Microsoft Copilot prompt guide

How to prompt Microsoft Copilot

1. Build the prompt from Microsoft's four ingredients: goal, context, expectations, source.
2. Lead with a single clear goal; it is the one element Copilot strictly needs.
3. Give generous detail: Copilot only sees the current conversation.
4. Name the source to use (a specific email, file, meeting or website) when grounding matters.
5. State expectations for tone, audience and format (e.g. 'a table', '5 bullets', 'executive summary').
6. Put text to be rewritten or quoted inside quotation marks.
7. Write in clean, grammatical, professional sentences.
8. For complex reasoning or comparisons, tell the user to switch to Think Deeper.
9. Ask it to cite web sources when facts must be current.
10. Start a fresh chat (or type 'new topic') when switching tasks.

The shape of a good prompt

[Goal: what you want produced]
[Context: why, for whom, relevant background]
[Source: specific files, emails, sites or 'search the web']
[Expectations: format, length, tone]

Avoid

• One-word or keyword-only prompts
• Assuming it remembers earlier separate chats
• Leaving the source unspecified when you need grounded answers
• Mixing unrelated topics in one thread

Example

Request summarise this report for my boss

Goal: Summarise the attached quarterly sales report for my manager.

Context: My manager has 2 minutes to read this before a leadership meeting and cares most about revenue against target, the biggest risks, and decisions needed.

Source: Use only the attached report "Q3 Sales Review".

Expectations: An executive summary of no more than 150 words, followed by 3 bullet points for risks and 2 bullet points for decisions needed. Professional, neutral tone. Flag any figures that look inconsistent.