Phase 2 · Microsoft Copilot · Level 2 · Practitioner
Copilot in Word: draft, rewrite, summarise and edit
By the end, you'll be able to…
- Draft a first version of a document from a short brief using Copilot in Word
- Rewrite and reshape existing text, and summarise a long document, without leaving the page
- Use agent-style Edit with Copilot to make changes as tracked edits you review
Why it matters
The paid Copilot inside Word is where a lot of real work happens: turning a rough brief into a draft, tightening clumsy paragraphs, pulling a summary out of a long document without reading every line. This lesson walks you through drafting, rewriting, summarising and the newer 'Edit with Copilot', all on Fernway's project brief, so you can see exactly what each one does and where it needs checking.
The one thing to get straight first
Everything in this lesson uses Copilot in Word, the version that lives on the ribbon inside the Word app and can read the document you have open. That is a paid feature: it generally needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, almost always bought by an employer. If you open Word and there is no Copilot button, that usually means no licence, not a broken install. You can still practise the thinking in the free chat by pasting text in, and the "Try it now" box below shows you how, but the in-app buttons described here are the licensed experience.
A quick reassurance on access: if you don't see Copilot in Word, it's licensing, not you. The free Copilot Chat route from Level 1 still works, so you can keep building the skill even without the in-app buttons.
With that settled, Copilot in Word does four jobs you'll use constantly: drafting new content, rewriting what's there, summarising a long document, and editing it as tracked changes you approve. We'll take them in turn, using Fernway's customer-feedback project brief as the running example.
Drafting from a brief
Open a blank document (or put your cursor on an empty line) and the Copilot icon offers Draft with Copilot. You type what you want and Copilot writes a first version straight into the page. The skill is the same prompt craft from Phase 0 (role, task, context, format), except you can also point Copilot at an existing file to work from, using the / trigger to name it.
Here is the worked example. Maya needs a one-page briefing note for the team that explains the new feedback process in plain language, based on the formal project brief.
Draft a one-page briefing note for the whole team based on /fernway-project-brief, explaining the new customer-feedback process. Plain, friendly language for non-managers. Cover: why we're doing this, what changes for them day to day, and who to ask. About 300 words, with short headings.
Why this works: It names the source file with the slash trigger so Copilot is grounded in real content, then sets audience, length, structure and tone, the four things that turn a vague draft into a usable one. Grounding on the file stops Copilot inventing a process from scratch.
Copilot produces a structured draft: a couple of sentences on the background, a "what this means for you" section, and a line pointing people at Maya. It won't be perfect, and it may soften or reshape facts from the brief, so you read it against the source. But you've gone from blank page to a reviewable draft in one step, which is the whole point.
Rewriting what's already there
Select a paragraph, choose the Copilot icon in the left margin, and you get Rewrite options, including Auto Rewrite, and a box where you can say how to rewrite it. Copilot shows you alternatives; you can replace the original, insert the new version below it to compare, or regenerate. Nothing changes until you pick.
This is the fastest win in Word. The brief's risk section is written in dense project-speak; suppose you want it warmer for the team note.
Rewrite this so it reassures the team rather than worrying them. Plain, warm, no jargon. Keep it to two sentences.
Why this works: Selecting the exact text first scopes the change precisely, and naming the audience and tone ('reassuring, plain') gives Copilot a target. Because it offers options rather than overwriting, you stay in control of which version lands.
Good rewrite prompts name the direction: shorter, warmer, more formal, plainer, more concise. Vague ones ("make it better") get you a lateral move rather than an improvement.
Summarising a long document
At the top of a document Copilot offers a summary, and you can ask follow-up questions about the content, like "what are the deliverables?" or "list every risk and its mitigation". This reads the whole file, so it's useful on a twenty-page report you haven't time to read end to end.
Summarise this brief in five bullet points a busy manager could read at a glance, then list every deliverable with its owner in a two-column table. Flag anything that has no named owner.
Why this works: Asking for a fixed structure (key points plus a table of deliverables with owners) gives you something you can act on and, crucially, something you can check line by line against the document. A named shape beats 'summarise this' every time.
The catch: a summary is Copilot's reading of the document, and it can quietly drop a point or overstate one. On the Fernway brief, check that it kept the two-working-day acknowledgement target and didn't merge deliverables together. The summary saves you time; the check keeps you safe.
Edit with Copilot: the agent-style editor
The newest piece is Edit with Copilot, which is more agentic: instead of handing you text to paste, Copilot makes the changes in the document as tracked changes you then review, accept or reject. You can ask it to rewrite a section, apply formatting, or insert new content, and watch the edits appear.
Go through this brief and make every section heading consistent, turn the timeline into a bulleted list, and add a one-line plain-English summary under each numbered heading. Show me the changes to review.
Why this works: This delegates the mechanical work of restructuring and formatting across the whole document, but because it lands as tracked changes, you review every edit before accepting. That review step is exactly what makes agent-style editing safe to use on real work.
Treat those tracked changes the way you'd treat edits from a keen but junior colleague: mostly helpful, occasionally wrong, always worth reading before you accept. Accepting a batch of Copilot edits unread is the single easiest way to let a subtle error into a document with your name on it.
More prompts to reuse
Turn these rough bullet points into three tidy paragraphs for a team update, friendly and concise, no new facts beyond what's here: [paste your notes].
Why this works: It gives Copilot raw material and a clear target format, so it drafts rather than guesses. Naming the reader keeps the register right.
Cut this section by about a third. Keep every fact and every action; just remove repetition and padding. Don't add anything new.
Why this works: 'Cut by a third, keep every fact' is a precise, checkable instruction, and you can verify nothing important was lost, unlike a vague 'shorten this'.
Read this brief as if you were the sponsor signing it off. List the three weakest or least clear points, and one question you'd ask before approving. Don't rewrite it.
Why this works: Asking Copilot to critique rather than rewrite surfaces gaps you can fix yourself, and keeps you the author. It's a different and useful mode.
Try it now
Common mistakes
- Expecting the button without the licence. Copilot in Word is a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot feature. No button almost always means no licence, which is a purchasing decision, not a fault.
- Vague rewrite prompts. "Make it better" gets a sideways move. Name the direction (shorter, warmer, plainer) and Copilot has something to aim at.
- Letting a draft invent facts. When drafting from a brief, Copilot can add plausible detail that isn't in the source. Read the draft against the original before it goes anywhere.
- Accepting tracked changes unread. Edit with Copilot is fast precisely because it does the work for you, which is also why an unreviewed error slips in unnoticed. Read every change.
- Over-trusting a fluent summary. A well-organised summary feels complete, but Copilot can drop a key figure or merge two points into one. On anything load-bearing, check the summary against the document. Fluency is not accuracy, and a hallucination reads exactly as confidently as a fact.
Keeping current
Microsoft renames and reshuffles these features often, and "Edit with Copilot" in particular is newer and still evolving. The durable habit is: draft from a named source, rewrite by naming the direction, and review every change. On licensing: during 2026 Microsoft moved the in-app Copilot features inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote behind a full Microsoft 365 Copilot licence; the free Copilot Chat continues, and Copilot in Outlook remains available. Microsoft has also been rolling out a Regenerate control that produces a fresh version of a Copilot response when the first one misses, worth trying before you rewrite a prompt. For the current buttons and steps, see Microsoft's own Welcome to Copilot in Word and Edit with Copilot in Word. Accurate as of 14 July 2026.