5 secret Microsoft Copilot tips and tricks that can help enhance productivity

Here are five hidden features of Copilot that not many users know but should know:

Copilot Notebook for longer text prompts

The Copilot Notebook is the perfect solution if you feel the text prompt input box is cramped. The Notebook has a large context window, which can support up to 18,000 characters, allowing users to input more detailed queries. This is helpful, especially in cases where one needs to generate computer program code or wants a specific response.

If you don’t like the Copilot homepage user interface, which looks complex, you will appreciate the Copilot Notebook. It has a simple UI, and even the AI-generated results from the Notebook are easy to access. If you ever received a long email or a message, you can use the Copilot Notebook feature to summarise it.

Generate high-quality, royalty-free images

Three versions of an output from DALL-E with prompts. (Express Image)

Microsoft Copilot can generate images for free, and this feature is powered by OpenAI’s DALL.E 3, one of the most capable text-to-image generative AI models. If you want to make certain changes to the generated images, click on the Microsoft Designer option, which enables capabilities like removing/replacing the background, blurring the background, adjusting the colour tone, applying a specific filter, and more. Do note that the images generated using Copilot will be watermarked. Using the same Designer app, one can also create beautiful wallpapers for smartphones or computers.

Use power of plugins

Microsoft recently added the ability to add plugins to Copilot. These plugins can help generate more specific results. For example, a shopaholic can add plugins like Klarna, which can help them get exact price comparisons of a specific product. By default, Microsoft has enabled the search plugin, which helps in incorporating web search results with AI-generated results. By disabling it, one can get AI-only-generated content on Copilot.

Talk to Copilot

Copilot Pro combined with Microsoft 365 subscription supercharges office suite with generative AI (Image credit: Microsoft)

Copilot can accept both text and voice prompts. When you search using your voice, Copilot will even automatically dictate the AI-generated result. Even when you submit a text-based prompt, there is an option for Copilot to read out the output. This enables users who can’t use/access a physical keyboard to access Microsoft Copilot.

Do image search

Copilot can also accept images as prompts or input. One can ask a query related to an image, such as a monument or a famous personality. Similarly, one can ask Copilot to generate similar images in different styles. It can also extract text from an image or convert the text from one language to another.

These are some of Microsoft Copilot’s different use cases. Users can also subscribe to Copilot Pro to gain additional capabilities and access to more advanced generative AI models.