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Swipe file, prompts for Copilot in Word, Excel and Outlook
You have Copilot open in Word, in Excel or next to an email in Outlook. The document is there, the chat is next to it, and the cursor is blinking. And then you do not really know what to ask. So you ask something you would also ask in the standalone chat. And you get another text that you have to copy and paste yourself.
This swipe file gives you short prompts that you paste into Copilot while your file is open. They are written for the moment when Copilot is allowed to work in your document itself. You choose one, you fill in what is in brackets, and you see what it does. Take fifteen minutes for it, with a document you had to edit anyway.
What you can try right now
There is a bit of irony in it: a list to copy and paste, so you have to copy and paste less. After a few times you just know the prompts by heart, and then you adapt them until they sound like you.
Two things make the difference. Leave editing on, at the top of the Copilot window, because otherwise it just keeps talking. And work in a file that is in OneDrive or SharePoint. Copilot usually cannot read a file on your own drive very well, especially in Excel.
You already get the prompts for Word here.
In Word, with your document open
- 'What can you do for me in this document? Give me five suggestions that fit this text.'
- 'Make the name [name] bold everywhere in this document and tell me how many times you found it.'
- 'Turn the long paragraphs in chapter [number] into shorter paragraphs, without changing anything about the content.'
- 'Read this document as [target audience] would read it and add a comment to every passage that is unclear to them.'
- 'Add a summary of five sentences at the top, for those who only have a minute.'
With those last two you see what you do not get in the standalone chat. Copilot writes in your document itself, and you review its work in the comments in the margin. Below the line you will find the prompts for Excel and Outlook and a few for when Copilot gets stuck. There is also a longer prompt to update your monthly report. Register for free and you have them immediately.
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