Microsoft just made it exciting to work in its apps. With Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions, anyone (not just Enterprise or Business customers) can have the power of an AI companion by their side in Microsoft 365 apps like Word.

With Copilot in Microsoft Word, you can write your document much more quickly than you normally would. It can even help with research right there in the Word Processor. So you don't have to rely on other tools and spend your time going back and forth to enlist the help of an AI if your preferred place to work is Word. You can use Copilot in Word on the web, Windows, Mac, and iPad apps. Support for Copilot in iPhone and Android apps for Microsoft is on the roadmap.

Here's how you can use Copilot in Word to enhance your productivity.

Get Copilot in Word

Ideally, if you have a Copilot Pro and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, you should automatically get Copilot in your Word app. However, realistically speaking, that won't be the case. The good news is that it shouldn't be much of a hassle to get Copilot in Word if you're lucky.

  1. The 'Copilot' button will appear on the 'Home' tab ribbon.
  1. The simplest thing you want to do if you can't see the Copilot button is quit Microsoft Word – all instances of it. On Windows, it includes simply clicking the 'Close' button. On Mac, you'll want to right-click the app icon from the dock and click 'Quit' from the context menu to completely close the app.
  1. Then, reopen Word, and the Copilot button should appear when you open a document.
  2. In case this doesn't work, you can try this alternative: go to the 'File' option.
  1. Navigate to 'Account'.
  1. Then, click the 'Update License' button.
  1. You'll need to sign in to verify your subscription. Click on the 'Sign in' button and log into your Microsoft account that's associated with both the Microsoft 365 and Copilot Pro subscriptions.
  1. Once you've signed in, re-open Word, and you should have the Copilot button.
  2. If it still doesn't appear, you'll need to re-install Word.

Using Copilot in Word

Whether you're using Word on the Web, Windows, or Mac, the interface and the process for using the AI assistant are the same. You can use Copilot in Word for a number of use cases.

Drafting with Copilot

One of the most important things that Copilot can help you with in Word is writing content. So, if you often find yourself staring at the blank screen, intimidated by the prospect of getting started, the AI can help you by generating a draft that you can refine.

  1. When you open a blank document, you'll get the 'Draft with Copilot' dialog box automatically on your screen.
  1. In an existing document, the 'Draft with Copilot' button appears when you create a new line. In documents that already have existing content, you can also click the 'Inspire Me' button; Copilot will keep writing based on what's already in the document.
  1. You can also summon Copilot to help with drafting at any time while writing in the document by going to a new line and clicking the 'Copilot' button that appears or by using the Alt + I keyboard shortcut.
  1. In the 'Draft with Copilot' button, enter your prompt. The prompt can be a simple request like “Write a proposal for a new product [product name]” or complex, like providing outlines or notes.
Note: 'Copilot Pro' differs from the 'Copilot with Microsoft 365' subscription here. The latter also sports an option that lets you upload up to 3 files as input to ground the draft that Copilot will produce. However, Copilot Pro offers no such option. While you can copy-paste outlines or notes to provide them as context, that's it; the prompt input has a limit of 2000 characters.
  1. Click on 'Generate' to proceed.
  1. Copilot will start producing content. You can click 'Stop generating' to stop its response in the middle.
  1. Once it has produced the draft, you'll have 4 further options at your disposal. You can either choose to 'Keep it', 'Regenerate', or 'Delete' the content it has written.

    While asking it to regenerate content, you can also give it additional instructions, like "Make it concise" or "Make it more professional," by entering the prompt in the 'Compose' box.
  1. If you ask it to regenerate, you can navigate between different versions by using the '<' and '>' arrows.
  1. To close the Copilot dialog box, you'll need to choose to either keep the content or discard it.

Transform Document with Copilot

Copilot can also help transform an existing document and not just write original content. So, when there's no shortage of thoughts, but the only problem is that your thoughts look like a toddler trying to solve a puzzle, Copilot can help clean up the mess.

  1. In the document, highlight the content that you want to transform.
  2. Then, click the 'Copilot' icon that appears.
  1. From the 'Copilot' menu, click on 'Rewrite with Copilot'.
  1. Copilot will provide a few suggestions for the rewrite. Click on the '<' and '>' arrows to navigate between them. If you like a rewrite, you can either 'Replace' the original content with it or use the 'Insert Below' option to keep both the original and the rewritten content.

    If you don't like the rewrites, click on the 'Regenerate' button to get a new set of responses. You can also use the 'Adjust Tone' button to change the tone before having Copilot regenerate the content.
  1. Copilot can also transform your text into a table. Highlight the text, click the Copilot button, and select 'Visualize as a table' from the menu.
  1. It will generate a table for the selected text. If there is more than one suggestion, use the arrows to navigate between them.

    Other options include 'Keep it' if you want to keep the table, 'Discard', 'Regenerate', and giving more instructions to Copilot (for example, if you want it to add another column).

Chat with Copilot

The last thing you can do with Copilot in Word is chat with it.

  1. Click on the 'Copilot' icon from the 'Home' tab ribbon.
  1. The chat panel will open on the right.
  1. You can ask Copilot a variety of questions through the chat interface. You can ask it to write about something, change the content, summarize the document, or ask a question about the document. Enter your prompt in the prompt area and click on the 'Send' button.
  1. You can also use voice typing to dictate the prompt by clicking the 'Microphone' icon.
  1. If you're not sure about what you can use Copilot for, click on the 'View Prompts' button (book icon).
  1. It contains a few prompt ideas for different use cases like 'Create', 'Understand', 'Ask', etc., to help you get started.
  1. When you ask questions about the document or generate summaries, the AI also provides citations so you can verify the information it based its answers on.
  1. You can also use the chat panel for research by asking questions outside of the document, and Copilot will answer them.
  2. However, chats with the AI are not retained and are cleared as soon as you close the chat panel.

The integration of Copilot into Microsoft Word has revolutionized document creation and editing. With its user-friendly interface, it’s now easier than ever for those with Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions to enhance their writing experience.