Microsoft Copilot guide for small business owners

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's free AI assistant. Its biggest difference from many other assistants: Copilot searches the web for current information and shows its sources under the answer, so you can click through and check. For a small business owner, that makes it a good fit for looking up procedures, comparing suppliers, skimming documents and drafting emails.

This Microsoft Copilot guide starts from zero: the different "Copilots" that confuse people, getting set up in 5 minutes, 5 copy-and-paste prompts, when paying makes sense, and how to keep your data safe.

1. How many Copilots are there? Don't buy the wrong one

Microsoft uses the name "Copilot" for several different products. Before you start, this table is all you need:

Name	Who it is for	Cost
Microsoft Copilot (app and website)	Everyone; used like ChatGPT	Free
Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook (Microsoft 365 Personal or Family)	People who already pay for Microsoft 365 at home	Included in the paid plan, with a monthly AI usage allowance
Microsoft 365 Copilot (business edition)	Companies on Microsoft 365 business accounts	Paid per user, fairly expensive
GitHub Copilot	Software developers	Not covered here

This guide focuses on free Microsoft Copilot, which is where most small business owners should start.

2. Getting started with free Copilot in 5 minutes

On your phone:

1. Open Google Play (Android) or the App Store (iPhone) and search for "Microsoft Copilot". Pick the app whose developer is Microsoft Corporation.
2. Open it. You can ask questions without signing in, but signing in with a Microsoft account saves your chat history and gives you more usage.
3. Try a first question: "Suggest 5 ways a small coffee shop can keep its regular customers coming back."

On a computer: go to copilot.microsoft.com in any browser. On Windows 11 or in the Edge browser, the Copilot icon is usually already there.

No Microsoft account? You can create one for free, even using your existing Gmail address as the login. If you have ever used Hotmail, Outlook, Skype or Xbox, you already have one.

Tip: on your phone, tap the microphone to talk to Copilot. Handy when your hands are full: just ask and listen to the answer.

3. Copilot's strength: answers with sources

When you ask about something that changes, such as rules, prices or procedures, Copilot searches the web and summarises what it finds. Small numbers or links in or under the answer show which page each point came from.

How to use them well:

1. Read the summary to get the main idea.
2. Click the sources to read the original page. Prefer government sites and official company pages over blogs and forums.
3. If a source looks old or unreliable, follow up: "Find this again from an official, up-to-date source."

Note: having sources doesn't make an answer correct. Copilot sometimes summarises badly or picks up outdated information. For tax, insurance and contracts, read the original document or ask your accountant or lawyer before acting.

4. 5 Copilot prompts for business owners

Copy a prompt, replace the [square brackets] with your own details, and send it. The more context you give, the better the answer.

Prompt 1: Look up a procedure, with sources

I want to [register a household business selling food online in Da Nang, Vietnam].
List the steps, the documents I need and where to file them.
Use only official government sources and give a link for each one.

Prompt 2: Compare suppliers

Compare [3 point-of-sale apps popular with small grocery shops]
by monthly price, main features and whether they work on a phone.
Use a table and link to each product's official website.

Prompt 3: Skim an uploaded document

Tap the plus or paperclip icon, attach a PDF or a photo of a document, then type:

Summarise this document in 5 plain-language points.
Then list any fees, deadlines and clauses I should pay attention to.

Prompt 4: Write to a business partner

Write a polite email to [my packaging supplier] asking for a 5% discount
if I commit to a fixed monthly order of [2,000 boxes].
Professional tone, under 150 words, with a subject line.

Prompt 5: Create a simple illustration

Create a warm, cartoon-style illustration for a Facebook post announcing
that [our café now opens at 6 a.m.]. Do not put any text in the image.

AI images work for announcements and decoration. Never use them in place of real product photos: customers notice the difference when the parcel arrives. The free plan limits how many images you can make per day.

5. Copilot in Word, Excel and Outlook: when to pay

Free Copilot does not work inside Word, Excel or Outlook. To get a Copilot button inside a Word file, or have Copilot analyse an Excel sheet, you need Microsoft 365 Personal or Family, which now include Copilot in the Office apps with a monthly AI usage allowance.

It is worth it when:

• You already use Word and Excel every day and pay for Microsoft 365, or plan to.
• Your work revolves around office files: quotes, contract templates, order trackers.

It is not needed if you mostly write messages, posts and emails. Free Copilot, ChatGPT or Gemini handle those well; just paste the result into Word.

If you buy, buy from Microsoft or a large reseller that issues invoices. Never buy cheap "shared Office accounts" from strangers: they often get revoked and can expose your data.

6. Keeping your data safe with Copilot

Copilot is an online service: what you type and upload goes to Microsoft's servers. So:

• Don't enter sensitive data: ID numbers, bank details, passwords, customer lists with phone numbers, payroll. Use placeholders such as "Customer A" or "Supplier B".
• Remove personal details before uploading documents. Contracts and invoices often contain names, addresses and tax codes.
• Review the privacy settings: in Copilot's settings (tap your profile picture or name) you can view and delete your chat history and turn off the use of your conversations to improve the models.
• Protect your Microsoft account with a strong password and 2-step verification, since your chat history is tied to it.

7. Where to start

1. Today: install Microsoft Copilot, try Prompt 1 on a procedure you actually need, and click each source to check it.
2. This week: whenever you are about to Google a long question, ask Copilot first and compare.
3. At the weekend: upload a long document you've been avoiding (Prompt 3) and check whether the summary is right.

Copilot works best alongside a writing assistant. See our Google Gemini guide for small businesses, or the list of 6 free AI tools to pick the right tool for each job.

Checked in October 2026. Microsoft changes Copilot's layout and plans fairly often. If you can't find a button as described, just ask Copilot: "How do I ... in the Copilot app?"