Microsoft 365 Copilot combines the power of artificial intelligence (AI) with your work data and apps to help you unleash creativity, unlock productivity, and uplevel skills in a chat experience.
Business Chat (BizChat) is the at the center of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Grounded in both web and work data, BizChat helps you incorporate your work content, such as chats, email, and files. It is extensible and can be accessed in the Microsoft 365 app, Microsoft Teams, and Outlook.
Try it!
You can access the BizChat experience in several ways, including:
-
Use it in web, mobile, and desktop versions of the Microsoft 365 app, Teams, and Outlook.
-
Access it at Microsoft365.com/copilot.
Work? Web?
The first thing you might notice when you get to the BizChat screen is that there are two tabs at the top: Work and Web.
Selecting Work grounds Copilot in your Microsoft 365 data such as files, email, and Teams meetings as well as the large language model (LLM). It may or may not also include live web content depending on whether you have that setting turned on.
Selecting Web grounds Copilot only in the LLM data Copilot was trained on and the live web, but not any of your Microsoft 365 data.
Tip: "Grounding" is the data that the AI uses to do what you ask it to do.
Both work and web modes offer enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance.
What can I do with BizChat?
Here are a few things you can do with the chat experience in BizChat:
-
Catch up on things. Copilot can synthesize and summarize large amounts of data into simple, easy-to-digest summaries. See Catch up on things quickly with Business Chat.
-
Create content and brainstorm. Copilot can help you brainstorm ideas and draft new content based on anything from a storyboard or a script to an agenda or an executive summary. See Create content using Business Chat.
-
Get quick answers. Copilot lets you become your own personal search engine. Ask questions about specific files and messages, or find information you know is out there, but you can't remember where it's stored. See Ask questions and get answers using Business Chat.
Prompt and iterate
A well-crafted prompt leads to better results.
The keys to maximizing value with Copilot are:
-
Write great prompts: Your instructions to Copilot matter. Be clear, concise, and specific about what you want. Find more prompt examples in Copilot Prompt Gallery.
-
Embrace iteration: Don't settle for the first result. Iterate, refine, and experiment to get the best results.
A prompt is how you tell Copilot what you want. It includes:
-
Goals: What you want to achieve.I want a list of 3-5 bullet points to prepare me...
-
Context: Relevant information....for an update to my manager.
-
Details: Specific instructions.Respond with headers for each point and enough detail to provide context...
-
Data: Any input data you provide....and focus on Word docs and email over the last five days.
Tip: When you're giving Copilot instructions, you can direct it to specific work content by using the forward slash key ("/"), then typing the name of a file, person, or meeting. If you write a prompt and don't reference a specific file, person, or meeting, Copilot will determine the best source of data for its response, including all your work content.
The power of Copilot is often not unearthed with one perfect prompt, but rather, with a little back-and-forth conversation. Did it get close the first time, but focus on the wrong time period? Did it give you a big block of text when you wanted a numbered list? Copilot is a conversational experience, so just follow up with another prompt, and Copilot builds on its initial response to get closer to what you're looking for.
Help shape the future of AI
AI is exciting new technology, but it's still early in development and we're continuing to learn. Sometimes Copilot gets things wrong, so it's important to check the content that it generates.
Give us your feedback! Please use the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons to tell us what you like (or don't like), anything that Copilot gets wrong, or what we can do to improve your experience.
See also
Frequently asked questions about Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat
Using Context IQ to refer to specific files, people, and more in Microsoft 365 Copilot
