Prompt Library

50 Copilot Prompts That Actually Save Time at Work

50 copy-paste prompts

A copy-paste library for Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot, covering Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams meeting notes, and code. Every prompt is written to reference your real files, threads, and meetings instead of guessing.

In short: This page contains 50 copy-paste ready prompts, organized into 6 categories with a description and pro tip for each. The first 5 prompts are free instantly, no signup needed. Hand-curated and tested by the AI Academy team.

By Louis Corneloup · Founder, Techpresso

Last updated July 25, 2026·Hand-curated & tested by the AI Academy team

Word & Documents

8 prompts

Draft a Document From a Brief

1/50

Draft a [type of document, e.g. project proposal] about [topic] for [audience]. Use a [professional/friendly] tone, keep it under [word count], and structure it with a short intro, [number] main sections with headings, and a clear next-steps conclusion. Pull any relevant details from [/file name or this document].

Generates a full first draft in Word from a one-line brief, optionally grounding it in an existing file. Use it to skip the blank-page stage.

💡

Pro tip: Type a forward slash in the Copilot box to pick a real file from OneDrive or SharePoint (for example /Q3 Plan.docx) so the draft is grounded in your content instead of invented details.

Rewrite for Tone and Length

2/50

Rewrite the selected text to be [more concise/more formal/friendlier] and cut the length by about [30%]. Keep all key facts and any numbers exactly as written, preserve the headings, and flag in a short note at the end anything you removed that I should double-check.

Tightens or reframes a passage you have selected in Word without losing meaning. Use it for executive summaries and polish passes.

💡

Pro tip: Ask Copilot to flag anything it removed so you can catch cases where it drops a caveat or number you actually needed.

Summarize a Long Document

3/50

Summarize this document into [5] key takeaways and a one-paragraph executive summary. Then list any open questions, risks, or decisions that still need an owner. Keep it skimmable with bullet points and bold the most important phrase in each bullet.

Turns a long Word doc into a leadership-ready brief. Use it before forwarding reports you have not had time to read fully.

💡

Pro tip: Asking for open questions and decisions that need an owner surfaces gaps the author left out, not just a restatement of what is already there.

Merge Several Documents Into One Brief

4/50

Using [/file 1], [/file 2], and [/file 3], write a single [2-page] brief for [audience]. Merge overlapping points, keep the strongest version of each argument, and add a short section listing where the sources disagree or contradict each other.

Consolidates multiple source documents into one coherent brief and surfaces conflicts between them. Use it when three teams sent three versions of the same update.

💡

Pro tip: You can reference several files in one prompt by typing a forward slash before each one. Use Browse all files if the document you need is not in the suggested list.

Turn a Document Into a Client-Ready Version

5/50

Rewrite this document for an external [client/partner] audience. Remove internal jargon, acronyms, and anything confidential such as internal costs or staff names. Explain any technical terms in one clause, keep the structure, and list at the end everything you stripped out so I can confirm.

Converts an internal doc into a version you can safely send outside the company. Use it before sharing a plan or report with a client.

💡

Pro tip: Always read the list of what it removed. Copilot judges confidentiality from wording alone and can miss context that only you know is sensitive.

Write Release Notes From a Changelog

6/50

Turn these raw changes into customer-facing release notes: [paste the changelog or reference /file]. Group them into New, Improved, and Fixed. Write each item in one sentence focused on the user benefit rather than the technical change, and keep the whole thing under [300] words.

Converts an engineering changelog into readable release notes for customers. Use it for every product update instead of rewriting bullets by hand.

💡

Pro tip: Say "focused on the user benefit" or Copilot will simply reformat your commit messages, which reads as noise to customers.

Build a Document From a Template

7/50

Create a [statement of work/project charter] following the exact structure of [/template file]: same section headings, same order, same tone. Fill it in using the details from [/source file or the notes below], and put [TBD] in any section where the source material does not give you an answer.

Reuses an approved internal template and fills it with new project details. Use it so every document your team produces looks the same.

💡

Pro tip: Requiring [TBD] for missing sections is the single best guard against Copilot inventing scope, dates, or pricing that nobody agreed to.

