Most people use 10% of what these tools can do
A seven-part course for getting proficient with Claude and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Claude content informed by Ruben Hassid · Copilot content sourced from Microsoft Learn
Pick the Right Mode for the Job
Both Claude and Copilot have multiple modes. Choosing the right one is the single biggest factor in output quality.
| Mode | What it is | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | The chatbot. Like texting a smart friend. Zero setup. | Quick questions, brainstorming, one-off answers. |
| Cowork | Claude sits on your desktop, reads your files, creates new ones. It works inside your computer. | Real work: analysis, spreadsheets, documents. Long, deep sessions. You want it to sound like you. |
| Projects | A saved workspace. Upload files once, Claude remembers them across every chat in that project. | Recurring tasks like weekly reports. You want context saved permanently, not just for one session. |
| Code | A command-line tool for developers. Claude reads your codebase, writes code, runs tests. | Developers handing off bugs, features, or refactors. |
Chat starts blank every time. Cowork remembers because it reads your folder. Projects remember because you uploaded files once. Choosing the right mode means never re-explaining yourself.
The in-app Copilot features (inside Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams) require a Copilot Pro or Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Copilot Chat on its own is available with standard Microsoft 365 subscriptions but does not connect to your documents or organisational data.
| Mode | What it is | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Chat | The general assistant. Available in the browser, Teams, and the M365 app. Answers questions, searches the web. | Quick questions, web research, brainstorming. |
| In-App Copilot | Copilot embedded inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams. It reads the document you are in. | Drafting in Word, formulas in Excel, slides in PowerPoint, email replies in Outlook, meeting summaries in Teams. |
| Agent Mode | Agent Mode works through multi-step tasks inside your Office files. It plans the steps, makes the edits, checks if they worked, and corrects itself until the result matches what you asked for. | Building a full report from notes, refining a deck over several rounds, analysing data and generating charts in one go. |
| Cowork (Beta) | Copilot carries out multi-step tasks across your M365 environment: emails, meetings, documents, Teams. Currently in limited beta, not yet generally available. Check availability in your tenant. | Automating workflows that span multiple apps. Sending emails, scheduling, creating docs on your behalf. |
Copilot's biggest strength is that it lives inside the tools you already use. You do not need to copy-paste content out. Copilot in Word reads the document. Copilot in Excel reads the spreadsheet. It is grounded in your work data by default.
Behind the scenes, Microsoft's Work IQ layer connects your files, calendar, emails, and org context so Copilot can maintain continuity across apps during multi-step tasks.
| Task | Claude | Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Quick question | Chat | Copilot Chat |
| Work on a document | Cowork (reads your folder) | Copilot in Word (reads your doc) |
| Analyse a spreadsheet | Cowork or Chat (upload file) | Copilot in Excel (reads your sheet) |
| Summarise a meeting | Chat (paste transcript) | Copilot in Teams (automatic) |
| Recurring workflow | Projects | Copilot Notebooks + Agents |
| Multi-step automation | Claude Computer / Cowork | Cowork (Preview) |
| Deep research | Claude Research | Researcher (M365) |
Write Better Prompts
The quality of what you get out is directly tied to how you ask. This applies to every AI tool. Here is the progression from basic to powerful.
Generic input = generic output. No context, no direction.
You are making the AI do the thinking. It asks, you click. Faster and better results.
Context + restraint + collaboration. This is how you get output that sounds like you, not like AI.
In Copilot, ground your prompt on the document you have open, or reference a SharePoint site with /. The principle is identical: give it context, tell it not to rush, and let it ask questions. In Copilot Notebooks, you can add multiple reference files just like Claude Projects.
Stop writing 500-word prompts. Instead, end with "Ask me questions before you start." The AI generates clickable options. You click. Clicking costs almost nothing. Typing costs a lot.
Claude
Claude generates interactive multi-select forms (AskUserQuestion). You click answers in under a minute. Claude plans, you approve, it executes.
Copilot
Copilot Chat offers follow-up suggestions you can tap. In Agent Mode, it will iterate on your feedback over multiple rounds automatically.
Do not start with "make me a spreadsheet." Use Chat to figure out what you want. Once it is clear, then build the file. Think cheap, build expensive.
Set Up Your Workspace
A one-time setup that pays off on every future task. Give the AI your context once, use it forever.
Create one parent folder ("Claude-Cowork") with four subfolders. Only one folder is where Claude writes to. Everything else is read-only context.
| Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ABOUT ME | Your identity, your writing rules, who you are, what you do, what matters now. |
| PROJECTS | One subfolder per live project (brief + drafts + references). |
| TEMPLATES | Your best past work as reusable structure (not content, just the shape). |
| CLAUDE OUTPUTS | The only folder Claude writes to. Everything else: read-only. |
Then write two core files: about-me.md (who you are, what you do, current priorities) and anti-ai-style.md (every phrase Claude must never use: "boundaries", "delve", "it's worth noting"). One great .md file beats 50 random uploads.
Copilot's equivalent to Claude's folder structure is its Connectors and Notebooks. Here is how to set up your workspace:
- 1. Connectors: Go to Settings → Connectors → Browse → Add. Link Slack, Google Drive, Notion, SharePoint and 50+ others. Now Copilot can search your Slack, pull from your Docs, and reference your data mid-task.
- 2. Notebooks: A space to collect files, notes, and references. Ground your prompts on a Notebook so Copilot draws from your curated materials, not just the web.
- 3. Memory (Work IQ): Copilot learns from your style, preferences, and habits over time. Check your personalisation settings to see and manage what it remembers.
