If Microsoft Copilot feels a bit confusing right now, you’re not imagining it.
It’s changing quickly – where it shows up, what it can do, and how it behaves can feel different from one month to the next. That uncertainty is real, and it’s something a lot of people are noticing.
I’ve done a quick video – have a look! Alternatively, you can read the blog further below..
Breaking News: Microsoft announced a change last week that’s worth mentioning.. From 15 April 2026, organisations with more than 2,000 Microsoft licences will only have access to free Copilot via the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and Outlook. Free Copilot will no longer appear in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneDrive in those environments. The paid Microsoft 365 Copilot experience remains unchanged. For smaller organisations, behaviour is as shown in the video – for now.
Copilot and ChatGPT – what’s the connection?
Underneath, Microsoft Copilot uses the same family of AI technology as tools like ChatGPT.
That’s possible because of Microsoft’s significant investment in OpenAI, which gives Microsoft access to advanced AI models and allows Copilot to be built directly into Microsoft products.
The important takeaway isn’t the model name – it’s that Copilot and ChatGPT share similar AI foundations but can be used in very different ways.
Where Copilot is showing up now
Copilot is no longer just a standalone app or a panel you see in a browser.
You’ll now notice Copilot appearing inside:
Word
Excel
Outlook
PowerPoint
Teams
This can happen even if you don’t have a paid Copilot licence, which is where a lot of the confusion starts.
Seeing Copilot there doesn’t necessarily mean it understands what you’re working on.
What free Copilot actually does
The free version of Copilot mostly gives you AI access in the window you’re working in.
What it can see or understand varies — and that can change over time — but the safest assumption right now is that free Copilot doesn’t truly know your documents, emails, or files.
It’s best thought of as:
A general AI helper
Useful for ideas, drafting, and thinking things through
Not connected to your organisation’s data
What paid Microsoft 365 Copilot does differently
Paid Microsoft 365 Copilot is designed to work with your organisation’s data.
That’s the version that can:
Summarise meetings and conversations
Help draft documents and emails using your real context
Analyse data
Prepare work based on what actually exists in your environment
This difference — access to organisational data — is what organisations are paying for.
The simplest way to remember it
If everything else feels blurry, this framing helps:
Free Copilot gives you access to AI.
Paid Copilot gives AI access to your work.
And yes — this will keep evolving. The details may shift, but that core distinction is likely to remain.
The real skill isn’t memorising features. It’s staying curious and learning as the tools change.
If you and your team are wanting to learn more about Microsoft Copilot to help you be more efficient and effective, we are here to help. Corporate Training Options specializes in customized Microsoft Copilot courses across Australia-designed to meet you where you are.
If you’re an occasional Excel user, using your mouse and clicking through menus is perfectly fine – it gets the job done. But when you really need to work in a spreadsheet — analyse data, clean it, move fast — suddenly the mouse feels painfully slow.
Here are five underrated Excel shortcuts that will instantly make you faster and look like an absolute pro.
1. Ctrl + Arrow Keys — Jump to the Edge of Your Data
Growing up on spreadsheets without a mouse using Lotus 1-2-3, I know this and couldn’t live without it! Skip the endless scrolling.
Use Ctrl + → / ← / ↑ / ↓ to jump straight to the edge of your data block.
Add Shift to select everything along the way.
2. F2 — Edit Cell Without Double-clicking
This seems simple, but F2 is a game changer. And for the record, it also works in Windows File Manager when renaming a file.
Tap F2 to edit the active cell from your keyboard. NOTE: Some keyboards may make this a little more awkward now. On my laptop, I need to hold down the Fn key to access F2, otherwise it just makes my laptop volume softer! 😂
Once I’m editing the cell, I might then use the Home key to get the cursor back to the start of the cell, or the End key to get to the end, or Shift-Home to select everything from the cursor to the start, etc etc.
3. Ctrl + Shift + L — Toggle Filters Instantly
I used to think that once you’ve turned on Filters for a table of data, you’d leave it on – but recently I’ve found myself turning it on temporarily to quickly sort the data, or to check the values in a column in the filter area, and then turning it straight off again.
Just hit Ctrl + Shift + L and filters appear (or disappear).
Perfect for anyone who lives in data.
4. Alt Menu Magic — Use Excel Without Your Mouse
Sometimes the fastest path is straight through the Ribbon using the Alt key.
Here are two deceptively powerful Alt-sequence shortcuts that could save you hundreds of click a week:
Auto-fit Column Width
Alt → H → O → I
No dragging, no fiddling — just a perfectly sized column. There are similar keys for row heights too.
