From draft to done: agentic Copilot in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint

Microsoft

Mar 09, 2026

Real work is iterative—context shifts, edits pile up, and version sprawl happens fast. Microsoft 365 Copilot is built for that reality. Copilot is now agentic, collaborating with you to take multi-step, app-native actions directly in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint so you can move work forward where you already work. With Work IQ, Copilot stays grounded in what’s current across your files, meetings, chats, and relationships. Changes are applied in the file—transparent, reviewable, and reversible—so you can iterate with confidence. And because everyone works in the same file, teams can coauthor and refine one version instead of passing copies around. Copilot honors Microsoft 365 permissions and sensitivity labels, and with built-in model choice, you can match the right model to the task without switching tools.

Here’s what that means when Copilot creates and edits your Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files.

Excel: natively build and refine spreadsheets

Sequences shortened for demonstration purposes.

Copilot in Excel helps you model scenarios, refresh inputs, and spot trends more efficiently by editing directly in your workbook with native tables, formulas, and charts. The goal isn’t just an answer—it’s a working model you trust. Copilot applies updates to the grid so you can review changes, tweak assumptions, and iterate as inputs shift. You can also choose the OpenAI or Anthropic model for in-app editing to match the task. This experience now supports locally stored workbooks, file uploads, and file search, with Work IQ grounding rolling out later this month. Additional model options—including GPT-5.4 and Claude Opus 4.6—will roll out in the coming weeks.

Prompts to try

Build a financial forecast from scratch: Create a P&L forecast using the latest data in [Operating Model.xlsx], including revenue, cost of goods sold, and operating expenses. Build out for 12 months starting January 2026 and design the model to show month-by-month growth, retention, and unit economics with adjustable assumptions.
Refresh sales performance data in a shareable format: Replicate last week’s analysis in a new sheet using the latest numbers shared in [Sales Weekly Update.docx] and show top insights on how our business is performing. And help me turn it into something easy to share, with visualizations of customer churn trends and clearly highlight the areas of concern.
Create a valuation model with sensitivity analysis: Create a discounted cash flow model for [company name] by pulling their latest disclosures from the web. Assume free cash flows grow at 12% annually for 5 years and use a discount rate of 9% with a terminal growth rate of 2%. Add sensitivity analysis tables showing how the valuation changes if the discount rate varies from 8% to 10%, growth rate from 10% to 14%, and terminal growth from 1% to 3%. Include a dropdown selector for best, base, and worst-case scenarios and use standard financial formatting.

Availability: Generally available today in Excel for Windows, web, and Mac for Microsoft 365 Copilot users.

Word: collaborate to turn drafts into review-ready docs

Sequences shortened for demonstration purposes.

Copilot in Word helps you turn working drafts into review-ready documents. It works in the same document your team is editing, so you can coauthor and iterate without creating—or reconciling—copies. Ask Copilot to update or fill in a template-based doc, add an executive summary, and suggest edits that incorporate stakeholder feedback into a draft that’s ready to share. It can restructure sections, rewrite for clarity, and apply Word-native styles so edits are easy to review. With Work IQ, Copilot can keep the document aligned to your latest work context (decisions, dates, and details), so you spend less time reconciling updates. This editing experience is available today, and model choice with OpenAI and Anthropic models will be available in April.

Prompts to try

Create a project status + decision brief: Create a project brief for [project title] using information from my meetings, files, and emails from the past [timeframe]. Include an Executive Summary at the top. Structure the document using Heading 1 and Heading 2 styles where appropriate. Include these sections: Current status, Key decisions and progress, Next steps, Unresolved issues or risks, Recommendations. Keep it factual and flag any missing inputs as questions at the end.
Refresh a recurring monthly exec report: This is last month’s executive update report. Help me update the entire report with this [month] updates by pulling the latest from my recent team emails and Teams chats. Remove last month’s updates and replace them with the newest ones. Only edit the last 3 columns of the table; update status with an appropriate icon (green = on track, yellow = at risk, red = off track). If a status is not on track, explain why in the “latest developments” column. Apply all new text updates in blue font.
Formatting and polish pass: Make the structure and formatting consistent and easy to scan—fix heading hierarchy, spacing between sections, fonts, lists, and tables. Reorganize any long or messy sections into clearer chunks using subheadings or tables where helpful. Align the tone and formatting with recent proposals or reports I’ve worked on so it matches our usual style. Tighten up wordy sections, flag places where the structure could be clearer, and sanity‑check any market, customer, or competitor claims using readily available high‑level information where it’s easy to do. The goal is a clean, professional document that’s ready to share without additional formatting or structural edits.

Availability: Generally available today in Word on Windows, web, and Mac for Microsoft 365 Copilot users.

PowerPoint: keep decks crisp and on-brand

Sequences shortened for demonstration purposes.

PowerPoint is introducing Copilot editing experiences to help you co-create presentations that are clear, visual, and on brand. Copilot respects your organization’s templates and themes by using approved colors, layouts, object styles, and images so presentations stay consistent without extra effort. Use Copilot in existing decks to sharpen a slide’s main message, simplify dense bullets, and turn text into clearer visuals like timelines, diagrams, and charts without redesigning from scratch. It’s useful when you’re polishing a slide for stakeholders—tightening the message in a shared deck so the team can iterate together, without version sprawl. This experience will continue to expand across more scenarios over time, including model choice with OpenAI and Anthropic models, explicit grounding in your files, emails, meetings, and chats, and implicitly through Work IQ.

Prompts to try

Create a branded presentation with web data: “Create an executive presentation on the major market pressures and trends shaping [industry]. Include a high‑level competitive analysis of leading players, outlining their relative strengths, weaknesses, and strategic focus areas, and conclude with implications for industry leaders.”

Transform text into a chart: “Transform text on this slide into a chart.”

Brand check (using established brand kit): “Check this slide for brand consistency from my organization’s guidelines.”

Availability: PowerPoint is rolling out to web for Microsoft 365 Copilot users. It will become available on Windows and Mac in the coming months.

This is about supporting real work the way it is done: turning in-progress work into outcomes you’re ready to share—review-ready docs, trusted models, and on-brand slides. Try agentic Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint today.