Microsoft 365 Copilot Onboarding Guides | AI Competency Centre

Things to try in Microsoft 365 Copilot

To get started, try Copilot in some of these contexts:

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Important: Copilot has access to all data in Sharepoint to which you have access with your Microsoft 365 (Nexus 365) account. This may occasionally include files to which you may have been given access by accident - if you discover any such files, please notify their owners or, if appropriate, the Information Security team. You can also ask about your emails and your chats in Teams. 

You can access Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat via the web link https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat or within Teams. See the guide below for more help:

🔗 Searching files, emails, chats, and the web

Copilot in Outlook

Important: Copilot cannot access emails in shared mailboxes.

🔗 Copilot in Outlook help & learning

Copilot in Teams

Important: To be able to use Copilot for recording/transcribing teams meetings, you will need to request permission. This is not a feature that you will have access to immediately. Use this form to request access to meeting recording. For this feature to work, the meeting organiser will also need to have this enabled.

🔗 Generating instant meeting minutes with Copilot and other Teams features

Copilot in Microsoft Office Apps

Important: Copilot is only available in Microsoft 365 desktop apps including Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel and in their online versions. 

Copilot is not available in desktop apps of Office 2021!

These Microsoft guides will help you explore Copilot in various office apps.

• Copilot in Word help & learning
• Copilot in Excel help & learning
• Copilot in PowerPoint help & learning
• Copilot in OneNote help & learning

More information for using Copilot across Nexus 365

For more information on how Copilot integrates across the Microsoft 365 platform, see Microsoft’s onboarding centre.

Next steps

Congratulations! You have finished the first part of the onboarding. By this point, you should feel fairly comfortable using Copilot to:

1. Search for files, emails, and chats
2. Getting and using AI meeting minutes
3. Summarising email chains and drafting responses

Please continue exploring and share your experiences with other uses in Oxford’s AI communities. Here some other suggestions for further explorations.

Copilot in other Microsoft products

You may also want to explore Copilot in other Microsoft products:

• Welcome to Copilot in Forms - Microsoft Support
• Microsoft 365 Copilot in Planner help & learning - Microsoft Support
• Copilot in SharePoint help & learning - Microsoft Support
• Microsoft 365 Copilot in Whiteboard help & learning

More Copilot Features

You can also start exploring some of Copilot’s more advanced features such as:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Pages - Microsoft Support
• Get started with agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot - Microsoft Support

Explore different prompts

Explore the Copilot Prompt Gallery to get ideas for the sort of things you can ask Microsoft 365 Copilot to do for you.

Microsoft use the Copilot brand to describe many products. This page explains some of the differences.

Microsoft 365 Copilot vs Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is a free Microsoft product available to anyone at the University with an SSO. It offers enhanced data protection but excludes integration with office apps. Here’s a graphic from Microsoft explaining the differences:

Microsoft 365 Copilot vs Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Pro

Despite the similar names, Microsoft Copilot is a completely separate product. It has a different interface and functionality. Microsoft Copilot is a free product but Microsoft also offer a paid version called Microsoft Copilot Pro that offers integration with Microsoft Office apps for individual subscribers.

This service is only available with personal Microsoft accounts and cannot be accessed via University SSO login.

Microsoft 365 Copilot vs GitHub Copilot

Despite the fact that GitHub is owned by Microsoft and GitHub Copilot was the first product with the Copilot branding, GitHub Copilot is a completely separate service aimed at coders and is not included as part of the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscriptions.

Congratulations on completing the Microsoft 365 Copilot onboarding! You are welcome to join Oxford’s AI community. Join the AI SIG (Special Interest Group) for broader AI discussions and connect with the BUG (Builders User Group) if you’re a builder. Become an AI Ambassador if you would like to assist with the implementation of AI at Oxford and share knowledge within your team.

💡 Special Interest Group (SIG)

Link: Generative AI SIG | General | Microsoft Teams

The SIG serves as the broad, University-wide community for exploring generative AI’s impact on teaching, research, and innovation. It’s ideal for:

• Discussing AI use in education and professional settings.
• Connecting with others across disciplines.
• Accessing updates, learning resources, and events.

🛠️ Builders User Group (BUG)

Link: AI-BUG - AI Builders User Group | General | Microsoft Teams

The BUG is specifically for developers, engineers, and AI builders interested in:

• Running local models, APIs, and custom bots.
• Sharing tools, frameworks, and open-source projects.

If you’re focused on development, experimentation, and implementation, the BUG is your dedicated space.

🤖 AI Ambassadors

Link: AI Ambassadors

The AI Ambassadors are active AI users from across the collegiate University who are happy to be points of contact for colleagues in their local context.

Ambassadors can:

• Signpost you to best practice guidance
• Offer advice on how to integrate AI into your work
• Help to mentor you in applying AI tools