Set Up Your First Copilot Notebook

Moving beyond chat mode

Most people I talk to use Copilot in one of two ways:

1. Open Copilot, ask a one-off question, close it, then start over tomorrow with no background.

2. Keep one long chat going because it's the only place that has the project's context.

If you find yourself asking Copilot about the same area of work repeatedly, or feeding it the same files and background details over and over, a Copilot Notebook is a better option.

It will save you time and start getting you better answers. It will also get you using Copilot strategically, not just ad hoc.

What's a Copilot Notebook?

A Copilot Notebook holds three things:

1. Instructions that tell Copilot how to respond every time you open a new chat in the Notebook. (Think of this like a prompt automatically read at the start of each conversation.)

2. References you attach: Word docs, PowerPoint decks, Excel sheets, PDFs, Loop files, Copilot Pages, OneNote pages, plus OneDrive files and SharePoint folders.

3. Chats that pull in your references and instructions automatically, and accumulate inside the Notebook as your project evolves.

Without a Notebook: you re-point Copilot at the right files and re-explain how you want it to respond every time.

With a Notebook: the references and the instructions live with the Notebook. Every new chat inside it starts with all of it already loaded.

Three ways to use Notebooks

Notebooks aren't just a way to get organized. Instructions make it so you can use them for different types of work:

1. As a helper on a specific initiative: Like a launch, a campaign, a Q3 strategy, a presentation you are building.
2. To support a recurring task or workflow: Like building out a weekly status report, brainstorming for your editorial calendar, helping with your monthly board update or your client comms work.
3. For specific feedback or perspective: Like simulating your CMO's feedback, a business advisor for strategy questions, or a peer-reviewer voice for first drafts.

Creating Notebooks for the latter two will get you to think about AI strategically:

• Spot where AI can help with processes
• Find ways to use AI for new perspective
• Learn to design and edit instructions (prompts) so the Notebook meets your needs each conversation

How do Notebooks differ from other Copilot features?

If you're a regular Copilot user, you may be thinking Notebooks sound like other features you're familiar with. Here's how they compare:

• Regular Copilot Chat: The default Copilot prompt box you use across Microsoft 365. Ad hoc, no curated references, no scoped instructions. Best for one-off questions. A Notebook is focused with references and instructions.

• Copilot Pages: AI-generated canvases you capture from a Copilot response and make editable and shareable. Pages hold a single response, not a curated reference set. Pages and Notebooks can stack: you can add a Page into a Notebook as a reference.

• Copilot Projects: Available to free users to group chats and add reference files. Unlike Notebooks, Projects do not support instructions or sharing.

• Copilot Agents: Custom Copilot assistants built to answer questions. Agents are static, you set them up and others use them. Notebooks are the opposite: a living workspace you and a few collaborators keep evolving as a project moves.

From here on out, each time you work on this area of your work, open a new chat INSIDE your new Notebook.

As the work evolves, add new references and refine your Copilot instructions.

You can also share your Notebook with teammates by clicking Share in the upper right.