Learn Microsoft Copilot in Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams

Three Copilots not to confuse

This is the point to understand before anything else: without the Microsoft 365 Copilot license, the chat reads neither your emails nor your files. It relies on the web and on what you attach.

Where to start

1. Look at what you already have. Open Outlook or Teams. If a Copilot icon appears, your company has turned it on. Ask your IT team whether you have Copilot Chat or the Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
2. Open the chat with your work account, not with a personal account.
3. Make a useful first try. With the license: “Summarize this week’s emails and meetings that involve me. List what is expected of me, with the deadlines.” Without the license, attach a set of meeting notes and ask for a summary.
4. Open the sources cited under the answer to check a point.

As with any assistant, a precise prompt gets a useful answer: state the context, the reader, and the expected format.

What Copilot can do at work

• Summarize a Teams meeting. During the meeting, it says what was discussed and by whom, suggests action items, and answers your questions. To ask it questions afterward, turn on transcription before you start.
• Summarize and draft in Outlook. It summarizes a long thread and prepares a reply.
• Analyze a table in Excel. You ask your question in plain language: it writes the formula, does the calculation, creates the chart.
• Draft in Word, present in PowerPoint. A first draft to edit, or slides from a document.
• Ask questions of your work data. “Find the latest version of the budget and tell me what changed.” Copilot only shows what you already have access to.

The details of each feature, with the license it requires, are on the Microsoft Copilot page. To build your own agents, see Copilot Studio.

Plans and prices

Prices checked on October 3, 2026 on Microsoft’s pages for France, in euros. Prices differ by country: check Microsoft’s page for yours. Copilot Business without a yearly commitment: €21.84 excl. tax per user per month.

Our advice: at work, don’t pay for anything yourself. The license is the employer’s decision. Start with what is already turned on.

Your data

• Work account. Microsoft says your prompts, the responses, and your work data are not used to train the AI. Copilot respects your access rights.
• European Union. Microsoft says company data stays within the EU Data Boundary, except for web searches and, to date, the Anthropic models offered in Copilot.
• Personal account. Conversations are kept for 18 months by default and can be used to train the AI, unless you opt out in the settings.

One point of attention for the company: Copilot finds whatever an employee is allowed to open. Check the access rights on your shared folders before you turn it on. See also AI and GDPR at work.

Learn Copilot with Nova

Nova is subscription software that teaches your teams to use Copilot and the other assistants on their real tasks. Each person gives their job and their level: Nova shows what is possible, then guides them step by step, with the prompt, the setting, and the precautions. See for example the use cases for an executive assistant or a financial controller.

Nova does not replace Copilot: you buy the license from Microsoft. Nova costs €19 per month for one person, and from €129 per month for a team. Try the interactive demo or see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Is Copilot free?

The Microsoft Copilot app is free for chatting. At work, Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost in eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions. For Copilot to work with your emails, your files, and your meetings, you need the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost for a small business?

In France, Copilot Business costs €15.60 excl. tax per user per month until December 31, 2026, then €18.20 excl. tax, paid yearly, on top of the Microsoft 365 Business subscription. Prices checked on October 3, 2026.

Why can’t Copilot find my emails?

Because you most likely have Copilot Chat, not the Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Without it, the chat relies on the web and on the files you attach. Ask your IT team what is turned on.

Is my data used to train the AI?

With a work account, Microsoft says no: not your prompts, not the responses, not your work data. With a personal account, conversations can be used for training, unless you opt out in the settings.

Do you need training to use Copilot?

The tool opens in one click, but it does not tell you what to ask it. Learning three or four use cases tied to your role, and your company’s rules on data, is enough to get going.

Sources

• Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing (France, in French), Microsoft
• Copilot pricing for individuals (France, in French), Microsoft
• What’s the difference between the Microsoft Copilot experiences, Microsoft
• Get started with Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft
• Get started with Copilot in Microsoft Teams meetings, Microsoft
• Enterprise data protection in Microsoft 365 Copilot (updated August 20, 2026), Microsoft
• Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft

Go further

• Microsoft Copilot: pricing, features, and guide
• Copilot on Windows: the tool page
• Microsoft Copilot Studio: the tool page
• Learn to use ChatGPT at work
• Learn to use Gemini at work
• Train your teams on AI
• AI training by job
• AI training for office managers
• Guide: AI in Excel
• Guide: AI meeting notes
• Nova pricing
• Try the interactive demo