Microsoft Copilot: 7 features across Microsoft 365

Key insights

• Excel’s Clean Data skill asks clarifying questions and previews proposed changes before applying them.
• PowerPoint’s Clarify My Thinking skill uses follow-up questions to draft slides from a starting point.
• In Word, Copilot can arrange and resize images into a requested grid, such as a 5-by-5 table.
• SharePoint Copilot can create a page from a list and a workflow from a natural-language prompt.
• Copilot Search can find content in scanned PDFs, according to the demonstration.

Microsoft Copilot adds seven demonstrated ways to handle tasks across Excel, PowerPoint, Word, SharePoint and search, including cleaning spreadsheet data and creating a list-based workflow. These capabilities matter to people who work in those Microsoft 365 apps and want to reduce manual formatting, drafting, or searching. Mike Tholfsen demonstrates the tasks in a YouTube video; the steps below describe what the demonstrations establish, not a guarantee of availability in every environment.

What's new

The seven examples cover three kinds of work: content editing, SharePoint creation and automation, and information retrieval. In Excel, a Clean Data skill analyzes a sheet, asks questions about choices such as date format and SKU capitalization, then displays proposed changes for review before proceeding. In PowerPoint, Clarify My Thinking asks about the audience’s desired action, the central story and known causes before drafting slides.

Word’s image task is more direct: a prompt asks Copilot to arrange and resize images into a five-by-five table. The Copilot pane in Word, Excel and PowerPoint also has a changed layout, with the prompt area at the bottom. In SharePoint, the examples create an HTML page from a list and a workflow from a natural-language description. The seventh example uses Copilot Search to find a person in a scanned PDF.

The SharePoint workflow example connects a list change to a Teams message. The prompt specifies that a message should be sent when the RFP Status column changes to “Bid Won,” and asks for links to the original list item and the list. The search example demonstrates a result from a scanned organizational chart stored in a SharePoint document library.

Who it is for and what you need

These tasks are relevant to Microsoft 365 users who work with spreadsheet data, presentations, documents, SharePoint lists and pages, or organizational search. The video description says the first six features require “Copilot Premium,” while the Excel demonstration specifically says a Copilot license is needed. Those statements do not establish the precise license SKU or entitlements for each individual task.

The source material does not specify prerequisites such as tenant settings, app versions, regions, rollout dates, or whether each capability is generally available, in preview, or limited to particular accounts. The official pricing link provided with the video is useful for checking current plan information, but the material does not map each of the seven tasks to a specific plan. Confirm access in your own environment before planning a rollout.

Some examples depend on an existing work context: a spreadsheet to clean, a presentation to develop, images in a Word document, a SharePoint list, or a Teams destination for workflow messages. The workflow example uses a SharePoint list and a Teams channel. The source does not say whether equivalent workflows require additional configuration or licensing.

How it works

1. Clean a sheet: Open Copilot in Excel and invoke the Clean Data skill with @. Describe any additional cleanup you want. Answer its questions, inspect the proposed changes, and choose to proceed.
2. Develop a presentation: In PowerPoint, use @ to select Clarify My Thinking and describe the issue and intended audience. Answer the follow-up questions, then review the draft slides. The demonstrated result is editable draft content, including a hypothesis and next steps that the presenter says he supplied himself.
3. Arrange images: In Word, ask Copilot to arrange and resize the document’s images into a specified layout, such as a five-by-five table. Review the result before accepting it.
4. Create a SharePoint page: From the relevant SharePoint context, ask Copilot to create an HTML page based on a list. The demonstration publishes the generated page, then uses Settings > Site contents > Site pages and the page’s three-dot menu to choose “Make homepage.”
5. Create a workflow: Ask Copilot in SharePoint to define the trigger, action and destination. In the example, changing the RFP Status to “Bid Won” triggers an adaptive card in a Teams channel. The workflow appears under the list’s Workflows menu, where the demonstration shows options to edit or turn it off.
6. Search a scanned PDF: Search in Copilot for a person and specify that the information is in a PDF. The example finds the name in a scanned organizational chart.

For the prompt-box layout change, the demonstrated difference is simply that the prompt area is at the bottom of the Copilot pane in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The video does not provide a separate setting to enable it.

Limitations and open questions

The examples show particular tasks and results; they do not establish that Copilot will produce identical outputs for other files or prompts. Review generated edits, slides, pages and workflow logic before relying on them. In the PowerPoint example, the presenter distinguishes the generated draft from a verified explanation: he says he supplied the hypothesis and next steps himself.

The source does not document accuracy rates, supported file or list sizes, administrative controls, or licensing for each capability. It also does not explain how scanned-PDF search handles different languages or scan quality. The official Microsoft source supplied alongside the material is an October Copilot update post; the available material does not establish that it documents these seven demonstrations or their rollout. Treat availability and plan requirements as items to verify rather than assumptions.

For broader coverage of Microsoft 365 products, see our Microsoft 365 coverage. The examples here are useful starting points, but they do not replace testing the feature with your own content and checking your organization’s access.

Sources

• Microsoft Copilot pricing information
• Microsoft Copilot blog: October update
• Mike Tholfsen’s Copilot feature demonstrations

Frequently asked questions

What does Copilot’s Clean Data skill do in Excel?

It analyzes a sheet, asks clarifying questions about cleanup choices, and shows proposed changes for review before proceeding.

What license do I need for these Copilot features?

The video description says the first six require “Copilot Premium,” and the Excel demonstration says a Copilot license is needed. The material does not specify the exact SKU and entitlement for each feature.

Can Copilot create a SharePoint workflow from a prompt?

The demonstration creates a workflow from a natural-language description: when a list status changes to “Bid Won,” it sends an adaptive card to a Teams channel. Availability and prerequisites are not established in the source material.

Can Copilot Search find text in a scanned PDF?

The demonstration finds a person in a scanned PDF using Copilot Search. Supported scan quality, languages and broader availability are not specified.