Are you drawing a blank or having a hard time trying to find a way to get started asking Copilot for assistance?
Below is a list of common prompts I use for certain applications – comment below some fun ones that you use and I will update the list!
Copilot Chat
| GENERAL CHAT | |||
| ID | Use-Case | Prompt | Why I Like It |
| CHAT001 | Prioritization & email triage | “What should be on my radar from last week’s email?” | Surfaces only the important messages, cutting through inbox noise so you don’t miss critical items. |
| CHAT002 | Relationship / stakeholder tracking | “What’s the latest from [person], organized by emails, chats, and files?” | Gives you a 360° view of a key contact’s interactions across Teams, Outlook, and shared files — all in one place. |
| CHAT003 | Focused meeting recap | “Summarize meetings where I was @mentioned this week.” | Lets you jump straight to discussions where your input is expected, so you can respond without reviewing full transcripts. |
| CHAT004 | Manager alignment | “Summarize messages from my manager in the past 48 hours.” | Ensures you never overlook direction or requests from your manager, even across multiple channels. |
| CHAT005 | Calendar management | “Hey Copilot, tell me my double booked appointments for this week.” | Quickly spots conflicts so you can reschedule or delegate before they cause issues. |
| CHAT006 | Email prioritization | “What emails should be on my radar from last week?” | A slightly broader version of the first — good for when you need a wider sweep of what’s important. |
| CHAT007 | Communication & reporting | “Write an email to my coworkers with [last week’s highlights and lowlights].” | Saves time drafting updates, while helping you share wins and challenges in a polished way. |
| CHAT008 | Daily chat insights | “Give me the top 5 takeaways from my chat discussions today.” | Quickly distills a day’s worth of conversations into the most important points so you don’t miss key themes. |
| CHAT009 | Document efficiency | “Summarize this document.” | Saves time by condensing long documents into clear highlights, letting you focus on what matters most. |
Microsoft Teams
Copilot Meeting Prompts
| ID | Use-Case | Prompt | Why I like It |
| TEAMS001 | Catch up after meetings | “Recap my last meeting and list the decisions and action items.” | Helps you know what was decided, what’s next, without reading everything. |
| TEAMS002 | Know who participated | “Who attended the [Meeting Name] meeting, and what were the core ideas each raised?” | Useful for clarity on participation and contributions. |
| TEAMS003 | Prepare for upcoming meetings | “I have a meeting with [Person / Team] later today — give me the agenda, relevant documents, and any previous discussions.” | Helps you show up prepared; gives structure. |
| TEAMS004 | Weekly planning | “What do I have coming up this week? Highlight meetings, deadlines, and suggested priorities.” | Useful for managing your workload and focusing. |
| TEAMS005 | Channel / Team updates | “Summarize key conversation threads in the [Team / Channel] this week, especially any decisions or blockers.” | Helps you stay on top of what’s going on without reading every message. |
| TEAMS006 | Draft follow-ups | “Draft an email/message to the meeting attendees summarizing our last meeting, listing action items, and asking for updates on tasks.” | Saves time and ensures clarity among stakeholders. |
| TEAMS007 | Identify unresolved items | “Which topics from [Meeting/Channel] are unresolved or need follow-up, and who is responsible?” | Prevents things slipping through cracks. |
| TEAMS008 | Translate jargon or technical content | “Summarize what was discussed in [Meeting] in non-technical language for (team / newcomers / stakeholders).” | Makes content accessible to all. |
| TEAMS009 | Compare options | “Create a table of pros and cons for each of these proposed solutions: [A, B, C] from yesterday’s meeting.” | Helps with decision-making. |
| TEAMS010 | Align next steps | “List the next steps, deadlines, and responsibilities from our last meeting, and send reminders as needed.” | Keeps everyone aligned and accountable. |
| TEAMS011 | Brainstorming / Ideation | “Generate 5 creative ideas for improving team collaboration based on our recent discussions.” | Unlocks new perspectives and helps you move past groupthink. |
| TEAMS012 | Conflict resolution | “Summarize points of disagreement from the last meeting and suggest neutral ways to bridge the gaps.” | Provides an objective lens and helps reduce tension in discussions. |
| TEAMS013 | Customer focus | “Summarize all recent customer feedback discussed in this channel and highlight recurring themes.” | Ensures the customer’s voice doesn’t get lost and helps prioritize improvements. |
| TEAMS014 | Project tracking | “From this week’s updates, what milestones have we achieved and what are at risk of slipping?” | Great for status checks — helps project managers spot risks early. |
| TEAMS015 | Quick recap | “Recap the meeting so far.” | Useful if you join late or need to quickly catch up mid-meeting. |
| TEAMS016 | Action tracking | “List action items.” | Instantly identifies tasks and owners so nothing is lost. |
| TEAMS017 | Deeper engagement | “Suggest follow-up questions.” | Helps keep discussion moving and prompts fresh thinking. |
| TEAMS018 | Clarity on gaps | “What questions are unresolved?” | Surfaces issues that still need to be addressed. |
| TEAMS019 | Perspective analysis | “List different perspectives by topic.” | Makes it easier to see where opinions differ. |
| TEAMS020 | Comprehensive notes | “Generate meeting notes.” | Saves time on manual note-taking and ensures accuracy. |
| TEAMS021 | Decision tracking | “What decisions were made during this meeting?” | Captures commitments for accountability. |
| TEAMS022 | Speaker attribution | “What did Shawn say about the topic XXX?” | Lets you pull out an individual’s input for clarity or follow-up. |
| TEAMS023 | Open items | “What are the open items?” | Keeps a running list of pending issues that need resolution. |
Teams Chats and Channels
| TEAMS CHATS AND CHANNELS | |||
| ID | Use-Case | Prompt | Why I Like It |
| CHAT101 | Chat recap | “Summarize the latest messages in this chat.” | Quickly catch up without scrolling through dozens of messages. |
| CHAT102 | File tracking | “What files has [person’s name] shared?” | Saves time searching — pulls up exactly what that person contributed. |
| CHAT103 | Task tracking | “Do I have any follow-up items?” | Keeps you accountable and prevents things from slipping through the cracks. |
| CHAT104 | Action accountability | “Create a table with everyone’s action items, including due dates.” | Organizes responsibilities clearly so the whole team knows who owns what. |
| CHAT105 | Focused insights | “Highlight the most important messages from this chat.” | Cuts through the noise so you only see what matters most. |
| CHAT106 | Manager alignment | “Summarize messages from my manager in the past 48 hours.” | Ensures you stay on top of requests or priorities directly from your manager. |
Outlook and Copilot
| OUTLOOK AND COPILOT | |||
| ID | Use-Case | Prompt | Why I Like It |
| OUTLOOK001 | Professional polish | “Rewrite this message to be more professional.” | Helps ensure your communication is polished and business-appropriate without spending extra time editing. |
| OUTLOOK002 | Tone adjustment | “Adjust the tone to be more enthusiastic.” | Lets you shift the mood of your writing to motivate, inspire, or energize your audience. |
| OUTLOOK003 | Translation | “Translate this message to Spanish.” | Instantly breaks down language barriers so you can connect with a broader audience. |
| OUTLOOK004 | Expand detail | “Make this message longer and more detailed.” | Useful for turning a quick draft into a thorough, well-explained communication. |
Thanks for reading!
Shawn Dorward
Microsoft MVP, Business Applications
LifeHacks365.com | LinkedIn | Twitter