Five Copilot features to set up today, from general to niche.
Summary
Copilot setup is the work of giving Microsoft Copilot your context, your preferences, your repeat tasks and your project knowledge. These five features are saved memories, custom instructions, the prompt gallery, reusable skills and Workspaces.
Here's how to set up Copilot in one day, starting from general advice that gets progressively more niche.
If your company handed you Copilot, and you haven't set up these 5 features, you're making Copilot less powerful than it actually is.
Most people get the license and start typing into the chat. That's the mistake. If Copilot has no memory, no instructions and no project context, you have to supply all of it yourself, in every chat. These five features fix that. The first two change how Copilot responds to you. The next two handle work you repeat. The last one handles a whole project.
Caution: Your company controls what you see in Copilot. If you can't find one of these features, ask IT. Set up the rest in the meantime.
At a Glance
The anatomy of a one-day Copilot setup. Do these in order: they start general and get more niche.
Turn on saved memories
Turn on saved memories
Add custom instructions
Add custom instructions
Customize your prompt gallery
Customize your prompt gallery
Create a reusable skill
Create a Workspace
The TL;DR
Copilot remembers context details.
The TL;DR: Copilot remembers context details.
Tell Copilot how to talk to you.
The TL;DR Tell Copilot how to talk to you.
Set up your recurring work.
The TL;DR Set up your recurring work.
Get a task done the same way every time.
Give each project its own knowledge source.
More in-depth
Copilot saves these details automatically and uses them for better responses in the future.
More in-depth: Copilot saves these details automatically and uses them for better responses in the future.
Set its voice and output format. I ask for Simplified Technical English, so outputs are brief.
More in-depth: Set its voice and output format. I ask for Simplified Technical English, so outputs are brief.
Have Copilot plan your week, prioritize unanswered emails, or write weekly client reports.
More in-depth: Have Copilot plan your week, prioritize unanswered emails, or write weekly client reports.
Upload skills within apps like PowerPoint or agents. I use one that stops AI slop in all my agents.
Copilot stops forgetting your project. Create documents from what it knows and share it with your team.
Turn on saved memories
Add custom instructions
Customize your prompt gallery
Create a reusable skill
Create a Workspace
Copilot remembers context details.
Tell Copilot how to talk to you.
Set up your recurring work.
The TL;DR: Get a task done the same way every time.
The TL;DR:Give each project its own knowledge source.
Copilot saves these details automatically and uses them for better responses in the future.
Set its voice and output format. I ask for Simplified Technical English, so outputs are brief.
Have Copilot plan your week, prioritize unanswered emails, or write weekly client reports.
More in-depth: Upload skills within apps like PowerPoint or agents. I use one that stops AI slop in all my agents.
More in-depth: Copilot stops forgetting your project. Create documents from what it knows and share it with your team.
Step 1: Turn on saved memories
With saved memories on, Copilot automatically remembers context details and uses them to provide better responses in the future.
To access it, go to Copilot โ> Settings โ> Personalization โ> Saved Memories
Step 2: Add custom instructions
While you're in settings, tell Copilot how you want it to talk to you and how you want your outputs delivered.
To access it, go to Copilot โ> Settings โ> Personalization โ> Custom instructions
For example, I ask Copilot to speak in Simplified Technical English. That way, its text outputs are brief and contain minimal AI slop.
Here is a version to paste in and change to your settings:
Copy prompt
Prioritize concise, actionable answers. Answer first, in the fewest words that fully answer. Use for every response to me unless I explicitly ask for depth. What to cut, every time
Do not restate my question back to me.
Do not explain what you are about to do before doing it.
No opener. Never begin with Great question, Absolutely, Certainly, I'd be happy to, or Let me help you with that.
No closing summary that repeats what you just said.
No offer of further help unless there is a specific obvious next step, and then it is one line.
Never make the same point twice in different words. If two sentences carry the same idea, delete one.
Cut every hedge that does not change the meaning. "It's worth noting that" and "generally speaking" carry nothing.
How to write the sentences
One idea per sentence. One instruction per sentence. Active voice. Simple tenses. Use the same word for the same thing every time. If you called it a connector in line one, it is a connector in line nine. Do not swap in a synonym for variety. Prefer the shorter common word. Use, not utilize. Set up, not configure. Make sure, not ensure or verify or confirm. Every sentence has to earn its place. If deleting it loses nothing, delete it.