Remove Duplicates
Alt → A → M
A must know for clean, reliable data.
5. Ctrl + ; — Insert Today’s Date Instantly
If you work with logs, trackers, or timestamps, this one’s pure gold.
Tap Ctrl + ; and Excel drops in today’s date automatically.
No typing, no formatting, no errors.
Why These Shortcuts Matter
These shortcuts aren’t the typical “Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V” everyone already knows.
They’re the high-impact, low-effort shortcuts that:
speed up repetitive work
reduce mouse usage
make you look faster and more confident in Excel
And yes—once you start using them, there’s no going back.
If you and your team are wanting to learn more about Microsoft Excel to help you be more efficient and effective, we are here to help. Corporate Training Optionsspecializes in customized Microsoft Excel courses across Australia—designed to meet you where you are.
Penned by Rhonda Garvin | Corporate Training Options
Feel a little anxious when you need to set up a new worksheet, create a graph or generate a report from Microsoft Excel?
These tasks and creating complex formulas and functions, working with macro’s and worksheets and extracting the information you need from Excel, are child’s play once you know how.
Let’s start with what Excel is
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program, used for storing, organising and manipulating data.
It allows you to format, organise, calculate and analyse all types of information and present it in different ways.
It’s part of the Microsoft Office suite and gives you the benefits of:
Creating accurate elegant worksheets to enhance productivity
Improving presentation and understanding of spreadsheet data
Saving you, your team and organisation a lot of time without cutting corners
So, what kind of skills and benefits will a level of experience in Microsoft Excel give you?
Faster data analysis, extraction, reporting and productivity
You will be able to analyse and extract large amounts of data quickly. While Excel has many benefits, one of the most powerful is being able to set up, format and create programs for the repetitive tasks and reports you need to conduct in your organisation.
By setting up your formulas and calculations in Excel for those repetitive reporting tasks or reports, you’ll free up your time.
Improve your Processes and Organise Data the way you want
Most of us know how to enter numbers in Excel and create basic formulas, but in today’s’ business world that’s not going to get you very far.
And let’s be honest. Sorting through mountains of data for the information you require for a specific purpose or report, then cutting and pasting that data and reformatting it into a new Excel worksheet because you don’t know how to organise and edit spreadsheets in Excel, is time consuming and frustrating.
Improve your skills in Excel, and you’ll be able to enter, organise, program, edit and sort the data the way you want your way.
And this is a BIG plus! Imagine being able to organise your data better and extract only the information you want? You’ll reduce the wasted time, relieve the anxiety of setting up new worksheets, and be better able to deal with and analyse vast amounts of data. You’ll be able to present data faster and easily feature information as charts or graphs.
Reduce strain on other people and resources
Your knowledge is an asset for your organisation. A cohesive and supportive work environment is crucial to any company, however, calling on fellow staff members for advice on how to do this or that in Excel is disruptive.
It also results in lost productivity for the person asking for the advice and the team member providing the information.
When you understand and can use Excel’s analysis tools, set up and program complex formulas, create new worksheets and edit existing ones, you’ll be reducing the strain on other people, departments and resources.
Retain employees, increase worth & reduce costs
As many of us in business know, replacing employees is time-intensive and costly. Most of us also know that happy employees who feel valued, are more productive and invested in their own goals and the success of the people and organisation they work for.
They have more pride in themselves and whom they serve.
From our decades of experience of teaching courses in Microsoft Excel, course attendees and their employers agree that training is a win-win for everyone.
Employers invest in their staff, which keeps their staff retention rates down, saving them time and money.
Their employees have an increased sense of worth because:
They are learning new skills
Their employee is investing in them and believes in them
Which results in them having pride in what they do and being more valuable to their employer
Adapt for the future with Excel
If you have any experience with Excel, there has probably been a time where you have set up a worksheet, and sometime later you needed to change it as circumstances have changed. Maybe you need to add a new field, add a new macro or edit the programming functions for your weekly reports or other repetitive tasks.
In today’s world, we all need to learn and have the skills to adapt quickly. This mindset and skillset also need to filter down to how we work.
Having an existing Excel worksheet and having to copy specific data from it, then copy and paste that data into a new spreadsheet and adding new fields, macros and functions based on the latest information is tedious, time-intensive and unproductive.
Yet, many still edit their Excel worksheets this way, when they do not have to.
When you know how to edit existing worksheets, use a range of features so you can collect, organise and present large amounts of data in charts and graphs, and have more accurate data using Microsoft Excel, you’ll save time, energy and money.
You’ll also increase productivity, and your reporting will be more accurate.
