Copilot in Word drafts, rewrites and summarizes for you — but only as well as you brief it. The 22 prompts below are copy-paste ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word. Open the Copilot pane (or type into the box above your cursor), paste a prompt, swap the [bracketed placeholders] for your specifics, and send. Where a prompt should read one of your own files, it references it with / — type the slash in Word, start typing the file name, and pick it from the list.
Each prompt follows Microsoft's GCSE shape — Goal, Context, Source, Expectations — because a prompt that names the audience, the source file, the length and the tone lands far closer on the first try. For the underlying formula, see how to prompt Copilot for work, and for prompts across every app start with the best Microsoft Copilot prompts roundup.
Draft from a prompt
Start with a blank document and let Copilot generate the first draft. Leave nothing selected so it writes at your cursor. The more Context and Expectations you give — audience, length, tone, structure — the less you rewrite afterward.
1. Draft a project proposal from a prompt
Draft a one-page project proposal to [launch a customer referral program]. Audience is our [VP of Marketing] and [Head of Finance]. Include these sections with headings: Summary, Problem, Proposed Solution, Timeline, Budget estimate, and Expected impact. Keep it under 500 words, confident and concise, business tone. Use short paragraphs and one bulleted list for the timeline.Why it works: it gives Copilot the goal, the audience and an explicit section structure, so the draft comes back organized instead of a wall of text.
2. Write a policy document outline
Create a detailed outline for a [remote work policy] document for a [200-person software company]. Cover eligibility, expectations, equipment and expenses, security, communication norms, and exceptions. For each section, write one sentence describing what it will contain. Use numbered headings so I can expand each part later.Best for: long documents where you want to lock the structure before writing full prose.
3. Draft a blog post in brand voice
Write a 700-word blog post titled "[Five ways to cut onboarding time]" for our company blog. Audience is [HR managers at mid-size firms]. Tone: helpful and practical, no hype, plain English. Open with the main takeaway, use five H2 subheadings for the tips, and finish with a short call to action to [book a demo]. Avoid buzzwords.Why it works: naming the word count, the reader, the heading structure and a banned-buzzwords note keeps the draft on-brand and usable.
4. Write a formal business letter
Draft a formal letter from [our company] to [a supplier] requesting [a 30-day extension on our current contract terms]. Explain the reason briefly ([a seasonal cash-flow gap]), propose the new dates, and keep a polite, professional tone. One page, standard business-letter format with placeholders for names, addresses and the date.Best for: contracts, requests and official correspondence that need the right register.
5. Draft a job description
Write a job description for a [Senior Product Designer] role at [our SaaS company]. Include: About the role, Responsibilities (6 bullets), Requirements (must-have vs nice-to-have), and What we offer. Tone: warm but professional, inclusive language, no jargon. Keep it under 450 words and make the responsibilities action-led.Best for: recruiting docs where consistency and inclusive wording matter.
Draft from your files
Instead of generating from scratch, point Copilot at real source material. Type / and choose a file — a brief, a spec, meeting notes, a spreadsheet — and Copilot drafts from what is actually in it. Reference more than one file when the draft needs to combine sources.
6. Turn meeting notes into a summary memo
Using /[Q3-Planning-Notes], write a one-page summary memo for [the leadership team who missed the meeting]. Include the decisions made, open questions, and next steps with owners. Business tone, scannable, use bold labels and short bullets. Do not add anything that is not in the notes.Why it works: the / reference grounds Copilot in your notes, and "do not add anything that is not in the notes" curbs invention.
7. Draft a proposal from a brief and price list
Draft a client proposal using /[Client-Brief] for the scope and /[Service-Pricing] for the costs. Structure: Understanding of needs, Recommended approach, Deliverables, Timeline, and Investment (pull the relevant line items from the pricing file). Professional and reassuring tone, about 600 words. Flag anything in the brief that the pricing file does not cover.Best for: sales documents that must stay consistent with an approved price list.
8. Build a case study from a project doc
Write a customer case study based on /[Project-Recap-Acme]. Follow the structure: Challenge, Solution, Results (use the metrics from the file). Audience is [prospective customers in retail]. Tone: credible and specific, no exaggeration. Around 500 words, and include two short pull-quote-ready sentences I can highlight.Why it works: it reuses real project data and asks for pull-quote lines, so marketing gets a ready-to-format asset.
9. Draft an email announcement from a spec
Using /[Feature-Spec-v2], draft an internal announcement for [all staff] about [the new expense tool]. Explain what is changing, why it matters to them, what they need to do, and when it goes live. Keep it under 250 words, friendly and clear, with a short bulleted "What you need to do" list. Pull the launch date and steps from the spec.Best for: change comms where accuracy against the source spec is non-negotiable.
Rewrite, expand & re-tone
Select the exact text first, then prompt — Copilot rewrites the selection in place and offers it as a suggested edit you can accept or discard. These prompts adjust audience, length, tone and depth without touching the rest of the document.
10. Rewrite for a specific audience
Rewrite the selected section for [non-technical executives]. Remove technical detail, lead with the business impact, and keep it to roughly half the current length. Same facts, clearer language, confident tone.Best for: repurposing one document for a different reader without a full rewrite.
11. Shorten to a target length
Shorten the selected text to under [150 words] while keeping every key point and the original tone. Cut repetition and filler, keep the numbers and names, and do not add new information.Why it works: a hard word target plus "keep the numbers and names" gives you a tight cut without losing the load-bearing facts.
12. Adjust tone to formal or friendly
Rewrite the selected paragraph in a [more formal and diplomatic] tone suitable for [an external client]. Keep the meaning and length similar, soften anything that sounds blunt, and avoid slang or contractions.Best for: quickly re-toning a passage for a different context or reader.