Stress-Test a Draft Before Sending

8/50

Review this document as if you were [a skeptical CFO/our biggest client]. List the [5] weakest claims, the questions they would ask that this draft does not answer, and any place where the logic jumps ahead. Be blunt and specific, quote the sentence you are criticizing, and do not rewrite the document.

Gets a critical review of your draft from the perspective of the person who will actually read it. Use it before high-stakes documents go out.

💡

Pro tip: Add "do not rewrite the document" or Copilot defaults to producing a polished new version instead of telling you what is wrong with yours.

Prompts get you started. Tutorials level you up.

A growing library of 300+ hands-on AI tutorials. New tutorials added every week.

Start 7-Day Free Trial

Excel & Data

8 prompts

Explain and Build a Formula

9/50

In this sheet, I want to [calculate the % change between column C and column D, ignoring blanks]. Write the exact formula, tell me which cell to put it in, explain in one sentence what each part does, and warn me about any edge cases such as dividing by zero that I should handle.

Turns a plain-English goal into a working Excel formula with an explanation. Use it instead of hunting through function docs.

💡

Pro tip: Asking about edge cases makes Copilot add IFERROR or blank handling you would otherwise discover only when the sheet breaks in front of someone.

Analyze a Table for Trends

10/50

Analyze the data in this table and tell me the top [3] trends, any outliers, and the single most important insight a manager should know. Reference specific rows or values to back up each point, then suggest one chart type that would best visualize the main trend.

Pulls insights and anomalies out of an Excel range and recommends how to visualize them. Use it as a first pass before building a report.

💡

Pro tip: Make Copilot cite specific rows and values for each claim so you can verify it against the data rather than trusting a vague summary.

Clean Up Messy Data

11/50

Suggest steps to clean this table for analysis: identify inconsistent formatting, duplicates, blank cells, and date columns stored as text. For each issue list the affected columns and the exact Excel feature or formula to fix it, in the order I should apply them.

Audits a dataset for common quality problems and gives a fix sequence. Use it before pivot tables or charts.

💡

Pro tip: Request the fixes in the order you should apply them so deduping does not undo the formatting changes you just made.

Add a Status Flag Column

12/50

Add a new column that flags each row as ["On track", "At risk", or "Overdue"] based on [the date in column E versus today]. Give me the formula, explain the logic, and suggest conditional formatting colors so the statuses are easy to scan.

Creates a rule-based status column with formatting guidance. Use it to turn raw dates or numbers into an at-a-glance tracker.

💡

Pro tip: Pair the formula request with a conditional-formatting suggestion so the column is readable the moment it is added.

Build a PivotTable From a Question

13/50

I want to know [revenue by region and month for this year]. Build the PivotTable that answers it: tell me which fields go in rows, columns, and values, which aggregation to use, and how to sort it so the biggest contributors are at the top. Then describe in two sentences what the result shows.

Designs the right PivotTable layout from a business question instead of you dragging fields around until it looks right.

💡

Pro tip: Copilot works best on data formatted as an Excel table. Select your range and press Ctrl+T first, and give the columns clear headers.

Reconcile Two Data Sets

14/50

Compare [sheet A] and [sheet B] on [the invoice ID column]. Tell me which rows exist in one but not the other, which rows match but have different [amounts], and give me the formula or approach to produce that list automatically so I can rerun it next month.

Finds mismatches between two versions of the same data. Use it for month-end reconciliation, CRM exports, and headcount lists.

💡

Pro tip: Ask for a repeatable approach, not just the answer, so next month you rerun a formula instead of asking Copilot from scratch.

Forecast From Historical Data

15/50

Using the [monthly] history in this table, project [the next 6 months] of [revenue]. Show the method you used, state the assumptions in plain language, give a low, expected, and high case, and tell me which assumption the forecast is most sensitive to.

Produces a defensible forecast with its assumptions written out. Use it for budgets and planning conversations.

💡

Pro tip: Requiring assumptions in plain language is what makes the forecast reviewable. A number without a stated method is not something you can present.

Chart the Story, Not the Data

16/50

Build a chart from this table that makes the point that [our churn dropped after the March release]. Choose the chart type, tell me which columns to plot, suggest a title that states the takeaway rather than describing the axes, and note anything in the data that would undermine this conclusion.

Creates a chart designed to communicate a specific conclusion, plus an honesty check. Use it for board decks and QBRs.

