Microsoft’s Copilot Pro offers a few benefits for $20 per month, but the most helpful one is the AI-powered integration with the different Microsoft 365 apps. For those of you who use Microsoft Word, either the paid desktop version or the free web version, Copilot Pro can help you write and revise text, summarize your documents, and answer questions about any document.
To use Copilot Pro with the desktop version of Word, you’ll need a subscription to either Microsoft 365 Personal or Family<!–>. Priced at $70 per year, the Personal edition is geared toward one individual signed in to as many as five devices. At $100 per year, the Family edition is aimed at up to six people on as many as five devices. The core apps in the suite include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.
To use the AI tool with the free web version of Word, you need a Microsoft account to sign in to Microsoft 365 online.
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Second, you’ll need a subscription to Copilot Pro if you don’t already have one. To sign up, head to the Copilot Pro website. Click the Get Copilot Pro button. Confirm the subscription and the payment. The next time you use Copilot on the website, in Windows, with the desktop or web version of Microsoft 365, or with the mobile apps, the Pro version will be in effect.
How to use Copilot Pro in the desktop version of Word
Open Word.
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At the text field in the window, type a description of the text you need and click the Generate button.
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Submit your request.
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Copilot should generate and display its response. Copilot should then present you with a few options.
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Review the response and your options.
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If you like the draft, click “Keep it.” The draft should then be inserted into your document, where you can work with the text. If you don’t like the draft, click the Regenerate button, and Copilot should create a new draft.
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Click the trashcan icon if you’d prefer to throw out the entire draft and start from scratch.
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Keep, regenerate, or remove the draft.
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Alternatively, you can try to modify the draft by typing a specific request in the text field, such as “Make it more formal,” “Make it shorter,” or “Make it more casual.”
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Alter the draft.
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If you regenerate the draft, you can switch between the different versions by clicking the left or right arrow next to the number. You can choose to keep the draft you prefer.
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Choose the draft.
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Copilot will also help you fine-tune existing text. Select the text you want to revise. Click the Copilot icon in the left margin and select “Rewrite with Copilot.”
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Revise existing text.
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Copilot can create a few different versions of the text. Click the arrow keys to view each version.
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Review the different versions.
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Replace or Insert.
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Click Regenerate to ask Copilot to try again. Click the Adjust Tone button and select a different tone to generate another draft.
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Adjust the tone.
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Sometimes you have text that would look and work better as a table. Copilot can help. Select the text you wish to turn into a table. Click the Copilot icon and select “Visualize as a Table.”
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Turn text into a table.
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In response, click “Keep it” to retain the table. Click “Regenerate” to try again. Click the trash can icon to delete it. Otherwise, type a request in the text field, such as “remove the second row” or “make the last column wider.”
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Respond to the table.
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Copilot Pro can provide a summary of a document with its key points. To try this tool, open the document you want to summarize and click the Copilot icon on the Ribbon.
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The right sidebar displays several prompts you can use to start your question. Click the one for “Summarize this doc.”
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Summarize a document.
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View the generated summary in the sidebar. If you like it as is, click the “Copy” button to copy the summary and paste it elsewhere.
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Review the summary.
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Otherwise, choose one of the suggested questions or ask your question to revise the summary. For example, you could tell Copilot to make the summary longer, shorter, more formal, or less formal.
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You could also ask Copilot to expand on one of the points in the summary or provide more details on a certain point. Copilot should then generate a specific response based on your request.
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Revise the summary.
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Next, you can ask specific questions about any content in a document. Again, click the Copilot icon to display the sidebar. In the prompt area, type and submit your question. Copilot should display the response in the sidebar. You can then ask follow-up questions as needed.
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Ask questions about a document.
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How to use Copilot Pro in the web version of Word
Browse to the Microsoft 365 website and sign in with your Microsoft account. From the list of apps on the left, click the icon for Word and create a new blank document. Click the “Draft with Copilot” icon.
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Enter a description of the content you need and then click the Generate button.
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Read the response. At the bottom of the page, you can react in a few different ways.
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Click the Regenerate button to request a different answer. Click the Discard icon to delete the response and start from scratch. Click the “Keep it” button to accept the response. In the text field, type a different request to revise the response, such as “make it shorter,” “make it longer,” or “make it more formal.”
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Beyond generating new content, Copilot Pro can revise existing text. Select the text you want to change and then click the Copilot icon. From the three menu choices, click “Auto rewrite.”
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After the selected text is rewritten, you’re given a few options. You can replace the existing text with the revision. You can insert the revision below the existing text. Otherwise, type another request to revise the new text further.
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You can also transform the text into a table. Select the text you wish to convert. Click the Copilot icon and select “Visualize as a table” from the menu. You can then keep the table, regenerate it, delete it, or fine-tune it.
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You can also ask Copilot Pro to summarize the key points in a document. Open the document you want to summarize and click the Copilot icon. From the suggested questions, click “Summarize this doc.”
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Beyond asking for a summary, you can pose specific questions about a document. Type your question in the field, and hit “Ask me anything about this document.” Copilot should then answer your question, allowing you to copy the answer and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.
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More how-tos
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Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
