Microsoft is improving Copilot's referencing capabilities in Office documents. With the latest update, Word users can reference more data when creating, reviewing, and finalizing Word documents. For example, you can ask Copilot to write an analysis of a certain topic based on a certain file. Microsoft says users wanted to have more flexibility in this feature, so it is now allowing you to reference an entire folder, not just a specific file.
In addition to files, emails, and meetings, Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word can dive into a whole folder that is stored on OneDrive or SharePoint. Just keep in mind that if a folder has over 10 files, Copilot will refer to the 10 most recent files.
Another change coming with today's update is support for larger documents. Now, you can reference documents with up to 1.5 million words or 3,000 pages, plus you can reference up to 20 items when using the Draft with Copilot feature.
Folder referencing is now available in Word for the Web, and Microsoft plans to bring it to desktop apps on Windows and Mac in July 2025. As for the ability to reference up to 20 files and large-sized Word documents, these two changes will be available in Word for the web and desktop apps later this month.
If you want to try this feature out, head to Word for the Web and create a new document, then open the Copilot prompt window, type your request, and place a forward slash (or click the paperclip button) to open the upload UI. Specify what files you want to reference and click the blue button with an arrow.
Other Copilot improvements in Word that Microsoft recently introduced include better voice note handling and the ability to transcribe them into prebuilt or custom templates. You can learn more about that here.
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