13. Expand a bullet outline into prose
Expand the selected bullet points into flowing paragraphs for [a section of a report]. Keep every point, add smooth transitions, and stay factual — do not invent statistics or examples. Professional tone, about [two paragraphs] per bullet group.Best for: turning your rough notes into finished sections while you keep control of the facts.
14. Simplify jargon to plain language
Rewrite the selected text in plain language at about a [grade 8] reading level. Replace jargon and acronyms with everyday words (spell out any that must stay), use shorter sentences, and keep all the original meaning. Do not change the facts.Why it works: naming a reading level gives Copilot a concrete target instead of a vague "make it simpler."
Summarize & extract
Point Copilot at a long document — the open one or a file referenced with / — and ask for a summary or the specific pieces you need. Be explicit about format: a paragraph, bullets, a table, or a list of action items.
15. Summarize a long document
Summarize this document in [five bullet points] for someone who has not read it. Capture the main argument, the key evidence, and the recommended next step. Neutral tone, plain language, no more than [15 words] per bullet.Best for: giving a busy colleague the gist of a long report in seconds.
16. Extract action items and owners
From /[Project-Kickoff-Notes], extract every action item as a list. For each one, give the task, the owner, and the due date if mentioned. If an owner or date is missing, write "TBD". Do not include general discussion — only concrete commitments.Why it works: the "TBD" instruction and the "only concrete commitments" limit stop Copilot from padding the list with vague items.
17. Pull key figures into a bullet list
Scan /[Annual-Report-Draft] and pull out every quantitative figure — revenue, growth rates, headcount, dates — into a bulleted list. Keep the exact numbers and label what each one measures. Flag any figure that appears inconsistent between sections.Best for: fact-checking and quickly surfacing the numbers buried in a long draft.
18. Compare two document versions
Compare /[Contract-v1] and /[Contract-v2] and list the substantive differences. Group them as: added, removed, and changed. Focus on clauses that affect [payment terms, liability, and termination]. Ignore formatting and wording tweaks that do not change meaning.Why it works: naming the clauses that matter and telling Copilot to ignore cosmetic edits keeps the diff focused on what counts.
Tables & Agent Mode
Copilot can build and fill tables in Word, and Agent Mode turns one instruction into a multi-step workflow it plans and executes across the document, showing its work. Use plain prompts for a single table; use Agent Mode for jobs that touch several sources or the whole file. For the slide equivalent of these workflows, see the Copilot prompts for PowerPoint.
19. Insert and fill a comparison table
Insert a comparison table with the columns: Plan, Monthly price, Users included, Storage, Support level. Add rows for [Starter, Team, and Enterprise] using the details in /[Pricing-Sheet]. Keep it concise and leave any unknown cell as a dash.Best for: turning scattered pricing or feature details into a clean, formatted table.
20. Turn a requirements list into a table
Take the requirements listed in /[Project-Requirements] and turn them into a table with columns: Requirement, Priority (High/Medium/Low), Owner, and Status. Infer priority only where the source clearly states it, otherwise mark it "Review". Do not invent owners.Why it works: it converts prose requirements into a trackable table while guarding against Copilot filling gaps with guesses.
21. Agent Mode: build a full report from sources
Agent Mode: Build a complete [quarterly business review] document using /[Sales-Figures], /[Support-Metrics], and /[Q3-Planning-Notes]. Create these sections: Executive summary, Performance highlights (with a table of the key metrics), Challenges, and Priorities for next quarter. Business tone, around 1,200 words, and cite which source each section draws on. Show your plan before writing.Best for: multi-source documents where you want Copilot to plan, gather and assemble in one pass.
22. Agent Mode: format and finalize a document
Agent Mode: Take this draft to a finished state. Apply consistent heading styles, generate a table of contents, standardize the tone to [professional and concise], fix any obvious inconsistencies in numbers or names, and add a one-paragraph executive summary at the top. List the changes you make as you go.Why it works: it hands Copilot a genuinely multi-step job — styling, TOC, tone, consistency, summary — which is exactly what Agent Mode is built to sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to use these prompts in Word?
Yes. Copilot inside Word — drafting, rewriting, summarizing and referencing your files with / — requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license so it can ground on your work data. Copilot Chat has a free web-grounded tier, but it cannot read your private documents.
How do I reference an existing file in a Word prompt?
Type / in the Copilot box and start typing the file name, then pick it from the list. You can reference multiple files in one prompt, and reference people with @. This is how Copilot draws on real source documents instead of inventing content.
What is the GCSE framework?
GCSE is Microsoft's official prompt formula: Goal (what you want), Context (why and who it's for), Source (which files or data to use), and Expectations (tone, length and format). The more of these four you include, the closer the first draft lands. See how to prompt Copilot for work for the full breakdown.
What does Agent Mode do in Word?
Agent Mode turns a single instruction into a multi-step workflow that Copilot plans and executes across your document, showing its work as it goes. It suits bigger jobs like building a full report from several sources rather than a one-shot rewrite.
Why does Copilot give vague drafts?
Usually the prompt is missing Source or Expectations. Point Copilot at a specific file with /, name the audience, and state the length, tone and format you want. Then follow up in the same thread to refine rather than starting over.
Can Copilot build and fill tables in Word?
Yes. Ask Copilot to insert a table with named columns and it will build it, and you can ask it to pull the rows from a referenced document — for example turning a list of requirements into a structured comparison table.
Does Copilot edit the whole document or just insert text?
Both. It can generate new content at your cursor, rewrite a passage you select, or suggest edits across the document. Select the exact text first when you want a targeted rewrite; leave nothing selected when you want it to draft fresh.