💡

Pro tip: Asking what would undermine the conclusion is the difference between a chart and a spin exercise. It catches the outlier your audience will spot.

PowerPoint & Presentations

8 prompts

Build a Deck From a Word Document

17/50

Create a [10]-slide presentation based on [/document name] for [audience]. Use one clear idea per slide, write a punchy title and 3 to 4 concise bullets each, suggest a relevant image or icon per slide, and finish with a summary slide and a call-to-action slide.

Converts a Word doc or brief into a structured PowerPoint deck. Use it to skip building slides from scratch.

💡

Pro tip: Specify one idea per slide and a slide count, or Copilot overloads slides and produces a deck that is too long to actually present.

Rewrite Slide Text to Be Punchy

18/50

Rewrite the text on this slide to be more concise and presentation-ready: short phrases instead of full sentences, a maximum of [5] bullets, and a stronger title. Keep all the key numbers and suggest where a chart or visual would communicate the point better than text.

Tightens wordy slides into scannable talking points. Use it on slides that read like paragraphs.

💡

Pro tip: Asking where a visual would communicate better than text cuts bullet bloat and identifies the slides that should become a chart.

Generate Speaker Notes

19/50

Write speaker notes for each slide in this deck. For every slide give me [3] talking points in the order I should say them, one transition sentence into the next slide, and a rough time budget so the whole deck fits in [20] minutes. Write it the way I would say it out loud, not the way it reads on the slide.

Adds presenter notes to a finished deck so you can rehearse instead of improvising. Use it the night before a presentation.

💡

Pro tip: The time budget is the useful part. It tells you immediately whether your 30-slide deck fits a 20-minute slot, which it usually does not.

Restructure a Deck That Does Not Flow

20/50

Review this deck as a narrative. Tell me the story it currently tells, where the argument breaks or repeats, which slides should be reordered, merged, or cut, and what is missing before the ask on the final slide. Give me a recommended slide order with a one-line reason for each change.

Audits the structure of an existing deck rather than the wording. Use it when a presentation feels long but you cannot say why.

💡

Pro tip: Copilot can only see the deck it is in, so open the actual file first. Reviewing a deck by pasting slide titles into chat loses everything that matters.

Add a Slide That Is Missing

21/50

Add a slide after slide [4] that covers [the implementation timeline]. Match the tone, bullet style, and level of detail of the surrounding slides, keep it to [4] bullets, and suggest a simple visual such as a timeline or a three-column layout.

Inserts a single new slide that matches the deck you already have. Use it when a reviewer asks for one more section.

💡

Pro tip: Naming the position and telling Copilot to match the surrounding slides prevents a new slide that visibly comes from a different deck.

Summarize a Deck Someone Sent You

22/50

Summarize this presentation in [10] bullets: what is being proposed, the supporting evidence, the ask, and the assumptions it depends on. Then list the [3] questions I should ask in the meeting, and flag any claim that is stated without data behind it.

Reads a long deck for you and prepares your questions. Use it when a 60-slide deck lands an hour before the review.

💡

Pro tip: Copilot in PowerPoint can summarize large decks, but very long files can get truncated. Split a 150-slide deck before asking for a full summary.

Adapt One Deck for a New Audience

23/50

Adapt this deck for [an executive audience instead of the technical team]. Cut implementation detail, lead with the business outcome and the numbers, reduce it to [7] slides, and rewrite every slide title so it states a conclusion. Tell me which slides you removed and why.

Repurposes an existing presentation for a different room. Use it instead of maintaining two versions of the same story.

💡

Pro tip: Rewriting titles so they state a conclusion is the highest-leverage change in any deck. An executive who reads only the titles should get the whole argument.

Write the Follow-Up After You Present

24/50

Based on this deck, draft a follow-up email to [audience] recapping the [3] main points, the decision we asked for, and the next steps with owners. Keep it under [150] words, attach nothing, and end with a single clear question that makes it easy to reply yes or no.

Turns the deck you just presented into the email that gets a decision. Use it within an hour of the meeting.

💡

Pro tip: Ending with one yes-or-no question consistently gets faster replies than a summary that leaves the reader to work out what you want.

Like these prompts? There are full tutorials behind them.

Learn the workflows, not just the prompts. 300+ easy-to-follow tutorials inside AI Academy — and growing every week.