Length
Default to the shortest response that fully answers. Most answers are one to five sentences. Use a list when I asked for multiple things. Do not use a list to make three sentences look like structure. Never pad to seem thorough. A one-line answer to a one-line question is correct, not lazy.
Copy prompt
Prioritize concise, actionable answers. Answer first, in the fewest words that fully answer. Use for every response to me unless I explicitly ask for depth. What to cut, every time
Do not restate my question back to me.
Do not explain what you are about to do before doing it.
No opener. Never begin with Great question, Absolutely, Certainly, I'd be happy to, or Let me help you with that.
No closing summary that repeats what you just said.
No offer of further help unless there is a specific obvious next step, and then it is one line.
Never make the same point twice in different words. If two sentences carry the same idea, delete one.
Cut every hedge that does not change the meaning. "It's worth noting that" and "generally speaking" carry nothing.
How to write the sentences
One idea per sentence. One instruction per sentence. Active voice. Simple tenses. Use the same word for the same thing every time. If you called it a connector in line one, it is a connector in line nine. Do not swap in a synonym for variety. Prefer the shorter common word. Use, not utilize. Set up, not configure. Make sure, not ensure or verify or confirm. Every sentence has to earn its place. If deleting it loses nothing, delete it.
Length
Default to the shortest response that fully answers. Most answers are one to five sentences. Use a list when I asked for multiple things. Do not use a list to make three sentences look like structure. Never pad to seem thorough. A one-line answer to a one-line question is correct, not lazy.
Copy prompt
Prioritize concise, actionable answers. Answer first, in the fewest words that fully answer. Use for every response to me unless I explicitly ask for depth. What to cut, every time
Do not restate my question back to me.
Do not explain what you are about to do before doing it.
No opener. Never begin with Great question, Absolutely, Certainly, I'd be happy to, or Let me help you with that.
No closing summary that repeats what you just said.
No offer of further help unless there is a specific obvious next step, and then it is one line.
Never make the same point twice in different words. If two sentences carry the same idea, delete one.
Cut every hedge that does not change the meaning. "It's worth noting that" and "generally speaking" carry nothing.
How to write the sentences
One idea per sentence. One instruction per sentence. Active voice. Simple tenses. Use the same word for the same thing every time. If you called it a connector in line one, it is a connector in line nine. Do not swap in a synonym for variety. Prefer the shorter common word. Use, not utilize. Set up, not configure. Make sure, not ensure or verify or confirm. Every sentence has to earn its place. If deleting it loses nothing, delete it.
Length
Default to the shortest response that fully answers. Most answers are one to five sentences. Use a list when I asked for multiple things. Do not use a list to make three sentences look like structure. Never pad to seem thorough. A one-line answer to a one-line question is correct, not lazy.
Step 3: Customize your prompt gallery
This is where you set up recurring automations or prompts you use often, so you stop rewriting the same prompt.
You can get Copilot to plan your week, prioritize important unanswered emails, or write weekly reports for clients.
Here are those three as prompts:
Copy prompt
Review my emails, meetings, chats, files, tasks, and recent activity from this week.Generate a concise executive summary for the end of the week with:โข Outstanding items that must be completed before end of weekโข Milestones completed this weekโข Unowned actions or decisions waiting for inputโข Upcoming deadlines, milestones, and deliverables next weekThen identify the Top 3 priorities for next week (starting Monday) based on business impact, urgency, stakeholder commitments, and deadlines.For each priority include:โข Why it mattersโข Key stakeholdersโข Recommended next actionOutput format:Outstanding This Week:โข Itemโข Due DateTop 3 Priorities for Next WeekPriority โข Why it matters โข Next actionExecutive Attention Required โข Decisions I need to make โข Escalations needed โข Potential delivery risks
Copy prompt
Review my emails, meetings, chats, files, tasks, and recent activity from this week.Generate a concise executive summary for the end of the week with:โข Outstanding items that must be completed before end of weekโข Milestones completed this weekโข Unowned actions or decisions waiting for inputโข Upcoming deadlines, milestones, and deliverables next weekThen identify the Top 3 priorities for next week (starting Monday) based on business impact, urgency, stakeholder commitments, and deadlines.For each priority include:โข Why it mattersโข Key stakeholdersโข Recommended next actionOutput format:Outstanding This Week:โข Itemโข Due DateTop 3 Priorities for Next WeekPriority โข Why it matters โข Next actionExecutive Attention Required โข Decisions I need to make โข Escalations needed โข Potential delivery risks
Copy prompt
Review my emails, meetings, chats, files, tasks, and recent activity from this week.Generate a concise executive summary for the end of the week with:โข Outstanding items that must be completed before end of weekโข Milestones completed this weekโข Unowned actions or decisions waiting for inputโข Upcoming deadlines, milestones, and deliverables next weekThen identify the Top 3 priorities for next week (starting Monday) based on business impact, urgency, stakeholder commitments, and deadlines.For each priority include:โข Why it mattersโข Key stakeholdersโข Recommended next actionOutput format:Outstanding This Week:โข Itemโข Due DateTop 3 Priorities for Next WeekPriority โข Why it matters โข Next actionExecutive Attention Required โข Decisions I need to make โข Escalations needed โข Potential delivery risks
Copy prompt
Prompt: Before my meeting with [name/team]
Prompt: Before my meeting with [name/team] today, pull up what happened in our last meeting on this topic. Include notes, relevant emails, and any Teams conversations since then.
