Use Microsoft Copilot

Last updated on March 11, 2026

Generative AI is a powerful new technology with many applications for teaching and learning. However, its daunting for some educators to dive into a novel technology that can be used inappropriately, especially in an educational context. While it might be a little intimidating at first, its well worth exploring, both to see how it can be useful to you and how it might be leveraged by your students.

This tutorial will cover the basics of using Microsoft’s GenAI product, Copilot. Copilot is now available for all faculty, staff, and students at MSU Denver, so its a good place to start if your experimenting with the technology for the first time.

Related Resources

• Start Using Generative AI in Your Course – this spotlight takes a deep dive into practical concerns and best practices when using GenAI in education.
• Copilot Example Showcase – this is a collection of practical demonstrations of using Copilot.

Directions

Important Note: When using Generative AI, make sure to never upload anything with personal or identifiable data, such as student names, emails, or ID numbers.

Login to Copilot

1. Go to copilot.microsoft.com.
   • Copilot will work on the Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari web browsers. However, Microsoft Edge provides more features and integrations than other browsers.
2. Click the person icon at the bottom left of the screen.
3. Click Sign in from the pop-up menu.
4. Click Continue with Microsoft.
5. Log-in with your MSU Denver credentials.
6. Select Work when asked Which Copilot experience are you looking for.

Start a Chat

1. Click New Chat from the left-side menu.
2. Enter a Prompt in the text box.
   • You can view some suggestions for prompts below the text box. Click on one to automatically prompt the Chat bot.
3. Click the + button to upload images or files for Copilot to refer to when responding to your prompt.
   • Select Add work content to search for an insert Microsoft 365 content.
   • Select Upload images and fules to upload a file from your computer.
   • Select Attach Cloud Files to upload files from your OneDrive.
4. Click the Arrow icon in the text box or press the Enter button to send the prompt.
   • Copilot will now generate its response. This can take some time depending on the complexity of the prompt. You won’t be able to send any follow up prompts until Copilot is done generating it’s response.
   • Click the Stop (square) button in the text box to stop Copilot from continuing to generate its response.
5. Type any follow up questions or prompts into the text box.
   • Every time you start a new chat, the chat will appear under Chats in the left side menu.
   • To name the chat so you can easily locate it again, hover over the chat, click the three-dot more options menu, and select rename.
6. Hover over any footnote text following a link or sentence, to open a link to where Copilot got its information.
   • You will often have to prompt Copilot to provide their sources or links for them to appear.

Message Action Icons

There are several buttons in the bottom left-hand corner of each Copilot response you can click to do specific actions:

• Copy (overlapping rectangles): Will copy the entire response since your last prompt.
• Thumbs up / Thumbs down: Provides Copilot with feedback on whether you found the response helpful or unhelpful.
• Share / Export (rectangle with an arrow): Allows you to share the prompt and response link to others in your organization.
  • Some platforms may provide the option to export to another format.
• Edit in Pages (pencil): Opens a sidebar with a page where you can edit Copilots responses. You can continue prompting Copilot to add or revise the page content.
  • Click Create to export the page as a document or PDF.
• Three-Dot More Options Menu: This will give you the option to have the response read aloud and to export to word.

Create an Agent

In Microsoft Copilot, an Agent is an AI system that can plan, execute, and complete multi-step tasks across Microsoft 365 apps.

1. Click New Agent from the left-hand menu.
2. Click Configure at the top of the screen.
3. Enter a Name for the Agent.
4. Type a description for what the agent will be doing.
   • The description provides the agent with a role. This should be a summary of what the Agent will be expected to do.
5. Enter the instructions for the Copilot Agent.
   • Here, you should describe what the agent should do, define the tone of response, and outline any rules or guidelines it must follow.
6. Copy and paste any specific website you want the agent to use to generate responses.
   • Toggle Only use specified sources if you do not want the agent to refer to any other sources when generating responses.
7. Toggle on Create documents, charts, and code to give the agent the capability to automatically generate fully formatted files and run code in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Powerpoint.
8. Toggle on Create images to give the agent the capability to create AI generated images and art in response to user prompts.
9. Enter Suggested Prompts to create standardized prompts for the agent.
   • This could be helpful if you plan on using the Agent for the certain tasks repeatedly.
10. Enter a prompt in the text box on the panel to the right to test the response of the Agent.
    • Continue prompting the Agent with more guidelines, examples, etc., until you are receiving the desired responses.
11. Click Create at the top left when you are done.
    • The Agent will now appear under Agents in the left-hand menu.
    • Click the three-dot more options menu next to the agent to share, edit, or uninstall the Agent.

Other Copilot Tools

On the left-hand menu, Copilot offers a few different options other than Chats and Agents. These have specific purposes for when you might choose to use them.

• Search: Find Microsoft 365 content (such as files, Teams recordings, etc.) to open or choose one of the suggested prompts to the right of the file.
• Library: Find Copilot pages or images that were created from previous chats.
• Create: Have Copilot create images, videos, infographics, stories, posters, and more using Generative AI art and images.
• Teach: Explore different GenAI teaching tools built into Copilot, such as bots created specifically to help with lesson planning.