Try AI Academy Free

Outlook & Email

8 prompts

Reply to an Email Thread

25/50

Draft a reply to this email thread that [confirms the meeting / declines politely / answers their three questions]. Match the sender's level of formality, keep it under [120 words], end with a clear call to action, and leave a [bracketed placeholder] anywhere I need to add a specific detail.

Writes a context-aware Outlook reply grounded in the full thread. Use it to clear your inbox faster without losing nuance.

💡

Pro tip: Telling Copilot to leave bracketed placeholders for specifics it cannot know, such as dates or prices, means you never send a confidently wrong reply.

Catch Up on a Long Thread

26/50

Summarize this email thread: who is involved, what has been decided, what is still open, and what action is expected from me. Present it as a short bulleted brief, then suggest a one-line reply I could send to move it forward.

Distills a tangled Outlook thread into who, what, and next. Use it when you have been added late to a conversation.

💡

Pro tip: Ending with a suggested one-line reply turns the summary into an action instead of just context you still have to act on.

Triage Your Inbox

27/50

Go through my unread email from [the last 3 days] and group it into: needs a reply from me today, waiting on someone else, FYI only, and can be archived. For each item in the first group, give me the sender, the ask in one line, and how urgent it looks based on the thread.

Turns a full inbox into a short work list. Use it after time off or first thing on Monday.

💡

Pro tip: Copilot in Outlook can prioritize your inbox natively, but a grouped prompt like this gives you the reasoning, so you can disagree with its ranking.

Write a Follow-Up That Is Not Annoying

28/50

Draft a follow-up to this thread. It has been [8] days with no reply. Keep it under [60] words, do not apologize for following up, restate the one thing I need and by when, and give them an easy out if the answer is no. Suggest a subject line that makes the ask visible in the preview.

Writes a short chaser that gets a response. Use it on stalled deals, approvals, and vendor threads.

💡

Pro tip: The "do not apologize" instruction matters. Copilot defaults to hedging openers like "sorry to bother you" that make the ask easier to ignore.

Turn a Thread Into a Decision Log

29/50

Read this thread and produce a decision log: each decision, who made it, the date, and the message it came from. Then list anything that was raised but never resolved. Format it as a table I can paste into [a Word doc / our project page].

Extracts the record from a long email argument. Use it when a project needs an audit trail of who agreed to what.

💡

Pro tip: Asking for the message each decision came from lets you verify it. Copilot occasionally reads a proposal as a decision when nobody actually confirmed.

Check Tone Before You Send

30/50

Review this draft before I send it to [recipient, who is currently frustrated about the delay]. Tell me how it will land, flag any sentence that sounds defensive, dismissive, or passive-aggressive, and suggest a rewrite for each one. Do not soften the actual message, only the delivery.

Pressure-tests a sensitive email before it goes out. Use it for escalations, pushback, and bad news.

💡

Pro tip: Copilot in Outlook has a built-in Coach that reviews tone, clarity, and sentiment on a draft. This prompt does the same job with the context you add about the recipient.

Draft a Difficult Message

31/50

Draft an email telling [client/team] that [the delivery date is slipping by three weeks]. Lead with the news in the first sentence, give the reason in one line without blaming anyone, state exactly what we are doing about it and the new date, and close by inviting a call. Under [150] words, no filler.

Writes the email you have been putting off. Use it for delays, price changes, and scope pushback.

💡

Pro tip: Lead with the news is the key instruction. Left alone, Copilot buries the bad part in paragraph three, which reads as evasive.

Plan Your Day From Mail and Calendar

32/50

Based on my calendar and recent emails, suggest a priority plan for today. Group tasks into [must-do, should-do, can-wait], flag any meetings I am unprepared for, and call out one thing that is easy to forget. Keep it to a short, scannable list.

Pulls your Microsoft 365 context into a prioritized daily plan. Use it first thing in the morning to set focus.

💡

Pro tip: Flagging meetings you are unprepared for turns the plan into prep triggers rather than a to-do list you will ignore by 11am.

Teams & Meeting Notes

9 prompts

Recap a Teams Meeting

33/50

Summarize this meeting: list the key decisions, the action items with an owner and due date where mentioned, and any unresolved questions. Then draft a short follow-up message I can post in the channel recapping what was agreed and who owns what.