Improve your Processes with a Microsoft Excel Intermediate course
Continually expanding the skills available to your workforce is an important task, and a Microsoft Excel course could be the perfect gateway to improving your organisation’s capabilities.
Many times, when working in spreadsheets, you may identify a problem but be unsure of the appropriate solution.
With assistance from Corporate Training Options, you and your team can enhance your Excel skills with ease.
You have the opportunity to develop the core skills and understanding of the software necessary to take full advantage of what Excel can enable you to accomplish.
You can create more elegant worksheets and will enhance productivity, improve presentability, and save time on urgent tasks without cutting corners. Even today, Excel is an industry leader for a reason: its versatility is virtually unmatched.
You also have the flexibility of receiving one-on-one training for a mission-critical team member, or large-scale training to develop better skills across a more significant part of your corporate workforce.
We do not offer a “one size fits all” approach to training, as we understand that different employees will have varying levels of skills. Not everyone will need the same training on the same subjects. Based on your specific needs, we adapt your Excel workshops to best suit your requirements.
Corporate Training Options offers on-site training courses at your workplace or online courses that fit in with your busy schedule in Microsoft Excel 365
Our flexibility extends beyond the necessary training coursework and into the delivery method, too. Rather than requiring off-site attendance at a training facility, we bring our training to you. On-site training has the distinct advantage of creating learning opportunities in the workplace where your trainees will apply their new skills.
What do our customers say?
Our CTO trainer was very clear and concise with his instructions and explained everything in Excel very well. Thanks.
Luke, Accenture
I was interested in learning efficiencies in Excel, and this course was Great! It will save me hours and free me up to concentrate on other projects.
The skills and knowledge acquired in the Microsoft Excel Intermediate course will enable you to expand your knowledge and learn how to create more productive workbooks. It covers formulas and function techniques, advanced formatting and charting features and data manipulation tools like goal seeking.
When you complete this course, you will have achieved several learning outcomes.
If you’re ready to upgrade your Excel skills to save time, money and energy on data formatting, analysis and presentation using Microsoft Excel, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.
And remember, Microsoft Office 365 is the most downloaded Business Software package in the entire world, and for good reason!
Why do teams with Microsoft Office 365 for Business have the advantage?
In Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft has made changes to its flagship products Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, making them more interactive and easier to use than previous versions. But it’s the other tools available in the online version of Microsoft Office that really give you the advantage.
Organisations who have implemented Microsoft Office 365 for Business into their workplace will understand the ways it can improve productivity for them.
So how exactly are they gaining the advantage?
Collaborate, operate & communicate faster
After implementing Microsoft Office 365 for Business your internal staff, those in remote locations and teams out on the road are able to collaborate, operate and communicate faster with each other than ever bhttps://www.cto.com.au/course/microsoft-efore.
They can chat online and access the files and Office programs they need from any device.
They can also use OneDrive for business, to store and access their files correctly, contribute to Yammer and Groups and work productively in many other ways with Office 365 Online.
By understanding and training to use these Office 365 applications and functions correctly, organisations and their team members are saving massive amounts of time and money, irrespective of where they are.
So here’s a quick look at why your teams with Microsoft Office 365 for Business have the advantage of these and many other Office 365 features.
Add 30 Minutes of productivity per day
With tools such as Yammer and Delve, Office 365 is brilliant. Yammer is a social networking service, designed to help employees connect and communicate quickly with posts and messages. Office Delve lets users search for and discover content across Office 365 based on personalised insights.
It is estimated that on average companies who have had Office 365 training and now have a good understanding of the tools available, are saving approximately 30 minutes a day in productivity per user.
Over 12-months that’s a massive boost to your organisation’s productivity!
Work with Groups in Office 365
Groups in Office 365 connects users with colleagues, information and applications they need to get more done together. Groups are open by default to enhance discoverability and sharing, but users can also create private groups if they need to work with sensitive content. Using Office 365 Groups you can collaborate with your team when writing documents, creating spreadsheets, working on project plans and more.
Manage your time with Calendars
With Calendars in Microsoft Office 365 for Business your team will be able to update and develop schedules for your organisation efficiently.
You can set up and work on your own individual calendar, plus work on shared calendars across your organisation. This is great when you need to work with various teams to organise meetings, allocate resources such as boardrooms, and so forth.
With Office 365 for business, your team will have to skills to provide higher levels of customer service to staff both in-house and with those working remotely.
Enhance performance, confidence & accountability
Providing your team members with Microsoft Office 365 business training gives them skills they need to be more productive, perform at higher levels, be more accountable and generally be more satisfied at work.
The tools in the software are intuitive and provide the ability to enhance performance. They will give your team members the confidence to explore new ways of working and completing daily tasks.
