Scheduling Copilot Prompts
There are so many ways to automate a task: build a Copilot Studio agent, build a Copilot Studio Lite agent, build a Power Automate flow, build an app...or maybe just write a prompt. Whichever option you choose, be realistic about the time required to build the solution. If the task only takes five minutes to complete, it may not make sense to spend weeks building an agent—at least for now, until you find more value in doing so.
There have been several times when I've opted to just write a very good prompt and then running it when I needed it, but then I had to remember that I had the prompt and actually run it.
Enter scheduled prompts. This has been a game changer. In case you haven't noticed this feature, you can schedule Copilot prompts AND get a notification when the output is ready for your review.
Imagine this - it's Monday morning and you just logged on for the day, then...ping! You just received an email from Copilot with the to-do items you should focus on first. Sounds great, right? And it gets even better.
Here are some additional use cases to consider:
- Daily to-do list: Consolidate a list of urgent and important items to focus on that day
- Meeting preparation: Summarize agenda items and pull relevant documents
- Friday recap: Identify what needs to get done before you log off for the weekend
- Industry news: Stay on top of industry trends
- Competitor news: Stay on top of what your competitors are working on
- Continuous learning: Schedule bite-sized learning content on a variety of topics
Scheduled prompts are best for eliminating manual initiation for repetitive tasks. They can also be very helpful for keeping you moving so that you can log off ON TIME - who doesn't want that?!So how can you schedule a Copilot prompt? Let's get into it!
How to schedule Copilot prompts:
1. Navigate to M365 Copilot. A paid license is required.
2. Enter the prompt you'd like to schedule. You must process the prompt first before you can schedule it.
3. After Copilot has generated a response, scroll up to your prompt. Hover over your prompt until you see these icons. Select the clock icon.
4. The following pop-up will appear. You'll notice your prompt at the top of the screen, with some options to configure below.
5. Select the date and time you want your schedule to start.
6. Select the recurrence (daily, weekly, monthly). Based on your selection, you may need to identify the specific days in which the prompt should be processed.
*Notice how the summary updates as you make changes, helping you confirm the setup is correct.
7. Select the number of times you would like the prompt processed. Notice there is a limit for the number of times the prompt can be processed before it expires.
8. Check the box "Receive an email...". This is VERY IMPORTANT. If you do not check this box, it will be up to you to remember to check Copilot to review the response. Checking this box will automate sending you an email with a link to the generated response for review.
9. Select Save. Congratulations - you've just scheduled a prompt!
After selecting save, you'll notice another pop-up which displays all prompts you have scheduled. From here, you can run the prompt now, turn it off or delete it. This screen also shows any prompts that have expired. After a prompt has expired, you'll need to go through these steps to set it up again. As of today, there is no "Reset" option, although, I'm hoping that comes very soon.
Need help getting started?
Try scheduling some of these prompts:
Daily To-Do List:
Review my emails, Teams messages, calendar events, and any other accessible sources to identify tasks or requests that require my attention. Include tasks due today and any overdue items from yesterday. Apply these rules:
- For Teams: Only include items explicitly directed to me (mentions, direct requests, or assigned actions). Ignore general announcements or posts for awareness.
- For Emails: Exclude any request that I’ve already replied to if my response fully addresses the request.
Exclude tasks marked complete or fully resolved.
Create a prioritized to-do list sorted by urgency (due date) and importance (requester role and impact). For each item, include:
- Action required
- Who requested it
- Due date or deadline
- Priority level (High, Medium, Low)
- Relevant context or notes (including dependencies)
- Mark if overdue
- Estimated time to complete
Present the output as a table sorted by priority with columns: Task | Requester | Due Date | Priority | Notes | Overdue | Estimated Time. At the top, include a summary: total tasks, overdue count, and top 3 priorities.
Industry News:
Objective: Retrieve up to 20 articles published within the last 24 hours, covering the following topics:
Topics & Minimum Requirements
- Consulting Industry Developments – At least 3 articles
- Leadership Insights and Trends – At least 3 articles
- Business and Strategic Impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – At least 3 articles
Source Guidelines:
Use primary sources only, such as, but not limited to:
- Forbes
- MIT Technology Review
- Harvard Business Review
Exclude aggregator sites, including:
Fallback Criteria:
If fewer than 3 articles are found for a topic:
- Include as many as available
- If no articles are found within the last 24 hours:
- Expand the search to include articles published within the last 72 hours
Output Format:
For each article, include:
- Title
- Brief summary
- Source name
- Canonical link to the article
Continuous Learning - Learning how to speak French:
Teach me 3 different beginner/intermediate-friendly French words or phrases (avoid repeating common greetings like ‘bonjour’). For each, include:
- The word or phrase in French
- Its English meaning
- Phonetic pronunciation (easy for English speakers)
- An example sentence in French with its English translation
- A short tip on when to use it in real life
- Make the explanation simple and suitable for a beginner.
Let me know how these work for you! Thank you for reading! Please share your ideas in the comments—what use cases would you like me to cover next?