Turns a Teams meeting transcript into decisions and action items, plus the message that shares them. Use it right after a call so nothing slips.

💡

Pro tip: Copilot can only recap a meeting that was recorded or transcribed. Turn on transcription before the call starts, because you cannot add it afterwards.

Catch Up on a Meeting You Missed

34/50

I missed this meeting. Give me a brief catch-up: what was discussed, what was decided, anything that mentioned [my name or my project], and whether there is any action expected from me. Keep it to a short bulleted summary and bold anything that needs my response.

Lets you get caught up on a recorded Teams meeting in seconds. Use it instead of rewatching the full recording.

💡

Pro tip: Naming your project explicitly makes Copilot surface mentions you would otherwise miss halfway through a 50-minute transcript.

Extract Only the Action Items

35/50

From this meeting, list only the action items. One line each: owner, the action phrased as a verb, the due date if one was given, and the timestamp where it was agreed. Skip discussion, context, and anything that was suggested but not committed to. If an item has no clear owner, put OWNER UNCLEAR.

Produces a clean task list with nothing else attached. Use it to paste straight into Planner, To Do, or your tracker.

💡

Pro tip: OWNER UNCLEAR is the trick that makes this reliable. Copilot otherwise assigns tasks to whoever spoke last, which quietly creates fake accountability.

Write Formal Minutes

36/50

Produce formal minutes for this meeting: date, attendees, apologies, agenda items in order, a short record of the discussion under each, decisions taken with any vote or approval noted, and actions with owners. Neutral third-person tone, no adjectives, no interpretation of what people meant.

Generates governance-grade minutes from a Teams recording. Use it for board meetings, steering committees, and anything auditable.

💡

Pro tip: The instruction against interpretation matters here. Copilot tends to smooth over disagreement, and minutes that hide a dissent are worse than no minutes.

Find What Was Decided About One Topic

37/50

Across this meeting, pull out everything related to [topic]. Give me what was said, by whom, in what order, and what the conclusion was. Quote the key lines. If the topic came up more than once, keep them separate rather than merging them into one summary.

Searches a long meeting for a single thread of conversation. Use it when only one agenda item concerns you.

💡

Pro tip: Keeping repeat mentions separate matters because positions change during a meeting. A merged summary can present someone's first take as their final one.

Turn Notes Into Action Items

38/50

Convert these rough notes into a clean action list: [paste notes or reference the file]. Each item should have an owner, a clear next step phrased as a verb, and a due date where one is implied. Flag anything too vague to act on so I can clarify it.

Transforms messy notes into an assignable task list. Use it after brainstorms or calls you took notes in by hand.

💡

Pro tip: Having Copilot flag vague items separately stops you assigning half-defined tasks that bounce back a week later.

Prep for a Meeting

39/50

Help me prepare for my upcoming meeting about [topic] with [person/team]. Summarize recent relevant emails and documents, suggest [3] talking points, list likely questions they may ask, and draft one strong opening line. Keep it on a single screen.

Builds a quick brief from your recent Microsoft 365 history before a meeting. Use it five minutes before you join.

💡

Pro tip: Naming the person or team lets Copilot pull the specific thread and file history, which makes the talking points far sharper than a generic agenda.

Summarize a Busy Teams Channel

40/50

Summarize the activity in this channel from [the last week]: main topics, decisions made in chat, questions still unanswered, and anything directed at me or [my team]. Group by topic rather than chronologically, and note which threads are still active.

Condenses a week of channel chatter into topics and open loops. Use it on Monday morning or after time off.

💡

Pro tip: Grouping by topic instead of by day is what makes this readable. Chronological summaries of chat recreate the same mess you were trying to escape.

Compare Two Meetings on the Same Project

41/50

Compare [meeting 1] and [meeting 2] on [project]. What changed between them: decisions that were reversed, dates that moved, scope that was added, and concerns that were raised in the first and never addressed in the second. Present it as a short before-and-after list.

Tracks how a project drifted across two meetings. Use it before a steering committee or when a timeline quietly slipped.

💡

Pro tip: Both meetings need saved transcripts for this to work. Reference each one by name in the prompt so Copilot pulls the right recordings.

Go from copy-pasting to actually mastering AI.

AI Academy: 300+ hands-on tutorials on ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, and 50+ other tools. New tutorials added every week.

