How to Use Copilot in Word to Draft a Full Document

Copilot Agent Mode in Word went live in April 2026. It can draft a complete document from a brief — no step-by-step prompting required. Here's how to use it and what to actually give it.

What changed in April 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot has had basic drafting features in Word for a while. The April 2026 update brought something more capable: Agent Mode, which can take a single brief and produce a fully structured multi-section document without you prompting each section manually.

The difference is meaningful. Previously, you'd ask Copilot to write one section at a time. Now you can describe the entire document — what it's for, who it's for, what sections it needs — and Copilot will draft the whole thing in one step, which you then edit and approve.

This requires a Microsoft 365 subscription with Copilot included. If you have Microsoft 365 Business Standard or above with Copilot licences, it should be available now.

How to open Copilot in Word

Open Word (either the desktop app or Word on the web). Click Home → Copilot in the ribbon at the top. A Copilot panel opens on the right side of the screen. If you're in a blank document, you'll also see a "Draft with Copilot" prompt appear in the document itself.

Click Draft with Copilot in the document or type your brief into the Copilot panel. The panel is better for longer, more detailed briefs.

Writing a brief that produces useful output

The quality of Copilot's draft depends almost entirely on the brief you give it. A vague brief — "write a project proposal for our new system" — produces a generic structure with placeholder language you'll need to fill entirely yourself. A specific brief produces a draft you can actually edit.

Here's what a good brief includes:

Write a [type of document] for [audience]. Purpose: [what this document needs to achieve] Background: [2-3 sentences of relevant context about the project or situation] Sections to include: 1. [Section name] — [one sentence on what it should cover] 2. [Section name] — [one sentence on what it should cover] 3. [Section name] — [one sentence on what it should cover] Tone: [professional / plain English / formal — pick one] Length: approximately [X] pages / [X] words Important: [any specific facts, figures, or constraints to include or avoid]

The more specific you are about what each section should cover, the less editing you'll need to do.

A practical example

Say you need to write a one-page briefing paper for senior management about switching to a new supplier. Your brief might look like this:

"Write a one-page briefing paper for the executive team recommending we switch our stationery and office supplies contract to Supplier B. Background: current contract with Supplier A expires in August. Supplier B quotes 18% lower on our standard order. Sections: 1) Current situation — current contract terms and expiry. 2) Proposed change — what we're recommending and why. 3) Cost impact — estimated annual saving. 4) Recommended next step — approval required by June 30. Tone: concise and direct. Plain English. No jargon."

That brief gives Copilot enough structure to produce a usable first draft. You still need to fill in the actual numbers and check the facts — Copilot will use placeholders where it doesn't have data.

Refining the draft

Once Copilot generates a draft, you can ask it to refine sections directly in the panel. Try:

"Make the first paragraph shorter and more direct."
"The recommended next step section needs to sound more decisive."
"Remove any filler phrases like 'it is important to note'."

You can also highlight a specific paragraph, right-click, and choose Copilot → Rewrite to regenerate just that section.

💡 This week's action

Pick one document you need to write this week — a briefing paper, a project update, a procedure note — and write a structured brief using the template above. Use Copilot in Word to generate the first draft. Your job is then to check the facts, add the real numbers, and edit the tone. Time yourself: you may find the whole process takes a third of the time it would have taken from scratch.

What Copilot does not do well

Copilot will not invent specific data, figures, or client details — it uses placeholders. It will not access files outside of SharePoint unless you explicitly attach them via the Copilot panel. And it sometimes adds hedging language ("it may be worth considering") that you'll want to remove for a confident, direct document. Plan to spend 15–20 minutes editing even a well-generated draft.