learning process ensures that the more you use Copilot Chat, the more it adapts to your style and becomes a more effective assistant.
Work-grounded vs Web-grounded prompts
With a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, the toggle at the top of the Copilot user interface allows you to switch between grounding your prompts in work and web data. Both modes provide generative AI services, but they serve different purposes to help you be more productive.
In work mode, Copilot Chat responses are grounded in work data available to you. Selecting work mode grounds Copilot in your Microsoft 365 data such as files, email, Teams meetings, and the large language model (LLM). It may or may not also include live web content depending on whether you have that setting turned on. When grounded in work data, Copilot Chat is where you can manage and complete tasks related to your work. You can draft emails, create documents, manage your calendar, and collaborate with colleagues directly from this mode.
In web mode, Copilot Chat is grounded in data from the public web in the Bing search index. Selecting Web grounds Copilot only in the LLM data Copilot was trained on and the live web, but not any of your Microsoft 365 data. It's useful for conducting research, finding resources, and staying updated with the latest news and trends.
The work and web modes are designed to streamline your workflow and make it easier to switch between work-based tasks and web-based information sources. Both work and web modes offer enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance.
Access Copilot Chat in Teams
One of the access points for Copilot Chat is the Microsoft Teams interface. Copilot Chat in Teams allows you to bring data from your documents, presentations, email, calendar, notes, and contacts into Microsoft Teams.
Note
Copilot Chat isn't the same as Copilot in Teams; the Copilot Chat feature is opened from the Copilot icon found on the left-side of the Teams app.
How to access Copilot Chat in Teams
Select the Copilot Chat icon on the left side of Teams.
Toggle the selection to Work at the top of the screen.
In the Message Copilot dialog, type your prompt. For example, Summarize my recent unread messages from [a person].
Select Send.
Once Copilot generates a response, select the sources to understand how the response was cited. You should always review AI-generated content for accuracy.