Microsoft Copilot course: a practical start

A good Microsoft Copilot course teaches you to give Copilot clear context, ask for a specific result in the app you already use, and check what it returns before you send it. You do not need to code, and the same prompting habits work in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

This guide is for office workers who live in Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Teams. It explains what to learn first, what to ask your IT team, and how to practise on real work.

Key facts about our free AI workshop

• Free, live on Zoom, every weekend
• 3 hours, 12:00-15:00 SAST (10:00-13:00 UK, 11:00-14:00 CET), on Saturday or Sunday (you pick one)
• ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on your own work
• No coding needed

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Copilot is the name Microsoft uses for the AI assistant built into its products. At work, most people meet it inside Microsoft 365: a panel or button in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams that drafts, summarises and answers questions about your files.

Which Copilot features you see depends on your organisation's licence and settings, and Microsoft changes the product often. Check the current details with your IT team or on Microsoft's own website rather than relying on a blog post, this one included.

What should a Copilot course teach first?

The skills that make Copilot useful are the same ones that make any AI assistant useful:

• Context. Say who the reader is and what the document is for. "Summarise this" gives a generic answer; "summarise this for a finance manager who has two minutes" gives a usable one.
• A clear output. Ask for the shape you need: five bullet points, a table with three columns, a reply under 120 words.
• The right source. Point Copilot at the file, email thread or meeting you mean, so it answers from your material and not from guesswork.
• Checking. Read every figure, name and date before it leaves your desk. Copilot can misread a table or mix up two people with similar names.

What can I do with Copilot in Word, Outlook and Teams?

Start with the tasks you repeat every week:

• Word: turn rough notes into a first draft, shorten a long section, or rewrite a paragraph for a different reader.
• Outlook: summarise a long thread before you reply, and draft a reply you then edit in your own voice.
• Teams: where your organisation allows it, get a summary of a meeting and a list of actions with owners.
• PowerPoint: build a first outline of slides from a document, then fix the structure yourself.

Our guides to writing emails at work with AI and summarising meetings with AI go deeper on two of these.

Want to try this with a host on hand? Join the free live workshop on Zoom: three hours, Saturday or Sunday, 12:00-15:00 SAST (10:00-13:00 UK, 11:00-14:00 CET), working with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on your own work. Save my free seat.

What about Copilot in Excel?

In Excel, Copilot can suggest formulas, explain what an existing formula does, and point out patterns in a table. It works best on clean data laid out as a proper table with clear column headings. Always test a suggested formula on a few rows where you already know the answer before you trust it across the sheet. Our guide to AI in Excel covers this step by step.

Is Copilot safe to use with work documents?

It depends on how your organisation has set it up, so ask before you assume. Questions worth putting to your IT team:

1. Which Copilot do we have, and which apps is it switched on in?
2. Can I use it with client files, HR records or financial data?
3. Are other AI tools, such as ChatGPT or Claude, allowed for work, and on which accounts?

In South Africa, personal information is covered by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). This is general information and not legal advice, so confirm your obligations with your employer or an attorney if you handle sensitive data.

Should I learn Copilot or ChatGPT?

Learn the habits, not one product. Many people use Copilot at work because their employer provides it, and ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for other tasks. The way you give context, ask for a format and check the answer is the same in each, so time spent learning one carries straight over to the others.

What should I do in my first week?

1. Pick one weekly task in Word or Outlook that takes you more than 30 minutes.
2. Ask Copilot for a first version with the reader, purpose and format stated.
3. Note what you had to fix, add that to your prompt and try again.
4. Save the prompt that worked so you can reuse it next week.

What does the free workshop cover?

Over three hours on Zoom you work through choosing the right tool, writing prompts that work, researching and drafting quickly, getting answers from your own documents, making images and slides, building your own AI assistant, automating a repetitive task, making a simple web app without code, and understanding AI agents. You leave with a 30-day plan. Our hosts have taught more than 12,000 people.

It runs every weekend, on Saturday and again on Sunday, so you can pick the day that suits you. The times are set for South Africa, and the UK and Europe times above work for learners there too.

Want to try this with a host on hand? Join the free live workshop on Zoom: three hours, Saturday or Sunday, 12:00-15:00 SAST (10:00-13:00 UK, 11:00-14:00 CET), working with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on your own work. Save my free seat.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free Microsoft Copilot course?

Upskill in AI runs a free live workshop on Zoom every weekend. It teaches the prompting habits that work in Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, using your own work.

Do I need a Copilot licence to learn?

No. You can practise the same skills in the free versions of ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, then use them in Copilot if your employer provides it.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. Copilot works in plain language, so anyone who can write a clear email can learn to write a clear prompt.