If you have ever sat through a 45-minute Teams meeting and promised yourself you would sort the notes later — only to forget half of what was discussed — Copilot meeting notes were built for you. Microsoft Copilot can transcribe your calls, pull out action items, and answer questions about what was said after the fact. This post shows you exactly how to get the most from it, including an example prompt you can grab and use straight away.
What Are Copilot Meeting Notes?
Copilot meeting notes is a feature inside Microsoft Teams that uses AI to capture and make sense of your meeting conversations in real time — and then lets you ask questions about them afterwards.
After your meeting ends, you can open the Copilot panel in Teams and ask things like “What were the main decisions?” or “Who took on the action items?” Copilot pulls its answers directly from the transcript.
What Copilot meeting notes can do
Summarise the whole meeting in plain English
List action items and the person responsible for each
Catch you up if you joined the call late
Answer specific follow-up questions based on what was actually said
Draft a follow-up email or summary for the team
You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence to access this feature, and your meeting needs transcription enabled in Teams. Check with your IT admin if you are not sure whether you have access.
If you are new to AI tools in the workplace, the ivee Core AI Programme covers Microsoft Copilot alongside other tools you are probably already using — no technical background required.
How to Enable Copilot in Your Teams Meetings
Getting Copilot working in your meetings is straightforward once you know where to look. Here is how to set it up from scratch.
During the meeting
Start or join a meeting in Microsoft Teams
Look for the Copilot icon in the meeting toolbar at the top of the screen
Click the icon to open the Copilot panel on the right-hand side
Click Start transcription if it has not started automatically
Carry on with your meeting — Copilot is now listening
After the meeting
Open the meeting in your Teams calendar
Click Recap or open the Copilot panel from the meeting chat
Start asking questions about the meeting
If the Copilot icon does not appear in your toolbar, it is likely a licence or admin settings issue. Microsoft’s official Copilot support documentation explains the requirements in detail — worth bookmarking if you are setting this up for a team.
The Best Prompts for Copilot Meeting Notes
Most people only ever ask Copilot to “summarise the meeting.” That is a start — but it barely scratches the surface of what is possible. The right prompt makes all the difference.
Here are some of the most useful prompts, organised by what you are trying to do.
For action items
“List all action items from this meeting, with the name of the person responsible for each”
“What tasks did I commit to in this meeting?”
For summaries
“Summarise this meeting in three bullet points for someone who was not there”
“What were the key decisions made in this meeting?”
For follow-ups
“Draft a follow-up email summarising what was agreed”
“What questions came up that were not fully resolved?”
For catching up on a meeting you missed
“I joined 10 minutes late — what did I miss?”
“What was said about [topic] during the meeting?”
We have put together an example prompt that pulls everything useful out of a Copilot meeting summary in one structured hit. Grab it using the link at the end of this post — it is free and ready to copy straight into Teams.
Tips to Get Even Better Results from Copilot
A few small habits make Copilot meeting notes significantly more useful. These are the ones that make the biggest difference.
Be specific in your prompts
“Summarise the meeting” gives you a generic overview. “List the decisions made about the Q3 budget and who owns each next step” gives you something you can actually act on. The more context you give Copilot, the better the output.
Ask in sequence
Start broad, then drill down. Get the top-level summary first, then ask Copilot to go deeper on a specific topic or person. This approach tends to surface things that a single sweeping prompt misses.
Use it after the meeting too
Copilot keeps a record of the transcript and meeting context. You can come back days later and ask questions about what was said — especially useful on long projects with lots of recurring calls.
Always check before you share
Copilot does occasionally mishear or misattribute something. Review action items before circulating them. If something looks off, ask Copilot directly: “What was actually said about [topic]?” and cross-check with the raw transcript.
Microsoft’s Work Trend Index has consistently shown that AI tools reduce time spent on administrative tasks after meetings — but only when people learn to prompt them well. That is the skill worth building.
Want to get more from all your AI tools at work, not just Copilot? The ivee AI Masterclass series is a great place to start.
FAQs: Copilot Meeting Notes
Do I need a special licence for Copilot meeting notes?
Yes. Copilot meeting notes require a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, which is separate from a standard Microsoft 365 subscription. Your company may already have access — check with your IT department or account manager.
Can Copilot take notes for meetings I did not attend?
Copilot can summarise any Teams meeting that was recorded or transcribed, even if you were not present. Open the meeting from your Teams calendar and ask Copilot to catch you up.
Is my meeting data kept private?
Microsoft stores meeting transcripts and Copilot summaries within your organisation’s Microsoft 365 environment. Your data is not used to train Microsoft’s AI models. Check Microsoft’s data privacy documentation for full details.
What if Copilot gets something wrong in the notes?
It happens occasionally, especially with technical terms or names. Always review action items before sharing them. If something looks off, ask Copilot directly what was said on that topic and cross-check with the raw transcript.
Can I use Copilot prompts after the meeting has already ended?
Yes. Copilot retains the transcript and meeting context, so you can ask questions days after the call. Just open the meeting from your Teams calendar and start prompting as normal.
Ready to Build Real AI Skills?
Copilot meeting notes are one of those AI features that goes from optional to essential pretty quickly. Once you have had Copilot hand you a structured list of action items thirty seconds after a call ends, it is hard to go back to doing it manually.
The prompts make all the difference. A vague ask gets a vague answer — a specific, well-structured prompt gets you something you can actually share with the team. The ivee Core AI Programme covers Copilot alongside the other AI tools you use at work, with no coding required and practical exercises you can apply straight away.
Book onto one of our AI programmes at ivee and start learning today.
