What are notebooks in Copilot? Set one up and check its answers.

What Microsoft says a notebook is

Microsoft describes Copilot Notebooks as an AI-powered workspace designed for the content that matters most to your task. It brings chats, files, pages, meeting notes and links together in one place where you can ask questions and get insights.

Microsoft’s “how it works” page says Copilot does not access your entire OneDrive, email, Teams chats or the web for a notebook. It uses only the references you have added. That scoping is the main reason to use a notebook instead of a general chat: you decide what the answers can draw on.

How to create one

Microsoft says a Microsoft Copilot or Copilot Chat licence is required, and that your account also needs a SharePoint or OneDrive licence to create notebooks. It also lists Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium and Pro subscribers as able to use the feature. It adds that some features are rolling out gradually, so a button described here may not appear for you yet. If it is missing, ask whoever manages your account.

• Go to m365.cloud.microsoft and select Notebooks.
• Choose All notebooks, then New notebook, and give it a name.
• Add references: suggested content, search, upload, OneDrive or drag and drop.
• Select Create.

Choose the references with care

Supported file types include .docx, .pptx, .xlsx, .pdf, .loop, .page, .txt, .rtf and OneNote pages. You can also add a link, which Microsoft says must be publicly accessible, or a OneDrive file or folder.

Microsoft’s limits differ by licence: Copilot users can add more than 300 references but only the first 300 are used for answers, while Copilot Chat users can add up to 50, all of which are used. If your folder holds more than that, the notebook may be answering from a partial set. Add the specific files the task needs rather than a whole archive.

A fictional example

Imagine a fictional office manager preparing a booking-process change. They create a notebook called “Booking change” and add the current process document, last month’s meeting notes and the draft announcement, nothing else. They ask: “List the steps in the current process, and note where the draft announcement differs from it.”

Because the notebook holds only those three references, any step the answer mentions should be findable in one of them. A step that appears in none of them is a sign to stop and check. The scenario and file names are invented for illustration.

Check what it tells you

• Open the reference that should support each important statement and read the passage yourself.
• Microsoft’s documentation does not say that answers cite their references, so do not assume one will point you to the source. Ask Copilot which file a point came from, then confirm it in that file.
• Compare numbers, dates and names with the original, not with Copilot’s wording.
• Check that a reference is the version you meant. Microsoft says references stay current as your data changes, which also means an edited file changes later answers.
• Keep the notebook’s output as a draft until a person has reviewed it.

Limits and sharing

Microsoft’s “how it works” page lists no image generation or data visualisations, and says deleting a notebook is permanent, with recovery described as coming. Before you delete one, copy out anything you want to keep.

When you share a notebook, Microsoft says recipients are invited to the linked files, provided you have permission to share each one. Check who can see each source before you share. We did not test the feature ourselves, and your organisation’s settings may differ from the consumer descriptions here.

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