How to Use Microsoft Copilot with MS Word

Microsoft Copilot is a generative AI assistant that gives you specific information for your queries. You can ask it to summarize your text, fix grammar, generate specific emails, create images based on your prompts, and more. You can even tell Copilot to write code in popular computer languages, including JavaScript, C, and Python. Microsoft has been embedding Copilot in its Windows, Edge browser, Office apps, and Bing products. However, not many know how to use Copilot in Office products, especially MS Word.

In this guide, we will guide you on how you can make use of Microsoft Copilot in MS Word to help you create compelling documents or support for summarization and much more. Since the process requires several steps, you may not be able to straightaway start using Copilot after opening MS Word. For the steps, you need to follow this guide. Without any further ado, let’s jump right in.

How do I use Microsoft Copilot with MS Word?

To use Microsoft’s proprietary AI assistant Copilot with MS Word, you need to first install the program and then follow on. However, one of the first things that should be understood is that Copilot doesn’t support older MS Word versions. To use Copilot with MS Word, you need to have Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise.

Here are the steps that you need to go through:

1. Download Microsoft Copilot from the Microsoft Store or the official website. There is Microsoft Copilot Pro with additional features, or you can also opt for the free version. The prices for the Pro version may vary depending on different regions.
2. Now, that you have installed Copilot, open MS Word. A prompt explaining how to start using Copilot on MS Word will greet you.
3. You can press the ALT+I buttons together to summon the Copilot draft box. Here, you can enter your prompts or ask questions to help create your first draft. You need to be specific about the prompts that you enter for the AI assistant to generate content with granular details. The more details, the better. After you have entered the prompt, hit Generate.
4. After a few seconds, your draft will be generated. You can go through the draft, edit it, and tweak it as per your preference. Once done, you need to click on the “Keep it” button.
5. If you think the AI can generate a better draft, simply click on “Regenerate,” which is the circular arrow icon in the floating window.

This is how you can use Copilot in MS Word to generate a draft, edit it, and keep it. However, since Microsoft itself says that the content generated through Copilot can be usefully wrong, you can use Copilot itself to fix the errors in the draft generated by the AI assistant. For that, head over to the next section.

How do I use Microsoft Copilot for editing text in MS Word?

You need to have manual intervention if you are using facts, dates, figures, or stats in your draft. This is because Copilot, or any other generative AI assistants for that matter, can be wrong in those fields. For other edits, you can easily ask Copilot to fix the issues. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Highlight the text that you wish to edit.
2. Click on the Copilot logo that appears after you select the text.
3. Select Make Changes from the list of options that appear.
4. Enter the new prompts or editing guidelines and click Generate. For example, you can say to keep the text simple or ask Copilot to add a fun turn to the text using a joke.
5. Review the text highlighted in pale blue and choose whether you would like to keep it or not.
6. If you have multiple dates and figures, then you can ask Copilot to visualize the text as tables.

How to ask queries or chat with Copilot in MS Word?

For some burning ideas to pop up in our heads, we need someone to talk to. However, it isn’t possible for someone who is always present to talk or has the same interests to bounce ideas back and forth. For that, you can use Copilot AI generative assistant.

1. In the Home section of the top menu bar, click on the Copilot icon located at the right-most corner of the menu.
2. Type any question or query into the text field and press Enter.
3. If an error occurs, then you may need to change your question. In case, Copilot hangs, the problem isn’t with your question, it is with Copilot’s servers.

You can ask Copilot to give you references about the document that you have created so that it adds value to your draft. Furthermore, you can also ask Copilot several other questions, related to or unrelated to your document.

Take the help of AI to generate impressive documents

AI can be a helping hand in this fast-paced environment, which you need to use to take advantage of, and not rely upon for your success. As already mentioned, AI assistants can only help you with your query to a certain extent, but you cannot 100% rely on the information that they offer. In case you use Copilot pretty often on your PC, then you should take a look at our guide that mentions the steps to remap Copilot key to another key on Windows 11.