Copilot for Small and Medium Business topics

Copilot in Bidding

Chella_Duncan — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:31:43 GMT

Hi all,

Has anyone used/using Copilot+SharePoint with your bidding process? For example, when a new tender is dropped, can Copilot be setup to research and pre-populate utilising past submissions. And how Copilot can assist with pre-tender drop work.

Errors in source file retrieval from the knowledge base in copilot agents?

mv2026 — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:30:04 GMT

Hi all,

I understand that copilot agents are connected to MS Graph, which maps the relationships between all the data stored in your MS 365 tenancy (sharepoint, onedrive files, emails etc).

Recently, I created an agent and assigned a specific folder to the knowledge base and turned off the "use web content" toggle, because I wanted the responses to be very directly tailored to my folder (inclu. sub-folders with multiple files).

I then tested if/how well the agent retrieved specific files using this prompt:

"Can you please tell me how many files are in this folder and list the files in the folder? [Insert link to sub-folder in from the main folder in the knowledge base]"

The agent responded with (1) an incorrect count and (2) listed a few files that were not in the sub-folder but in another part of the knowledge base.

As I understand it, it is a counting error in (1) and retrieval+indexing error in (2). I'm more concerned about (2) because I'm worried the agent isn't retrieving (and therefore, using the info in) all the files in an important folder (when specifically linked to it even).

Questions:

(a) Where is this error happening in the indexing process within MS graph? Am I misunderstanding where the error lies? Any ideas on why an agent is naming the wrong files in a folder within its own knowledge base??

(b) Do agents created within the copilot agents web interface use Azure AI Search for semantic indexing or is that only for more custom RAG solutions created "from scratch" using foundry, SDK, etc? Do copilot agents use Microsoft Search to query and index files used in a response?

Thanks!

Copilot as a junior collaborator

Maars — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 22:35:11 GMT

I’m using Copilot in Word with OneDrive/SharePoint version control. Copilot should be able to act as a constrained collaborator identity: always editing with Track Changes on, never accepting changes, and operating under existing SharePoint permissions. Version history already provides rollback, and the controlling author retains full authority. This would enable true collaboration without increasing risk and mirrors how teams already work with junior editors. This conversation documents a real legal/financial drafting workflow where this capability would materially improve Copilot’s value.

Send Emails from Chat using Copilot Studio Work IQ Mail (Preview)

SajedaSultana — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 11:16:28 GMT

I tested the new Work IQ Mail Preview tool in Copilot Studio and built a simple scenario where an agent can draft and send emails directly from chat using a natural language command. The idea is simple. A user first asks the agent to draft an email, then reviews the generated response, and finally sends it by typing the command "Send the email with the above response". For this test I created a simple agent called WorkPulse Assistant. The agent helps users draft professional emails and optionally send them using the Work IQ Mail MCP tool. I added the Work IQ Mail Preview tool from the Tools tab using Model Context Protocol MCP. Insert screenshot here showing the Work IQ Mail tool configuration. In the chat, the user can ask something like: Write an email to John about rescheduling tomorrow's meeting to Friday. The agent generates the email draft and informs the user that the email can be sent from chat. Insert screenshot here showing the generated email draft. After reviewing the draft, the user types the command Send the email with the above response. The agent then calls the Work IQ Mail tool and sends the message. Insert screenshot here showing the email sent confirmation. The first time the tool is used, Copilot Studio prompts the user to authorize the Work IQ Mail MCP connection. Insert screenshot here showing the connection prompt. This scenario shows how Copilot Studio agents can go beyond answering questions and perform real actions. Users can draft emails, review them, and send them directly from a conversational interface. I would be interested to hear if others are experimenting with Work IQ tools such as Mail, Teams, or Calendar in Copilot Studio.

Copilot Agent AND notebook have trouble examining excel xlsx file

wolly68 — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:44:23 GMT

file

Uploading this same file to a custom agent AND setting up a new notebook with this one excel files gives errors - inability to access contents.

I've tried multiple iterations of similar excel files (.xls, .csv, xlsx) - 300 rows by 5 columns with dummy data in each and simply asked sum the column called Base Market Value.

If i put the file in a general chat, it does calculation without issue.

