TL;DR

Sometimes working smarter does not require a complicated process, a new app, or a 47-step productivity system.

Sometimes it just requires two keys.

This week, I am sharing one of my favorite Copilot shortcuts: Alt+I.

Select your text and press Alt+I to activate Copilot. You can refine, shorten, expand, or change the tone of your content without copying it into a separate Copilot window.

Sometimes working smarter does not require a complicated process, a new app, or a 47-step productivity system. Sometimes it just requires two keys. This week, I am sharing one of my favorite Copilot shortcuts: Alt+I.

The Copy-and-Paste Detour

Let us say you are writing an email in Outlook and already have a solid first draft. It is close, but perhaps it needs to be shorter, friendlier, more professional, or a little less likely to sound as though it was written before your first cup of coffee.

You could copy the text, open Copilot, paste it into a prompt, explain what you want, copy the result, and return to your email.

Or you could skip the scenic route.

Select It and Shortcut It

Highlight the content you want Copilot to help with and press Alt+I.

Copilot opens right where you are working and gives you options to refine your selected content. You can ask it to:

• Make the content shorter

• Add more detail

• Change the tone

• Improve the wording

• Coach you on the draft

• Rewrite the selected text

There is no need to move your content into another window. Copilot comes to the work instead.

It Is Not Just an Outlook Trick

The same shortcut also works when you are editing content in Microsoft Word.

Select a paragraph, press Alt+I, and Copilot is ready to help you improve it. That makes this shortcut useful for emails, proposals, reports, meeting notes, introductions, and all the other documents that somehow begin as a quick task and attempt to consume your afternoon.

A Quick Copilot License Check

While you are in Microsoft 365 Copilot, look in the lower-left corner of the screen. That area can help you identify the type of Copilot license connected to your account.

The older Copilot design also displayed a Work and Web toggle near the top. The newer design may not make the difference quite as obvious, but the license information is still available in the lower-left corner.

Two Keys and Fewer Clicks

Alt+I is a small shortcut, but it removes several unnecessary steps from a task many of us repeat throughout the day.

The next time you are staring at a paragraph that needs a little help, do not immediately reach for copy and paste.

Select the content, press Alt+I, and let Copilot meet you where the work is happening.

That is how we work smarter, not harder.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Select existing content before pressing Alt+I.

• Use the shortcut to activate Copilot without copying and pasting.

• Ask Copilot to shorten, expand, rewrite, or adjust the tone.

• Try the shortcut in both Outlook and Microsoft Word.

• Check the lower-left corner of Copilot to view your license information.