Start Your Free Trial

GitHub Copilot for Developers

9 prompts

Explain Unfamiliar Code

42/50

Explain what #selection does in plain language, step by step. Call out the inputs and outputs, any side effects or external calls, and one thing that could break it. Assume I am familiar with [language] but new to this codebase.

Uses GitHub Copilot Chat to demystify a function or block before you change it. Use it when onboarding to a new repo.

💡

Pro tip: Stating your familiarity level stops Copilot explaining basic syntax and pushes it toward the part that is actually confusing: the project-specific logic.

Generate Unit Tests

43/50

/tests for #selection using [testing framework]. Cover the happy path, edge cases, and at least one failure case. Use clear test names that describe the scenario, mock any external dependencies, and add a comment for any case you think I should verify manually.

Scaffolds a test suite for the current function with edge and failure cases. Use it to lock in behavior before refactoring.

💡

Pro tip: Asking it to comment the cases to verify manually surfaces the assumptions it baked into mocks, which is where generated tests usually go wrong.

Refactor for Readability

44/50

Refactor #selection to be more readable and maintainable without changing its behavior. Improve naming, reduce nesting, and extract reusable logic where it makes sense. Show the updated version, then list the specific changes you made and why in a short bullet list.

Cleans up a working block while preserving behavior, with a change log. Use it on code that works but is hard to follow.

💡

Pro tip: Requiring the list of changes and why lets you review the diff intentionally instead of trusting a silent rewrite of code you shipped.

Debug an Error

45/50

I am getting this error: [paste error message]. The relevant code is #selection. Identify the most likely cause, explain why it happens, and give me a corrected version. List two other less-likely causes I should check if your first fix does not work.

Diagnoses a runtime or build error against your actual code. Use it to shortcut stack-trace hunting.

💡

Pro tip: Asking for two less-likely causes gives you a fallback path, which saves a second round trip when the obvious fix turns out to be wrong.

Write a Function From a Spec

46/50

Write a [language] function that [does X], taking [inputs] and returning [output]. Handle [these edge cases], follow the existing conventions in this file, and add a short docstring. After the code, note any assumptions you made about the inputs.

Generates a new function that matches your file's style from a plain-English spec. Use it for well-defined, self-contained tasks.

💡

Pro tip: Telling Copilot to follow the conventions in this file keeps generated code from clashing with your project's naming and error-handling style.

Write Repo Custom Instructions

47/50

@workspace Draft a .github/copilot-instructions.md for this repository. Cover the stack and versions actually used here, the folder structure and what belongs where, naming and error-handling conventions you can infer from the code, the testing framework and how tests are named, and what Copilot should never do in this repo. Base every line on what is in the codebase, not on general best practice.

Generates the repo-wide custom instructions file that shapes every future Copilot response in the project. Do this once per repo.

💡

Pro tip: Repository custom instructions live at .github/copilot-instructions.md and are sent with every request. Keep them short and specific, because vague rules dilute the ones that matter.

Create a Path-Scoped Instruction File

48/50

Create a [frontend].instructions.md file for .github/instructions/ that applies to [src/components/**]. Include the applyTo frontmatter, then the rules that only apply to this area: component structure, styling approach, state management, and accessibility requirements. Infer them from the existing files in that folder and keep it under [30] lines.

Sets different Copilot rules for different parts of the repo. Use it when your frontend and backend need conflicting conventions.

💡

Pro tip: Path-scoped .instructions.md files use an applyTo glob in the frontmatter and stack on top of the repo-wide file, so only put the differences in them.

Save a Reusable Prompt File

49/50

Turn this task into a reusable .prompt.md file: [describe the recurring task, e.g. adding a new API endpoint]. Include the steps in order, which files usually need to change, the conventions to follow, and the checks to run before it is done. Write it so a teammate who has never done this task could run it.

Packages a repeated workflow into a prompt file your whole team can invoke in Copilot Chat. Use it for anything you have explained twice.

💡

Pro tip: Prompt files are per-interaction, unlike custom instructions which apply to every request. Use instructions for how the repo works and prompt files for how a specific job gets done.