Because Copilot sits inside Microsoft 365, it already has access to your emails, calendar, Teams chats, and SharePoint files through Microsoft Graph. You do not need to manually upload context the way you do with other tools.
Build Things (Not Just Text)
Both tools can create real deliverables: charts, documents, spreadsheets, presentations. The trick is knowing how to ask.
Claude
Prompt: "Create an interactive chart about [topic]. Don't code. Interactive chart only." Claude builds live, clickable charts in seconds. No Excel, no Tableau, no developer needed. You can iterate: "Add a toggle", "Compare 3 scenarios side by side", "Change to treemap".
- Line, bar, treemaps, flowcharts, radar, bubble, decision trees
- One sentence prompt to create
- Download as HTML or share via link
Copilot
In Excel, Copilot can analyse your data and suggest charts. In PowerPoint, it creates slides with visuals from your data. The charts are native Office charts, which means they are editable in the tools your team already knows.
- Works directly on your existing spreadsheet data
- Charts are editable Office objects (not images)
- Shares natively via Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint
Claude for standalone interactive visuals you want to share as a link or embed. Copilot for charts that live inside existing Office documents your team already works in.
Claude
Claude creates real .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, and .pdf files you can download. In Cowork, files appear directly in your folder. To share with a client: create the chart, then say "I need to send it to a client. Code it." Download the HTML, upload to Google Drive, share the link.
Copilot
Copilot creates and edits files directly inside the Office apps. Draft a Word document, build a PowerPoint deck, or generate an Excel analysis without leaving the application. Files save to OneDrive or SharePoint automatically.
Automate and Delegate
Both tools can now do tasks for you, not just answer questions. This is where AI starts saving real hours.
Claude Computer can browse the web, click through apps, and execute multi-step workflows on your behalf. Real examples:
- → Monitor competitor pricing across multiple websites weekly
- → Organise your Desktop and Downloads folders, rename files by date, sort into categories
- → Find your top YouTube videos, extract quotable moments, create a content repurposing spreadsheet
- → Search the Meta Ads Library for viral ads in your niche
With Cowork's /schedule plugin, you can set tasks to run automatically. Cowork runs without you. You wake up to a briefing doc.
Copilot's Cowork feature (currently in preview) handles multi-step tasks across your M365 environment. Each action requires your approval. Real examples:
- → Draft an email reply, schedule a follow-up meeting, and create a Word summary, all from one prompt
- → Flag and archive emails from a specific project
- → Set up automatic replies using natural language
- → Create agents in Copilot Studio for repeatable workflows (no coding needed)
Both platforms are heading toward AI agents that do multi-step work on your behalf. Claude calls them Skills and Plugins. Copilot calls them Agents. The concept is the same: teach the AI a workflow once, then it handles it repeatedly.
Power User Tips
Practical tips to get more out of both tools, spend less, and work smarter.
| Tip | Why |
|---|---|
| Shrink your files | PDFs and screenshots burn credits. Copy-paste text instead. Smaller file = fewer credits. |
| Edit, do not resend | Made a mistake? Hit Edit on your old message. Every "no wait, I meant..." makes your chat more expensive. |
| Start fresh every 15-20 messages | Every new message re-reads the entire history. Ask for a summary, copy it, start a new chat. |
| Pick the right model | Easy stuff → Haiku (fast, cheap). Writing/reports → Opus (smart, costly). Code/charts → Sonnet (middle ground). |
| Turn off what you do not need | Web search, connectors, extended thinking all use credits even when you do not need them. |
| Batch and spread your day | Claude resets on a rolling 5-hour window. Work in 2-3 sessions across the day. Put 3 tasks in 1 message, not 3 messages. |
| Tip | Why |
|---|---|
| Use Work mode, not Web mode | Work mode grounds Copilot in your organisation's data via Microsoft Graph. Web mode is just a search engine. |
| Reference with / | Type / in the prompt to reference a specific file, SharePoint site, or person. Example: Summarise the key points from /Q4-sales-report.pptx and draft an email to /John Smith. |
| Use Copilot inside the app | Copilot in Word is better at documents than Copilot Chat. Copilot in Excel is better at data. Use the right surface. |
| Try GPT-5.2 Think Deeper | Use the model selector to choose Quick Response for simple tasks and Think Deeper for complex reasoning. |
| Check the meeting recap | After any Teams meeting with recording, Copilot automatically generates action items, key decisions, and follow-ups. |
| Highlight then ask | Select specific text in a document or email, then ask Copilot about just that selection for focused answers. |
| Feature | Claude | Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Connectors / Integrations | Slack, Google Drive, Notion, Gmail, Calendar (via Connectors) | SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Outlook, 50+ via Connectors |
| Skills / Plugins | Markdown files that teach Claude your processes. Install pre-built ones for sales, marketing, legal, data. | Agents in Copilot Studio. Build from templates or natural language. |
| Deep Research | Claude Research: searches web, cross-references, shows thinking in real time. | Researcher: generates reports in Word, PPT, PDF, or audio format. |
| Extended Thinking | Turn it on for complex tasks. Always use Opus 4.6 + Extended Thinking for important work. | GPT-5.2 Think Deeper mode in the model selector. |
| Voice | Available in mobile app. | Voice catch-up in Outlook mobile. Voice chat with memory in M365 app. |
| Pricing (Individual) | Free tier available. Pro: ~$20/month. | Free tier with Windows/Edge. Pro: ~$20/month (requires M365 subscription). |
Go Deeper: Official Learning Resources
Both Anthropic and Microsoft offer free, official training. These are the best places to build real fluency.
Want help applying this to your team?
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Claude content adapted from infographics by Ruben Hassid (how-to-ai.guide). Official resources from Anthropic Academy and Microsoft Learn.