At first glance, Microsoft Copliot looks like ChatGPT but lacks as many features. However, after spending some time with it, I discovered that it has a surprising number of underrated features that are absolutely worth trying.
8File Uploads
Tomake your AI prompts more effective, you need to provide the software with as much context as possible. Instead of adding more text, consider uploading relevant files and folders.
With Copilot, you can easily upload PDF documents and JPEG images. The software can then scan these and provide overviews. After getting the initial information, you can go deeper with your research. In addition to looking at specific elements of your PDF, you can ask the software to speculate on different reasons. If you want to upload an image, Copilot can scan these files based on your requests.
Copilot has file upload limits, and as such you might need to shrink your files. If you’re assessing a PDF document, consider deleting unnecessary pages.
7Shortcutting Future Prompts
Writing the same prompts over and over again becomes time-consuming. Luckily, Copilot has a way to stop this from becoming a problem. While there isn’t an exact tool to save prompts, you can streamline conversations and tasks.
Once you’ve fed Copilot enough information on certain topics, you can give one or two-word prompts. For example, if you like creating lists, you can tell Copilot “list” and then provide what needs to be included.
Besides making shorter prompts, you can streamline your time accessing bycreating a Copilot desktop shortcut in Windows.
6Creating Tables
One of the best ways touse Copilot in Windowsis to integrate the tool with other Microsoft apps. For example, you can use the software to create Pivot Tables in Excel.
Using Copilot to create these kinds of tables saves you a lot of time on manual work. Moreover, you’ll have a better overview of the information you need. You can use this feature for any table you might need to create; within Copilot, you’ll find an option to summarize the data in your spreadsheet.
While this feature will simplify summarization, you should still double-check to ensure everything is accurate.
5Summarizing Lengthy Texts
In addition to summarizing data, Microsoft Copilot is very good at giving you an overview of lengthy texts. You can either feed the software a PDF document and ask it to go through the information included in it or extract data from across the internet instead.
You’ll see everything in an easy-to-digest format once you’ve told Copilot to summarize your texts. This feature is handy whether you need an idea of longer books or to summarize study and meeting notes.
If you’re going to use this feature for articles, copy and paste the text into Copilot. From personal experience, the app can’t read specific links too well. You might need to break up your text, though, as the app only allows a maximum of 10,240 characters per message.
4The “Revisit Previous Conversations” Icon
One bigdifference between ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilotis how you access old conversations. In ChatGPT, you’ll see all of these in the left-hand toolbar. However, with Copilot, you need to click on the clock and round arrow icon.
Once you’ve clicked on this icon, you’ll see a list of your previous conversations. Find one that interests you and jump right back in. you’re able to also delete any conversations that you no longer need and start new ones if needed.
3Post-Meeting Follow-Up Emails
Whether you’re having a meeting or cooperating with classmates, you’ll likely have a list of action steps that come from these. Or at least, you should if you wish to be more productive. With plenty of other tasks on your plate, it’s very easy to neglect sending follow-up emails.
One of the best ways touse Copilot in Outlookis to send follow-up emails to meeting attendees. You can tell the app what they need to know while adding other essential details (e.g., deadlines). Depending on your audience, you can even change the tone of your message.
After writing your email with Copilot, you only need to make minor adjustments. Once you’ve done this, the message should be good to send to others.
2PowerPoint Slide Generation
Copilot can help you nail every PowerPoint presentationin numerous ways, one of which is generating slides. You can feed the software a prompt to ensure that all the most important details are included; after doing this, Copilot will create a slide or entire presentation based on your needs.
In your prompt, you should give Copilot as much information as possible. If needed, give a complete breakdown of each slide; you might also want to provide some statistics that the software can use.
When PowerPoint generates your slide, you can edit everything to suit your needs better. By having an initial draft to work with, you’ll probably find that your ideas flow better than if you had to start from scratch. You can combine Copilot withPowerPoint’s advanced featuresto take your presentations to the next level.
1Brainstorming
You canget better results when brainstorming with ChatGPT, but if you don’t want to use a different AI chatbot, Copilot is also quite effective in this area. This tool allows you to prepare for exams, actualize your big creative ideas, prepare for job interviews, and much more.
Copilot is good at brainstorming ideas in bullet point format. You’ll get comprehensive outlines and can then ask follow-up questions to deepen your research. While you can use the questions that appear after each answer, Copilot will also let you ask your own if needed.
Mindmapping with Copilot is more difficult. I find that Copilot just gives you a list of apps that specialize in this rather than actually mapping out my thoughts and processes. But for general brainstorming, you shouldn’t have too many problems.
Copilot has plenty of underrated tools to help you with all kinds of projects and requests. The tool can create full presentations, and you’ll also find it helpful when brainstorming your big ideas. Combining these Copilot features with those already in your favorite Microsoft app can be particularly powerful.