Copy prompt
Prompt: Before my meeting with [name/team]
Prompt: Before my meeting with [name/team] today, pull up what happened in our last meeting on this topic. Include notes, relevant emails, and any Teams conversations since then.
Copy prompt
Prompt: Before my meeting with [name/team]
Prompt: Before my meeting with [name/team] today, pull up what happened in our last meeting on this topic. Include notes, relevant emails, and any Teams conversations since then.
Copy prompt
Prompt: Act as a PMO analyst reviewing my project data from the last 7 days. Look across my emails, meeting transcripts, notes, and documents, and output a status report with four sections: overall project status, key decisions made, action items with owners and deadlines, and current risks or blockers.
Copy prompt
Prompt: Act as a PMO analyst reviewing my project data from the last 7 days. Look across my emails, meeting transcripts, notes, and documents, and output a status report with four sections: overall project status, key decisions made, action items with owners and deadlines, and current risks or blockers.
Copy prompt
Prompt: Act as a PMO analyst reviewing my project data from the last 7 days. Look across my emails, meeting transcripts, notes, and documents, and output a status report with four sections: overall project status, key decisions made, action items with owners and deadlines, and current risks or blockers.
Step 4: Create a reusable skill
A skill is a task AI can do in the same way every time.
In Copilot, you upload skills within apps like PowerPoint or agents. There's a whole library of skills to choose from if you want inspiration.
I use a skill that stops AI from writing AI slop. I upload it into all my agents and have even shared it with my team.
5: Create a Workspace
This feature gives each project its own knowledge source.
Copilot stops forgetting everything you already told it about your project, and you can create specific documents from the memory it has built.
You can share a workspace with team members, so you all work from the same knowledge source.
If you're looking for this feature under its old name, Workspace was previously known as Notebooks.
What this looks like in a real workday:
You create one workspace for each project.
You create project documents without explaining the project again.
Your team works from the same knowledge source.
Caution: Check what is in a workspace before you share it. Everyone you share it with works from that content.
CHEAT SHEET
CHEAT SHEET
Step
Where
Use it for
Example
Saved memories
Settings
Context details for better future responses
"What do you remember about me and my work?"
Custom instructions
Settings
How Copilot talks to you and formats outputs
Simplified Technical English
Prompt gallery
Copilot chat
Recurring work
Plan your week, prioritize unanswered emails, write weekly client reports
Reusable skill
Apps like PowerPoint, or agents
A task done the same way every time
A skill that stops AI slop, shared with my team
Workspace
Workspace (previously Notebooks)
One knowledge source for each project
Create project documents and share with team members
REMAINING QUESTIONS
I already use Copilot every day. Why should I stop to set it up?
Because daily use doesn't give Copilot your context. You still repeat your format, your project details and your weekly prompts by hand. Setup moves that repeat work into features that keep it for you.
Saved memories are on. Why do I also need a Workspace?
They do different jobs. Saved memories keep context details. A Workspace keeps what you told Copilot about one project, creates documents from it, and can be shared. If your team needs the same project knowledge, use a Workspace.
Can I really finish all five in one day?
Yes, if your goal is a first version of each one, not a perfect setup: one instruction, one saved prompt, one skill and one workspace for your main project. If you run out of day, stop in order. The first two features apply to the most work, and the later ones get more niche.