Review a Change Before You Open the PR

50/50

@workspace Review my staged changes as a strict reviewer on this codebase. Flag bugs, unhandled errors, security issues, and anything that breaks the conventions in this repo. For each finding give the file, the line, the risk, and the fix. Rank them by severity and do not comment on formatting.

Catches problems before a human reviewer does. Use it as the last step before pushing a branch.

💡

Pro tip: Excluding formatting is what keeps the output usable. Otherwise half the findings are spacing notes your linter already handles.

Frequently Asked Questions

The best Copilot prompts are the ones tied to a specific file, thread, or meeting rather than a general request. In practice the highest-value ones at work are: summarize this meeting into decisions and action items with owners, build a deck from this Word document, write and explain this Excel formula, summarize this email thread and tell me what is expected from me, and turn my rough notes into an assignable task list. Those five cover most of the time Copilot actually saves in a normal week. All 50 prompts on this page are grouped by app so you can find the one that matches what is open on your screen.

Give it four things: the task, the source, the format, and the constraints. The task is what you want done. The source is the file, thread, or meeting it should work from, referenced with a forward slash in Microsoft 365 Copilot so it uses your real data. The format is how you want the answer back, such as five bullets, a table, or a 150-word email. The constraints are the limits, such as a word count, a tone, or a rule like leave a placeholder anywhere you are unsure. Vague prompts get generic answers because Copilot fills the gaps with averages. The bracketed placeholders in these prompts exist so you can fill in exactly those details.

They are two separate products with separate licenses. Microsoft 365 Copilot is built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, and works with your organization documents, emails, and meetings. GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant that lives in editors like VS Code, Visual Studio, and JetBrains IDEs, plus a CLI, and works with your repositories. There is also a free consumer Copilot chat at copilot.microsoft.com, which is a general assistant with no access to your work files. This page covers all three contexts, grouped by where you use them.

Microsoft 365 Copilot can access the content you already have permission to see in your tenant, including your OneDrive and SharePoint files, Outlook mail, and Teams chats and meetings. It does not grant you access to anything you could not open yourself, and your prompts and company data are not used to train the underlying foundation models. GitHub Copilot works from the files and repository open in your editor. If your organization has not enabled Microsoft 365 Copilot, prompts on this page that reference your documents or meetings will not work, but the writing, analysis, and coding prompts still do.

In Microsoft 365 Copilot, type a forward slash followed by the name of the file, person, or meeting. Copilot shows a short list of recent and suggested items, and you pick the one you want. If the file you need is not listed, choose Browse all files to search everything you have access to in OneDrive and SharePoint. You can reference several items in one prompt by using a forward slash before each, and you can reference a whole folder. In GitHub Copilot Chat the equivalents are hash file for a specific file, hash selection for the code you have highlighted, and at workspace for the whole repository.

Ask for structure, not a summary. The prompts that work best request decisions, action items with an owner and a due date, and unresolved questions as three separate lists, because a plain summary flattens all three into prose. Add an instruction like mark any item with no clear owner as unclear, so Copilot does not silently assign a task to whoever spoke last. One thing to check first: Copilot can only recap a Teams meeting that was recorded or transcribed, and transcription has to be switched on before or during the call. You cannot add it afterwards. The Teams and Meeting Notes section above has nine prompts covering recaps, formal minutes, catching up on a call you missed, and comparing two meetings on the same project.

Yes, in two ways. Custom instructions apply to every request in a repository: put them in .github/copilot-instructions.md at the repo root, or in path-scoped files under .github/instructions/ with an applyTo glob so different folders get different rules. These layers merge and are sent with each request, which is why they should be short and specific to your codebase. Prompt files are different: a .prompt.md file holds one reusable task you invoke on demand in Copilot Chat, which is the right place for a workflow like adding a new endpoint. Use instructions for how the repo works and prompt files for how a specific job gets done.

Is GitHub Copilot worth paying for?

Read our honest, no-hype breakdown with the real pricing.

Read review →

Prompts are the starting line. Tutorials are the finish.

A growing library of 300+ hands-on tutorials on ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, and 50+ AI tools. New tutorials added every week.

Start 7-Day Free Trial Business & Work Prompts

7-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Browse All Prompt Collections

Popular prompt collections

AI Photo Editing Prompts ChatGPT Jailbreak Prompt Best ChatGPT Prompts Funny Hinge Prompts ChatGPT Caricature Prompts