Copilot in OneNote can turn messy notes into summaries, action items, decisions, and cleaner drafts. It works on the page you have open, so it is most useful for meeting notes, research pages, and running lists that need structure.
Does this affect you?
Use this for the Microsoft 365 version of OneNote, mainly on Windows, with an eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot license or plan. Older OneNote 2016 does not include Copilot.
Find and open Copilot in OneNote
It opens from the ribbon.
- Open OneNote for Microsoft 365.
- Open the notebook page you want help with.
- Go to the Home tab.
- Click the Copilot icon.
- Use the side pane text box to ask for a summary, checklist, rewrite, or answer.
- Switch to another page first if that is the page you want Copilot to read.
What to ask it
Use direct prompts for messy notes.
- Summarize this page.
- Pull out all action items as a checklist.
- Turn these bullet points into a clear paragraph.
- What decisions were made in this meeting?
- Rewrite these notes into a clean follow-up email.
Review Copilot’s output before relying on it. Accuracy depends on how clear and complete your notes were in the first place.
More control
Licensing is required
Copilot in OneNote requires eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot access or inclusion through a supported personal subscription. If the icon is missing, licensing is the likely reason.
It reads the current page
Copilot does not automatically analyze your entire notebook or unrelated sections. Put the relevant material on the current page or ask about the page you have open.
Platform support varies
Copilot features may appear first in the Windows desktop app or web version and later on mobile. If it exists on one device but not another, that may be normal rollout behavior.
Sources
- Microsoft Support – Use Copilot in OneNote (2026)
- Microsoft – Microsoft 365 Copilot requirements (2026)
- Microsoft Support – Getting started with OneNote (2025)