Writing effective prompts for Copilot

Discover and use suggested prompts with Copilot Lab

The best way to get started with learning how to write effective prompts for Copilot is to use Copilot Lab. Copilot Lab provides suggested prompts for all the Copilot experiences, arranged in categories, making it easy to browse through the options to discover new ideas and save prompts to use later. Copilot Lab is available on the web, where you will find prompts for all the apps in a single place. You can also get to Copilot Lab from the menu in each of the Microsoft 365 applications, which is the best way to discover suggested prompts in the context of the app you are using.

Copilot Lab on the web

The full Copilot Lab experience on the web provides you with suggested prompts to use, as well as other advice, tips, and learning resources for prompting with Copilot. This is a great resource to explore further.

To use Copilot Lab on the web

1. Navigate to the Copilot Lab home page: https://copilot.cloud.microsoft/en-US/prompts.

2. Select the Sign in icon at the top right of the window, and sign in using the Microsoft account you used to sign up for Copilot Pro.

   

   Sign in to Copilot Lab using your Microsoft account.

3. Scroll down to the suggested prompts.

4. Select View all prompts.

Scroll down to the list of suggested prompts and select View all prompts.

You can browse prompts by app, task, job type, or a combination of these by using the dropdown menus near the top of the page.

Start by selecting the App menu to view the options. You will see the apps for which Copilot is available with your Copilot Pro License: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Use the dropdown menu to browse prompts by app.

Select the app or apps you want to explore.

Check the box for the app for which you want to explore Copilot prompts.

When you find a prompt that looks interesting, select it to open it and view more information. You will find information about how to make changes to make it work for your context, as well as other suggested prompts that are similar to the one you’ve chosen.

The suggested prompt also includes suggestions for how to make the prompt your own and other similar prompts you can explore.

To save a prompt to use later

1. Select the ribbon icon on your open prompt.

2. Wait for the Prompt saved message to appear.

3. Close the selected prompt.

Select the ribbon icon to save the prompt.

You will see a message confirming that your prompt has been saved.

You will see that your prompt now has the ribbon icon highlighted in the main dashboard.

You can see which prompts you’ve saved by the ribbon icon status on the card.

You can also browse Copilot Lab to find prompts that fit into each of the five main task categories you learned about earlier: Create, Edit, Ask, Catch up, and Understand.

To browse prompts by tasks and job type

1. Clear your selection from the App menu from the previous steps.

   

   Clear your selection in the App menu to view prompts for all apps.

2. Open the Task menu and select Edit.

   

   Expand the Task menu and select Edit.

3. You will see the list of Edit prompts. Save some of them as favorites.

   

   Save some of the suggested prompts by selecting the ribbon icon on each card.

4. Repeat the previous steps to browse prompts by job type.

   

   Expand the Job type menu and select the Marketing option.

5. Browse and save some more prompts from this selection.

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   You can use these menus together to narrow your selection by multiple factors—for instance, all Marketing ideas in PowerPoint. You can also choose more than one option from each list.

Browse the suggested prompts for marketing and select the ribbon icons to save some of them.

To view your saved prompts in Copilot Lab, select the Saved prompts button at the top left of the dashboard.

Select the Saved prompts button to view all your saved prompts.

Scroll down below the main suggested prompts area in Copilot Lab to find some quick tips for better prompts.

You will find more tips for prompting further down the Copilot Lab page.

Copilot Lab from the app experiences

You can also access Copilot Lab in each of the Microsoft 365 app experiences, to quickly get suggested prompts for that app. Any prompts you have saved in the main Copilot Lab experience will also show up as saved prompts in these apps, making them quick and easy for you to find and use.

To use Copilot Lab inside the Microsoft 365 apps

1. Open the Copilot pane from the right end of the Home ribbon in the app.

2. Select the book icon in the prompt area at the bottom of the Copilot pane.

3. Select View more prompts.

4. This will launch Copilot Lab as a window.

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   The images here show the experience in PowerPoint, but you will find that the experience of navigating to Copilot Lab is the same in each app.

Open the Copilot pane in PowerPoint by selecting the icon at the right end of the Home ribbon.

Select the book icon in the prompt area and then select View more prompts to open Copilot Lab.

To use a prompt from Copilot Lab

1. Select the Saved prompts button to view your saved prompts or use the Task or Job type menus as shown in the previous section to browse prompts for the app you are using.

2. Select the prompt you want to use.

3. This will close the Copilot Lab window.

4. Your prompt will appear in the prompt area.

Select the prompt you want to use.

Any part of the prompt that was in square brackets will be removed. You should complete the prompt with your own instruction.

Complete the prompt with your own request.

In this example, this prompt in PowerPoint creates a presentation with images, content, and speaker notes.

Copilot generates a presentation based on your prompt.