Copilot Tips: Structuring Your Notebook – Tech Tip for November 21, 2025

In this week’s tech tip, we’re taking a closer look at how to organize and structure your Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebook so Copilot can produce clearer, more accurate responses. Now that you’ve explored when to use Notebooks—and how they compare to OneNote and Loop—this tip focuses on building a Notebook that’s easy to navigate, grounded in the right context, and set up for productive prompting. Let’s dive in!

Start with Clear Instructions at the Top

Every Notebook begins with an ‘Instructions’ field at the top of the page. This is where you tell Copilot the overall goal for your Notebook and the tone or format you want it to use.

Add Effective Instructions:

• Open your Notebook in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• At the top, select the editable ‘Add Copilot instructions’ field.
• Describe the purpose of the Notebook.
  • For example: “This Notebook will help me develop a quarterly marketing report. Use a concise business tone and summarize data clearly.”
• Add any rules about tone, audience, or formatting you want Copilot to follow throughout the Notebook.

TIP: You can update this section anytime. Copilot immediately adjusts its responses based on your latest instructions.

Use Pages to Break Up Your Work

Notebooks don’t use sections or dividers—Pages are the main way to organize your content. Each Page acts as its own workspace where you can ask questions, refine text, and explore ideas without mixing different threads together.

Creating or Organizing Pages:

• Select a New Page to start a fresh space.
• Rename Pages so they’re easy to identify (e.g., “Brainstorming,” “Draft v1,” “Executive Summary,” “Refinements”).
• Add multiple Notebook Pages to test alternate versions, tones, or structures.

This approach helps you move from early thinking to polished drafts without losing track of previous work.

TIP: Use Pages like stages—one for brainstorming, one for drafting, one for polishing. Copilot performs best when each Page has a focused purpose.

Add References to Improve Accuracy

Copilot’s responses become more precise when you add relevant reference files to the Notebook. These files give Copilot context that it draws from when answering questions or rewriting content.

Add References:

• Open your Notebook and select the ‘References’ tab.
• Select ‘Add reference.’
• Choose from:
  • Search for files in your Microsoft 365 account.
  • Upload from your device.
  • Link to add supported Microsoft 365 file links.
  • OneDrive to browse for cloud files.

Supported formats include Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, PDFs, and Loop (Pages). Web URLs are not supported unless stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.

TIP: If Copilot tells you it needs more context, add an additional reference file—this improves grounding and accuracy.

Use Prompts for Drafting and Refinement

Copilot’s conversational interface in a Notebook lives in the Chats tab (separate from Pages). Think of Chats as the place where you ask Copilot questions and run iterative prompts; Pages are where you collect final text, drafts and structured outputs.

• Open the Chats tab in your Notebook.
• Ask a focused question or paste a passage and give an introduction.
• Try the following prompts:
  • “Summarize the main findings from the referenced report.”
  • “Rewrite this paragraph in a concise, executive tone.”
  • “Create a 5-step action plan based on these notes.”
• Review Copilot’s response in Chats. The chat history is saved there so you can refer back to earlier exchanges.
• Move useful output into a Page by using the Edit in Pages option in Chats to copy and paste the response to a specific Notebook Page.
• Refine on the Page—once the output is in a Page, you can continue polishing, add context or prompt Copilot again from Chats referencing the Page content.

TIP: Keep Chats focused: short, specific prompts produce more actionable results. If Copilot’s answers seem off, check your Notebook Instructions and your References—Chats are grounded in what you’ve added to the Notebook.

More References Improve Accuracy

If Copilot needs more background, add documents as references.

You Can Reference:

• Word, Excel, OneNote, or PowerPoint files.
• PDFs.
• Loop pages.

Copilot uses these sources to write more accurate and relevant content.

TIP: External websites are not currently supported (file source links should be based in OneDrive or SharePoint).

TIP: When you’re satisfied with the results of your content, be sure to select the ‘Get audio overview’ button to have Copilot generate an audio version of your Notebook!

Microsoft Copilot Notebooks are intentionally minimal. The structure comes from Pages, Instructions, and clear prompting, all of which work together to help Copilot produce better, more focused results. By organizing your Notebook intentionally, you’ll spend less time re-explaining context and more time shaping content that’s ready for your next document, email or presentation.

Reach Out to TechWise Group

Interested in learning more about Microsoft Copilot and Notebooks? Reach out to TechWise Group. We’ll help you make the most of your Microsoft tools.