Copilot works with your SharePoint and OneDrive files in three ways: on files you select in a library, where it can summarise, compare, write an FAQ or answer a question; on files you reference in a chat, with / or a pasted link; and by finding a file for you when you can’t remember where it is. Every answer comes from the files themselves, and only from files you already have access to.
When I recorded the video above in October 2024, Copilot only appeared on files in OneDrive. To use it on a SharePoint library, I added the library with Add shortcut to OneDrive and selected the files from there. That workaround isn’t needed any more. Copilot in SharePoint sits in the library itself, and general availability began rolling out on 30 September 2026.
How does Copilot work on files in a library?
Select one or more files in a SharePoint library or in OneDrive, then open Copilot from the command bar. The actions change with what you’ve selected:
- Summarise one file or several, with the main points of each.
- Compare files, which comes back as a table of where they match and differ.
- Create an FAQ from a single file.
- Ask a question about the selected files.
Selecting the files is the grounding. Copilot answers from those files and nothing else. In OneDrive you can select up to five at a time, and videos and images aren’t supported.
In my demo, summarising two business cases in OneDrive gave the objectives and benefits of each, and a follow-up about one of them answered from that document alone. In an employee onboarding site, I selected a leave policy and a social media policy and asked what types of leave we have. Copilot listed them from the leave policy. Create an FAQ on the leave policy produced questions like how much annual leave employees are entitled to, with answers ready to drop into a page like the one in building a SharePoint FAQ page with collapsible sections.
How do you point Copilot at a file in a chat?
In Copilot Chat, in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, Teams or the Copilot pane in Word and Outlook, type / and start typing the file name, then pick it from the Files tab. You can also paste the file’s link. Copilot treats that file as the source for the prompt, which beats describing the file and hoping it picks the right one.
To get a link, select the file in any library, then Copy link. It’s the quickest route when the file you want isn’t in the recent files Copilot suggests.
Can Copilot find a file someone shared with you?
Yes, with a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. In Copilot Chat with Work IQ on, or in Copilot in Teams, ask for the document the way you’d ask a colleague: “Find the onboarding checklist that was shared with me last week”. You can ask for a summary or the key points in the same chat.
Which way should you use, and what does it need?
| Where you are | How you point Copilot at files | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| SharePoint library | Select files, then Copilot | Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| OneDrive | Select up to five files, then Copilot | Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Copilot Chat | Type / and pick the file, paste its link, or upload it | Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Copilot Chat with Work IQ, or Copilot in Teams | Ask it to find the file | Microsoft 365 Copilot |
Without the licence, Copilot Chat can still work on a file you reference or upload. It can’t search your emails, chats or files to find one for you. Microsoft 365 Copilot vs Copilot Chat covers the rest of that split. In SharePoint, the everyday actions are included with the licence, while work across very large collections of content uses Copilot Credits.
Four habits that get better answers from your files
- Keep the file where Copilot can reach it. A document on your desktop or sitting as an email attachment is invisible to every one of these features. In a SharePoint library or OneDrive it can be selected, referenced and found. OneDrive vs SharePoint covers which one it belongs in.
- Compare like with like. Compare is best on two versions of the same contract, two suppliers’ quotes or last year’s policy against this year’s. In my demo, comparing a leave policy with a social media policy lined them up by title, introduction, purpose, scope and contact information, because structure was most of what they had in common.
- Select the files instead of searching for them. When you know which three documents hold the answer, select or reference those three. You get a sharper answer and citations you can check in seconds.
- Build an agent when the same library gets the same questions. Selecting files suits a one-off job. When a team keeps asking one library about leave, expenses or onboarding, a SharePoint agent grounded in it saves everyone the selecting, as in building a Copilot agent grounded in a SharePoint library.
None of this widens access. The OneDrive shortcut in my 2024 video didn’t give anyone access to anything new, and neither does selecting a file today. If a file turns up in Copilot’s answers for the wrong person, fix the permissions on the file. For what Copilot in SharePoint can do beyond reading files, see every new Copilot in SharePoint feature tested.
Frequently asked questions
Why don’t I see Copilot when I select files in SharePoint? You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. If you have one and still don’t see it, your admin may have turned on Restricted Content Discovery for the site, which removes Copilot from it, or the site owner may have hidden the Copilot button for visitors under Settings, Site AI.
Do I still need to add a SharePoint library as a shortcut to OneDrive to use Copilot? No. That was the workaround before Copilot came to SharePoint libraries. Select the files in the library itself. Shortcuts are still handy for getting to a library quickly from OneDrive.
Which file types can Copilot read in OneDrive? Word, PowerPoint, Excel (XLSX), PDF, TXT, RTF, HTML and ASPX, OpenDocument text and presentation files, and Loop files. Videos and images aren’t supported.
Can Copilot Chat use my files without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence? Yes, but only the files you give it. Type / and pick a file from the Files tab, paste its link or upload it. An uploaded file is saved to your OneDrive. Copilot Chat can’t go looking through your work data the way the licensed version does.
