Copilot is Microsoft’s AI chatbot, and you can use it to create presentations in PowerPoint. Copilot lets you create presentations from a prompt, reorganize slides in a deck, and summarize slide content into notes for your speech.
Installing and using the AI companion in Microsoft’s slide creator is generally a straightforward process. However, you may find some quality issues with the slides that need manual fixes, since Copilot can’t rectify content or layout problems itself.
Below, we walk you through the five steps for enabling Copilot in PowerPoint and using it to create and alter presentations. We also go over the typical issues with the AI companion’s output and overview a more robust AI-powered alternative for making PowerPoint slides.
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How to Use Copilot to make PowerPoint presentations
1. Get Copilot Pro
You have to get the paid Copilot Pro plan before you can use it in PowerPoint. Once you’ve subscribed, the Copilot button will appear on the PowerPoint ribbon.
2. Create a new presentation
Open PowerPoint (either the web-based or desktop app) and click the Copilot button in the ribbon. Then, click on the “Create a presentation about…” button in the Copilot interface.
3. Enter your prompt
Enter a prompt describing your presentation. Copilot limits your prompts to 2000 characters (roughly 400 words), so do your best to summarize your content succinctly — especially if it’s a lengthy presentation.
Next, hit the “Send” button and wait for the AI-generated slide deck to appear on your screen.
4. Add more slides to the deck
Now is your turn to add slides you feel may be missing to the deck. You can do this by clicking the “Add a slide about…” button in the Copilot console, and then entering a new prompt in the window below. In response, Copilot will insert a new slide into the presentation.
Limitations of using Copilot with PowerPoint
Copilot’s abilities as a slide maker are quite basic. We asked Copilot to create a slide deck on the 10 steps for presenting evidence in court. Every slide Copilot produced followed the same format of an image and 2-3 bullet points. The points lacked detail and the images had little relevance to the subject matter. When we asked Copilot to add more information to one of the slides, the chatbot said it can’t revise slide content:
Our tests revealed the same limitations with Copilot’s graphics. The presentation’s first slide had a video of a bouncing tennis ball, so Copilot misunderstood the context of the word “court.” When we asked Copilot to find a graphic that represents “court evidence,” the chatbot said it can’t change slide backgrounds because it’s only a language model.
Best alternative to Copilot in PowerPoint
Plus AI is the best alternative to Copilot for making PowerPoint presentations. Where Copilot struggles to make presentation-ready slides, Plus AI delivers professional presentations that can be used at work without much editing.
To compare Plus AI with Copilot, we used it to create a presentation on the same topic we tried with Microsoft’s tool: 10 steps for presenting evidence in court. At a glance, the output presentation was more elegant and professional:
Looking closer at the slides, you can see that the slide content is detailed and the images pertain to the subject matter.
Apart from creating more informative and polished presentations than Copilot, Plus AI offers several features that Microsoft’s AI assistant lacks:
- Professional template gallery: Plus AI has a selection of templates that can be used for pitch decks, teaching materials, and more.
- Ability to edit slides: You can use Plus AI to change slide layouts and rewrite content in existing presentations.
While Plus doesn’t integrate with PowerPoint directly, using Plus AI with PowerPoint is quick and straightforward. All you need to do is create a presentation in Google Slides, export it as a PPT file, and open it using PowerPoint.
FAQs
Why can’t I find Copilot in PowerPoint?
You will only see Copilot in PowerPoint if you subscribe to Copilot Pro. The free Copilot only gives you access to the chatbot.
That said, you may not see Copilot in the desktop version of PowerPoint even with Copilot Pro, since Copilot hasn’t been fully integrated into Microsoft 365 desktop apps yet.
Is Copilot PowerPoint free?
No, Copilot is not free if you want to use it in PowerPoint. Only the Pro version of Copilot works in Microsoft’s slide maker, and the AI tool costs $20-$30 per month.
How do I download Copilot for PowerPoint?
How you download Copilot depends on whether you use the web-based or desktop PowerPoint app.
If you’re using the web-based version of PowerPoint, you don’t need to take any extra steps to download Copilot. As long as you have a Copilot Pro subscription, the Copilot extension will appear in the slide maker’s ribbon, ready for use.
If you can’t get Copilot working in your PowerPoint desktop app, don’t fret. You can still make presentations with Copilot in the web-based PowerPoint, export your slides in PPT file format, and then work with them offline. Alternatively, you can use a more powerful AI slide maker like Plus AI in Google Slides, save your decks in the PPT format, and then open them with your desktop PowerPoint.
Which is the best AI for PowerPoint?
Plus AI is the best AI tool for PowerPoint. It outfits your PPT slides with in-depth content and images that reinforce the subject matter while affording a rich selection of attractive templates. Plus AI’s presentations have a sleek and professional feel, so you don’t need to worry about formatting layouts, fonts, or background colors. With the design legwork off your plate, you can focus on what matters — the presentation content.
To use Plus AI with PowerPoint, simply generate your presentation within Google Slides, export it as a PPT file, and then open it with PowerPoint.
