Demystifying Copilot Notebooks

In the ever-evolving world of Microsoft 365, where the longevity of product names often feels more like kids’ rub-on tattoos than permanent ink, the term "Notebook" is used to refer to two very different tools: Microsoft OneNote Notebooks and the newly introduced “Copilot Notebooks”. While they share the same name, their purposes and functionalities are very different. In this blog post, we will provide clarity, focusing specifically on Copilot Notebooks—how you can benefit from using them, current limitations, and recommendations for how to embrace this new technology.

Two “Notebooks”—One name, very different use cases

When someone says “notebook,” most of us think about a Microsoft OneNote notebook - your digital binder for organizing ideas and sharing notes with others. But with the announcement of Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebooks, in the Spring Wave 2 update in April 2025, the term has taken on a new meaning. While OneNote Notebooks remain the “go-to” place for capturing and organizing notes, Copilot Notebooks function more like structured portfolios of information, designed to be leveraged by your Microsoft 365 Copilot AI assistant to deliver targeted insights and contextual guidance.

Copilot Notebooks explained

So what are Copilot Notebooks then? If you’ve used Google Notebook LM, you’ll find the concept behind Copilot Notebooks quite familiar. If not, you can think of a Copilot Notebook as a curated collection of information that you can interact with using your Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat agent for a more refined outcome. By adding the information that is relevant to your specific scenario, you can get better outcomes from your Copilot Chat agent. Copilot Notebooks are stored in a container in something called “SharePoint Embedded” and are accessible via the updated Microsoft 365 Copilot interface.

If you want to know more about how Copilot Notebooks are stored and managed, refer to the Microsoft Learn article about Copilot Notebooks and storage.

How can you benefit from using Copilot Notebooks?

Some of us love diving into new capabilities the moment they’re released. Others—let’s be honest, most people—prefer to understand the business value before investing time in learning something new. So let’s look at a few practical examples.

Imagine you’re a Marketing Manager preparing for a product launch. You want help in crafting a compelling campaign based on past experiences and your new product. Instead of asking Copilot Chat and getting somewhat generic suggestions, you can create a Copilot Notebook. Add information about your previous campaigns, your new product and any other information that might be relevant, then ask Copilot Chat for campaign ideas or insights based on your Notebook. You’re essentially guiding the AI to your specific information, so the results are far more tailored and useful.

Let’s say you’re in sales, preparing for a high-stakes customer meeting. You can gather everything you have on that customer—presentations, past orders, annual reports—into a Copilot Notebook. Then ask Copilot Chat to help you shape a pitch that speaks directly to your customer’s needs.

Finally, let’s take the example of a legal counsellor needing to ramp up on a new case. You can add all the background materials into a Notebook, give your Notebook agent instructions like, “use conversational language” and then ask Copilot to generate an audio summary of the information so that you can listen and learn on the go on your mobile device. Talk about smart, new digital ways of working!

Licensing for the various Microsoft 365 capabilities

To add to the confusion, you also have “Pages”. You have pages in a OneNote notebook, and “Copilot Pages”, which are pages that are intended for easily saving and refining information from Copilot chats. You can learn more about Copilot Pages in our blog post, “Get started with Copilot Pages”. The different types of “Pages” and “Notebooks” involve different licensing requirements from Microsoft.

Current limitations of Copilot Notebooks

As exciting as Copilot Notebooks are, there are still quite a lot of limitations to be aware of. First, you can only add specific file types to your Notebook—currently, you can add Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, Loop pages, OneNote pages and PDFs. You can’t yet include images, videos, or other data file types, which might be a blocker for some use cases.

Another major limitation is that you can’t add most external websites to your Notebook! This is really disappointing since typically you would want to include a lot of the information published on corporate websites and public knowledge bases.

Also worth noting, even though Microsoft 365 is all about collaboration, Copilot Notebooks are not yet collaborative. You can’t share a Notebook with a colleague to co-curate or co-edit the content. It’s a single-user experience for now.

Recommendations

These are still early days for Copilot Notebooks. While there are certainly limitations- the benefits are already significant. Microsoft is actively evolving the experience, and we can expect more flexibility and collaborative capabilities to roll out in the near future. With the speed of innovation in Microsoft 365 Copilot, it’s better to just get started. The technology is moving fast—but our own behaviors and ingrained ways of working aren’t. That’s why it’s so important to encourage continuous learning and to spread awareness about new ways of working.

If you’re looking for support on this journey, feel free to reach out to us at Storyals. We offer engaging, hands-on learning experiences through our Microsoft 365 Copilot Kick-start program - designed both for organizations just getting started in their Microsoft 365 Copilot journey, and for those already onboard with the ambition to become a Frontier Firm.