Copilot Notebooks: OneNotes AI Upgrade

Key insights

• Copilot Notebooks: AI-enhanced notebooks inside OneNote that gather pages, files, links, and Copilot chat into one organized workspace.
  They let you design, refine, and reuse multi-step prompts directly where your notes live.
• Contextual AI assistance: Copilot uses linked documents and notebook content to give tailored suggestions, summaries, and draft text.
  This makes answers and outputs more relevant to the exact work you store in the notebook.
• Productivity gains: Use the notebook to turn meeting notes into clear action items, brainstorm ideas, and draft project plans faster.
  AI-generated summaries and rewrites save time and keep work structured and actionable.
• How to use: Open the Copilot Notebooks area in OneNote, create a new notebook, and add files or links for context.
  Then ask Copilot to summarize, generate to-dos, rewrite text for clarity, or brainstorm directly in the chat pane.
• Integration & technology: Copilot Notebooks tie OneNote to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and SharePoint using large language models (LLMs).
  They also support multimodal features like audio summaries so you can listen to notebook content on the go.
• Requirements & availability: Feature requires OneNote for Windows (version 2504 or later) and a Microsoft 365 Copilot commercial license plus OneDrive or SharePoint for file references.
  Microsoft is rolling related features to other platforms for licensed customers over time.

Microsoft 365 OneNote has received a notable upgrade with the introduction of Copilot Notebooks, and technology commentator Giuliano De Luca [MVP] recently showcased the feature in a focused YouTube video. In his walkthrough, De Luca explains how the new notebooks embed Copilot capabilities directly into the OneNote experience on Windows. Consequently, users can create iterative, multi-step prompts and keep AI-driven work alongside their notes for clearer, traceable outcomes.

Overview of Copilot Notebooks

De Luca describes Copilot Notebooks as a specialized workspace inside OneNote that aggregates files, pages, links, and chat interactions so the AI can work with full context. Moreover, the notebooks are built to let users design and reuse prompt flows, which helps when brainstorming, planning, or documenting recurring tasks. As a result, the experience aims to feel less like a separate chatbot and more like an integrated assistant that remembers and builds on what you already store in OneNote.

In addition, the video highlights how Copilot draws context from linked Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, which improves the relevance of generated summaries and drafts. De Luca emphasizes that this multi-source awareness reduces the need to copy content back and forth, thereby streamlining workflows. Therefore, teams that already store documents in Microsoft 365 will find their notes and AI responses better aligned than before.

Key Features and User Benefits

De Luca demonstrates several practical features, such as turning meeting notes into action items, producing concise summaries, and generating draft content directly within a notebook. Furthermore, OneNote can produce audio summaries, which supports accessibility and offers a convenient way to review material while commuting or multitasking. These additions aim to boost productivity by cutting the friction between thought, draft, and final output.

Importantly, Copilot’s contextual suggestions also help users build richer project knowledge bases because the AI references related files and chats when answering. However, the video notes that quality depends on the underlying content: clear source documents lead to better AI results, while messy or incomplete notes may require additional prompts or editing. Thus, users should expect to perform light curation to get the best results from the assistant.

How Copilot Notebooks Work in Practice

De Luca walks viewers through creating a Copilot Notebook from the OneNote desktop app by naming the notebook and linking documents that will serve as references for the AI. After setup, users can interact with Copilot through a chat pane to ask for summaries, edits, or structured outputs, and they can save those outputs back into the notebook. Consequently, the process supports iterative refinement because prompts and results remain attached to the same workspace.

The video also covers synchronization, explaining that notebooks sync through OneDrive or SharePoint so content stays available across devices for licensed users. Nevertheless, De Luca points out that some advanced features are emphasized on Windows and that availability may vary by platform and subscription tier. Therefore, users should verify that their OneNote version and Microsoft 365 license meet the requirements to avoid surprises.

Tradeoffs and Practical Challenges

While Copilot Notebooks add clear convenience, De Luca discusses tradeoffs such as cost, governance, and privacy. For instance, enterprise use requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot commercial license and managed file storage, which increases expense compared with standard OneNote features. Moreover, organizations must balance the productivity gains against the need for data controls and compliance policies when AI systems access corporate files.

Another challenge concerns reliability and accuracy: because the feature relies on LLMs, outputs can sometimes be imperfect or require human review, especially for technical or sensitive content. In addition, syncing complex notebooks with many linked references can create versioning concerns and complicate permissions, so teams must plan how they structure shared notebooks. Accordingly, thoughtful governance and user training remain essential to avoid misuse and to ensure consistent results.

Availability, Requirements, and Adoption

According to De Luca, Copilot Notebooks are available in OneNote for Windows (version 2504 or newer) and require both a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and active OneDrive or SharePoint storage for context-aware features. Although some capabilities are accessible on Mac, iPad, and the web for eligible customers, the Windows client currently receives the most emphasis. As a result, organizations with mixed-device environments will need to consider where core editing and AI interactions should occur.

De Luca advises teams to test Copilot Notebooks on pilot projects before broad rollout so they can evaluate cost, performance, and governance impacts. In practice, small groups can iterate on prompt templates and notebook structures, then share best practices across the organization to speed adoption. Consequently, this staged approach helps balance experimentation with the discipline required for enterprise deployments.

In summary, Giuliano De Luca’s video presents Copilot Notebooks as a meaningful evolution for OneNote that embeds AI into everyday note-taking and project work. While the feature brings clear productivity benefits and richer context handling, organizations must weigh licensing, governance, and accuracy tradeoffs and plan adoption carefully to realize its full value.

Keywords

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