Appreciate any help as this is extremely frustrating.
Wolly

PS below is the basic response i get. Despite my confirming that it has the right column name, it can't calculate it. Or in one case, it calculated the figure incorrectly

Why Can’t Copilot Find My Files? Here’s What You Need to Know

Teresa_Cyrus — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:24:24 GMT

Have you ever asked Copilot to pull up a document—only to get nothing back? It’s not a glitch. Copilot relies on permissions, indexing, and governance to locate your content. If your files aren’t accessible or properly organized, they won’t appear in Copilot’s results.

Here’s what you can do:

✅ Make sure your files are stored in OneDrive or SharePoint
✅ Check sharing permissions—Copilot can’t access what you can’t
✅ Keep your content organized for better indexing

Want to dive deeper? Read the full blog for practical tips:
👉 https://traccreations4e.com/why-copilot-misses-files/

Question for you:
Have you run into this issue? What steps have helped you improve Copilot’s accuracy?

#traccreations4e-p25 1/20/2026

Microsoft 365 & Co-pilot, getting started

Nilani — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:16:23 GMT

Hi, my company has recently given me a co-pilot license to see how I can utilise this in Excel. I am trying to do some simple exercises to get familiar with the product. I have a small table of data and I am asking co-pilot to do basic things like add a total at the bottom, colour a cell green etc. Each time I give it an instruction, it is creating a new spreadsheet to download instead of giving me the option to 'apply' the change to existing worksheet.

I have ensured that the autosave is turned on and I am on share drive. I'm not sure why this isn't working and wondered if anyone can help me with this issue?

Copilot Chat in Word, Excel, etc but not in Outlook

Duotone — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:16:39 GMT

I have an issue where Copilot Chat is available in all Office applications except Outlook.

Environment:

Windows 11 24H2

Microsoft 365

Microsoft® Outlook® for Microsoft 365 MSO

Version 2510 (Build 16.0.19328.20266)

32-bit

In Outlook, I can see the Copilot button, but the Chat experience is not available.
I only see options like Reply and Summarize when an email is selected.

Additionally, right after starting Outlook, the Copilot button is briefly visible, then it disappears again and only reappears once an email is selected.

Why is the Copilot Chat not available in Outlook, while it works in all other Office applications?

Small business

miraci — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:52:55 GMT

I'm using Exel 365. I've started a small business and doing the bookkeeping. I've started a spread sheet with several columns for the products.

The first column has the daily date. on a second sheet I would like to get the totals for each month, I've used this formula:

=SUMIFS('Business'!$B$2:$B$1000, 'Business'!$A$2:$A:$1000, ">="&A2, 'Business'!$A$2:$A$1000, "<="&EOMONTH(A2,0))

This only gives me a 0 return on my second column (JAN) and not the totals of the first sheet second column.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Copilot conversation collapse/loops/non-responding: How do I fix?

cptkrnch — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 21:56:06 GMT

I have been encountering critical errors with Microsoft Copilot entering non-responding states while simulating "Personas". I tried the troubleshooting and reporting pages but got told to F myself with a default "go to the troubleshooting page and do it yourself" response.
1. Is there a fix for these non-responding states?
2. What is the fix?
3. What more information do I need to provide?

Thanks for helping.

Microsoft 365 Copilot License for Small Business Question

nakshibil — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 17:48:19 GMT

Hi! I'm the Global Admin for Microsoft 365 for a small company. Recently the CEO wanted to try Microsoft 365 Copilot(not the chat!) and I purchased a license for him. No one else have a license, not even me. So I purchased the license and assign it to him through the admin portal. So far he hasn't been able to use anything else but the chat. What am I missing here? I 've been checking settings and such and everything seems right. Any advice?

Copilot Missing from M365 Portal

siastolf — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:35:42 GMT

From one day to the next, Copilot Chat disappeared from the portal on one of our small clients' accounts.
It's available and working in all other Copilot applications, but it simply disappeared from the Office portal.
This is a premium business subscription without a Copilot license. The user has two PCs, and the problem occurs identically on both. No changes have been made.
Community, do you have any ideas or suggestions on what the problem might be?
Thanks

Microsoft 365 Copilot + SharePoint

mcheatham — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:36:55 GMT

Our organization recently purchased Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses for all of our employees. One of the major tasks that we would like to utilize Copilot for is analyzing and summarizing documents on SharePoint. However, there are a couple of issues that we hope Microsoft is developing fixes for.