Microsoft Office 365 for Business introduction training, is helpful for your team for a variety of reasons.
These include:
A better understanding of the benefits of the Office 365 applications integration
How your organisation can apply the new Office 365 features into your day to day operations
Delivering Microsoft Office 365 for business introduction training will allow everyone to embrace it and maximise the new features and functions correctly.
What outcomes will you achieve with a Microsoft Office 365 for Business – Introduction training course?
At the completion of our course you should be able to:
Understand what Office 365 is and how it can be used
Understand how to start working with Office 365
Create, send and receive emails using Mail
Use Calendar to manage meetings, events and appointments
Understand and work with People
Create and join groups, post and interact with messages, and work with files using Yammer.
Use the Newsfeed
Access and navigate OneDrive
Start working with Office Online
Perform more complex email operations using Mail
Configure and personalise Mail settings to suit your needs
You can use Calendar in Office 365 to manage meetings, events and appointments
You and your team can access, navigate and sync your teams OneDrive folder or work offline
You can also add comments in Word from a phone or any other device
You can collaborate more effectively and easier using Microsoft teams
And much more…
If you’re ready to upgrade your skills with Microsoft Office 365 for Business – Introduction Training, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact Corporate Training Options today for friendly, professional advice.
All of us need some tips to take positive action during isolation, because for the time being, life as we know it has completely changed.
Our borders are closed, sporting events are cancelled, and many businesses are shut down.
But with all the bad news, there may be an opportunity for you to do something positive, ifyou’re able to shift your mindset and take action during isolation.
So, let’s look at this from a different angle.
This threat is very real, and quite scary for us all. These tips are not meant to make light of the millions of people who will be negatively affected by this.
But at the same time, right now, the only thing you have control of when staying indoors and working from home, is your attitude about it.
Many of us will find this new situation difficult, and if you’re feeling angry or frustrated about it, I hope these tips will help.
Tips to take Positive Actionduring Isolation
It seems inevitable that we will have to stay indoors for weeks or perhaps months, while we try to stop this pandemic. Many of us will be working from home, when we’ve never had to before. Unfortunately, many more of us will be at home because we’re not working.
In these difficult times, you may be frustrated, angry and frightened. But what you do over the next few weeks and months, could have an affect on your life for a long time to come.
You could make long-term changes to your life
Let’s say you’re forced to stay at home and wait it out. Yes, you could spend weeks in front of the TV watching Netflix, or on the PC improving your gaming skills.
Or instead, you could think seriously about taking this opportunity to make some long-term changes to your life. This is your chance to do all of those things you’ve never had time for.
If you’re working from home, but business is quiet due to the shutdown, why not take some time to improve your professional skills.
Maybe you’re at home because you don’t have any work, due to a business temporarily closing, or being laid off. Now is the time you could upskill, so you become even more valuable to your employer when work begins again.
Or if you simply want to improve your life and you now have some spare time to do it, why not tick some of those items off your “One day I’ll do that” List.
Try Online Training Courses to Make Positive Changes in your Life
Here’s some ideas for you on different courses you could take to make positive changes in your life.
Dreamed of starting your own small business? Learn how
Take a Microsoft Teams course & nail working from home Teach me MS Teams
This is your chance to do all of those things you’ve always wanted to. So, it’s time to shift your mindset and stop making excuses.
Yes, this whole situation is difficult, and terribly sad for so many people. However, there’s very little any of us can do about it. But what we can do is try to make something good come out of such a bad situation. We can plan to make the most of being at home.
What does our future look like?
We don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know when we’ll go back to work, or go on holidays again, or have a birthday party with friends and family.
But you do know that there arethings you can control.
You can remain calm. You can stay positive.
And if you put your mind to it, and learn some new skills, at the end of this crisis, you may come away with:
A clean and tidy house
New blog content ready to post
Improved health and fitness
Money skills to set you up for life
A better understanding of your Microsoft Office software
You may have even started your own business
What is happening to us all is very serious. But let’s make the most of a bad situation. Stay positive, learn new skills and gain control of new areas of your life.
Take care of you and yours. Stay Positive. Keep Smiling 🙂
Want to take Positive Action while you’re in Isolation?
CTO has a range of more than 400 online training courses available for you.
If you’re an occasional Excel user, using your mouse and clicking through menus is perfectly fine – it gets the job done. But when you really need to work in a spreadsheet — analyse data, clean it, move fast — suddenly the mouse feels painfully slow.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program, used for storing, organising and manipulating data.
Reduce strain on other people and resources
Adapt for the future with Excel
