Edit with Copilot in Word: rewrite and enrich a document

✅ How to

1. 1A document that's done... almostWe've all been there: the substance is there, but the form still needs work. The tone is too formal, the text too long, some sentences are clumsy, or it needs adapting for an executive, a client, a technical team. Until now, that meant re-reading, editing, rephrasing, sometimes rewriting whole paragraphs. Edit with Copilot brings a far more natural approach, right inside Word.
2. 2What is Edit with Copilot?Edit with Copilot lets you select part of your document and ask for the change in natural language. Instead of rewriting it yourself, you describe the outcome you want: ➞ « Make this paragraph more professional. » ➞ « Simplify this text for a non-technical audience. » ➞ « Cut this passage by 50%. » ➞ « Turn this content into a bullet list. » Copilot then offers a new version you can accept, compare, or ignore. You stay in control throughout.
3. 3The « Allow Editing » modeBy default, Copilot can simply chat (« Chat only »): it suggests, but doesn't touch the document. By turning on « Allow Editing », you let it write directly in the file: insert, replace, rephrase in the right place. This is the mode that turns Copilot into a true co-writer: you describe the intent, it applies the change in the text, and you validate.
4. 4Enriching the document from another sourceThis is where Allow Editing gets powerful: you can ask Copilot to add content to your document based on another source. A received email, a PDF, another Word document, a note. Concrete example: a colleague emails you the framing of a project (here, the « Thunderbolt » project). You reference that email and ask Copilot to bring its elements into the right section of your document. Copilot pulls the material from the source and writes it straight into the right place, in your document's style.
   

   The source email, as shown in the video above.

5. 5A few concrete examples➞ Adapt your message to the audience: the same information, rephrased for an executive or a technical team. ➞ Summarize an overly long text: condense a section without losing the essentials. ➞ Improve a client document: raise the tone and clarity a notch before sending. ➞ Translate or localize content: switch languages while keeping the formatting. ➞ Interact with the content: ask for precise formatting, for example highlighting titles in yellow. The video below shows two of these at once: translating the document into English, then highlighting its headings.
6. 6What to rememberEdit with Copilot turns Word into a rewriting assistant, and with « Allow Editing », into a co-writer that acts directly in the file. It doesn't replace the author: it helps them find the right wording, the right level of detail, the right tone faster, and pull content from their other sources. Between a decent idea and an excellent document, the difference often comes down to these small adjustments.

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