M365 Copilot — Copilot in Teams Meetings

At a glance

The single blocker
No transcript = no Copilot features.
Enable it before the meeting starts.

During the meeting
Real-time recap, catch-up, and questions.
All based on the live transcript feed.

After the meeting
Intelligent recap, action items, and follow-up drafts
available in the meeting chat within minutes.

Three phases — what Copilot can do

Phase 1

Before the meeting

Get context from previous meetings via @ reference in Chat
Summarise pre-read documents (@file in Chat)
Prepare questions based on the last session's open items
Brief yourself on a person's recent activity (@person in Chat)

Phase 2 — Transcript required

During the meeting

Catch me up — instant summary if you joined late
What has been decided so far?
What topics haven't we covered yet?
Suggest a question I should ask next
Summarise this discussion in 3 bullets

Phase 3 — Transcript required

After the meeting

Intelligent recap with meeting summary
Action items with owner and due date
Key decisions list
Follow-up email draft for attendees
Reference the meeting in Copilot Chat via @

What requires a transcript

Feature	Requires transcript	Notes
Catch me up (during)	Yes	Transcript must be running before you join. Cannot catch up on content before transcript started.
Questions during meeting	Yes	Copilot reads the live transcript in real time.
Post-meeting intelligent recap	Yes — or recording	Transcript preferred. Recording alone generates a basic recap, not full chapter/action extraction.
Action items extraction	Yes	Extracted from spoken commitments in the transcript.
Key decisions list	Yes	Requires full transcript — not available if transcript was stopped mid-meeting.
Follow-up email draft	Yes	Based on the recap. Requires transcript for accurate content.
@ reference in Chat (after)	Yes	Meetings without a transcript cannot be referenced in Copilot Chat.
Meeting notes (auto)	Yes	Automatic meeting notes in Teams require transcript to be enabled by organiser.
Before-meeting prep in Chat	No	Uses your email, calendar, and previous meeting transcripts for context.

Enabling transcript — four ways

During the meeting (manual)

In the Teams meeting toolbar, select More (…) → Start transcription. All participants are notified. Anyone with a Copilot licence can start transcription.

Before the meeting (organiser)

Open the calendar event → Edit → Meeting options → turn on Record automatically and Transcription. Starts the moment the meeting opens.

Default for all your meetings

Teams Settings → General → Automatically start transcription. Applies to meetings you organise. Does not affect meetings organised by others.

Tenant-level default (admin)

Teams Admin Center → Meetings → Meeting policies → enable Transcription and Copilot for the relevant policy. Contact your Microsoft admin or check your organisation's licence portal to verify your org's setting.

Prompts to use in each phase

Type these in the Copilot side panel during or after the meeting

During the meeting — catch up and stay current

Any attendee · Late joiners · Multi-tasking participants

During

When to use

Joined late and missed opening context
Stepped away and rejoined
Parallel workstream — need to track without interrupting

Prompts

Catch me up on what I missed."
What has been decided so far?"
What action items have been assigned?"
What topics are still open?"

Copilot reads from the point transcript started. Content before transcript began is not available.

After the meeting — extract decisions and tasks

Meeting organiser · Project Manager · Team Lead

After

When to use

Immediately after a project or governance meeting
Before sending minutes to the team
Before distributing actions to owners

Prompts

List all action items with the owner and any stated due date."
What decisions were made versus deferred?"
Draft a follow-up email to all attendees summarising the decisions and next steps."
What risks or issues were raised that are not yet assigned?"

Use the Copilot side panel in the meeting chat, or reference the meeting via @meeting name in Copilot Chat later.

Before the meeting — prep and context

Manager · Executive · EA · Sales

Before

When to use

Pre-call brief with a client or stakeholder
Continuing a project discussion from a previous session
First meeting with someone in your org

Prompts (in Copilot Chat)

@Previous-session-May-2 What open items were not resolved in our last meeting?"
@Sophie Martin What have we been working on together recently?"
@Project-brief.pdf Summarise the three key decisions I need to make in today's session."

Before-meeting prep uses Copilot Chat, not the Teams meeting panel. Reference previous meetings and documents with @.

Common failures

No transcript — all meeting features unavailable

If transcript was not started, Copilot has no meeting content to work from. The Copilot panel in Teams will prompt you to start transcription, but content before that point is lost.

Fix: Enable transcript by default in your Teams settings. Confirm it's running within the first 30 seconds of any important meeting.

Transcript started mid-meeting — partial content only

Copilot only summarises what the transcript captured. If the most important discussion happened before transcript started, it will not appear in the recap or action items.

Fix: Start transcript before the first agenda item begins, not after introductions.

Meeting not appearing in @ reference picker

Meetings without a transcript do not appear as referenceable items in Copilot Chat. Only meetings with a transcript (or recap) can be referenced via @.

Fix: Check that transcription was enabled. If the meeting had a transcript, it may take up to 24 hours to appear as a referenceable item.

Intelligent Recap without saved transcript (Wave 3, mid-May 2026)

Microsoft is rolling out Intelligent Recap without saving a full transcript — AI summary generated from live speech-to-text, with no transcript stored. Available summary only (no chapters, topics, or mentions). Targeted Release mid-May 2026, GA early June 2026.

Note: Use cases where transcript storage is prohibited (legal, executive, regulated discussions) will benefit from this once it reaches your org.

Rules to follow

1Enable transcript by default in your Teams settings. For high-stakes meetings, confirm it's running in the first minute.
2Use the Copilot side panel during the meeting. As of February 2026, the in-meeting panel is updating to the unified Copilot Chat experience — it can analyse the live transcript, meeting chat, and calendar content in one interface. After the meeting ends, reference it in Copilot Chat via @.
3Reference the meeting in Chat after it ends — type @ and the meeting name to ask follow-up questions hours or days later.
4External and guest participants cannot use Copilot in your meeting. Even if you are licensed, external attendees see no Copilot panel. Transcript is still captured — they simply cannot query it during or after. Copilot is available only to internal licensed users.
5Verify action items before distributing. Copilot extracts spoken commitments — informal statements may be included. Review before sending to owners.