There appears to be a data limit. If a file is too large, then we get a message, "I'm sorry, the size of this file is beyond my response limit. Select a file smaller than 150 MB and try again." We often have files that are beyond the 150 MB limit and it's very important to us for Copilot to analyze documents larger than 150 MB.
It appears Copilot can analyze multiple, separate files at the same time. However, Copilot creates an output for each individual file rather than combining them. In other words, 1 summary for the first file, a second for the second, etc.

Both issues are related. Basically, we need Copilot to analyze/summarize larger files. Beyond the 150 MB limit. Is this something that Microsoft is developing? Also, if we ask Copilot to analyze separate files, is Microsoft developing a solution where Copilot will combine the output?

CoPilot Is in the Way

JosephNierenberg — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 16:37:29 GMT

Microsoft's constantly pushing CoPilot obstructs workflows, distracts focus, and is not effective. For example, although I've disabled CoPilot in Word in one installation and there is no CoPilot tab under Options in another installation, every time I start the app in the computer where there is no CoPilot Option tab, there are extremely distracting tiles at the top of the screen. If this continues, I'll be switching to LibxxOfficx (the full name is disallowed in this forum). In the meantime, does anyone know how to turn off these amazingly unproductive ads?

Adaptive Card in Declarative Agent not rendering

benjamin-error — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 13:09:59 GMT

My declarative agent does not render an adaptive card as I expect it to:

My agent works this way:

a user ask the agent to generate something
this triggers a function that makes a POST Api call to my API
the api responds with json data
the Agent should display this data as an adaptive card. But it doesn't

This is my plugin.json

{ "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/copilot/plugin/v2.2/schema.json", "schema_version": "v2.2", "name_for_human": "SOMETHING", "description_for_human": "SOMETHING", "namespace": "SOMETHING", "functions": [ { "name": "generateSomething", "description": "Generates something.", "capabilities": { "response_semantics": { "data_path": "$", "properties": { "title": "$.title", "subtitle": "$.number", "url": "$.image_url" }, "static_template": { "type": "AdaptiveCard", "body": [ { "type": "TextBlock", "size": "default", "weight": "default", "text": "${number}" }, { "type": "TextBlock", "size": "medium", "weight": "bolder", "text": "Title: ${title}" }, { "type": "Image", "style": "Person", "url": "${image_url}", "altText": "image", "size": "Stretch" } ], "actions": [ { "type": "Action.OpenUrl", "title": "View", "url": "${view_url}" } ], "$schema": "http://adaptivecards.io/schemas/adaptive-card.json", "version": "1.5" } }, "confirmation": { "type": "AdaptiveCard", "title": "Create something", "body": "Do you want to create something?" } } } ], "runtimes": [ { "type": "OpenApi", "auth": { "type": "None" }, "spec": { "url": "apiSpecificationFile/openapi_1.json" }, "run_for_functions": [ "generateSomething" ] } ], "capabilities": { "conversation_starters": [ { "text": "Generate Something" } ] } }

This is an example payload from my API:

{ "image_url": "https://some.url", "view_url": "https://something.else", "title": "Las Vegas", "number": 1 }

nice

zakir — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 02:20:11 GMT

good

Use of Copilot as bot for Ticketing solutions

Abimbola — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 09:33:12 GMT

Does it support API integrations for custom ticketing workflows?

Copilot for Small and Medium Business

hemantbhati492392584125 — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 04:39:25 GMT

Hi, I want to know new feature and explore to give feedback community and microsoft

How to try out Copilot for SMB?

Arthurhudson — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 03:12:46 GMT

How to try out Copilot for SMB?

Sharing Prompts within Organization Only

testuser1234 — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:52:01 GMT

Hi,

We see the Copilot Prompt Gallery where we can see Microsoft's prompts and my saved prompts only. However, we would like to share prompts across the organization and track them in an organized way. Can we do this within a Microsoft environment like this website? If so, how? Again, the prompts wouldn't be shared with anyone outside the organization but will be shared with anyone within the organization. Is this possible to do now or are we waiting for updates to be released?

Thanks!