Copilot Notebooks: what the knowledge bundle is good for and what it isn't

Copilot Notebooks bundle multiple documents into a knowledge source where you can then chat with Microsoft 365 Copilot, summarize, or ask questions, similar to a personal topic folder for AI. According to Microsoft Learn up to 100 references per notebook are used for answering, anything beyond that is ignored for the basis, and supported file types include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, Loop, and OneNote files. According to Microsoft, question answering is most reliable for individual documents up to approximately 7,500 words, while summaries are possible even with significantly larger files up to around 300 pages. As of August 2026.

What is the difference between Copilot Notebooks, Copilot Chat, and a Copilot Agent?

Copilot Notebooks are limited to a fixed collection of documents assembled by the user, while regular Copilot Chat accesses content in Microsoft 365 without this pre-selection. A Copilot Agent, on the other hand, is designed for recurring, often multi-step tasks with its own configuration and thus goes beyond mere lookup in a document collection. Notebooks are thus particularly suitable for a clearly defined topic block, such as a project or contract, that you want to query repeatedly without the AI searching in other company data.

What license is required for Copilot Notebooks?

To use Copilot Notebooks, you need according to Microsoft Learn a Microsoft 365 Copilot or Copilot Chat license, plus an active OneDrive license with a configured OneDrive site. Without one of these prerequisites, the feature cannot be opened, even if other Copilot components in the tenant are already active. If you don't yet have an overview of the basic licensing structure of Microsoft 365 Copilot, you should clarify this before rolling out Notebooks to the team so that expectations about available features match the actual license.

What file types can be included in a notebook?

According to current Microsoft documentation, the formats .docx, .pptx, .xlsx, .pdf, .loop, .page, and OneNote pages are supported. Other file types, such as pure image files or formats outside this list, cannot currently be included as references. For mixed storage systems, this means in practice that relevant content must first be converted to one of the supported formats before it can be used in a notebook.

Where are the practical limits in everyday work?

The limit of 100 references per notebook may seem generous for many SMB use cases, but can be reached quickly with very large project archives, without a prior warning appearing. Additional documents beyond this limit are then simply no longer used to answer, which should be the first source of error you check when answers are incomplete or apparently incorrect. Equally important is the word limit per individual document for precise question answering, which is why very long individual documents are better suited for summaries than for detailed questions. When rolling out Copilot in the enterprise, including sensible notebook structures, we support you as part of our Copilot Consulting.

Frequently Asked Questions About Copilot Notebooks

How many documents can I put in a Copilot Notebook?

Technically, you can add more documents, but for actual answering, Copilot only uses the first 100 references according to Microsoft. Anything beyond that is ignored for the basis of the answers, but remains visible in the notebook. For large collections, it is therefore recommended to split them into multiple, more narrowly focused notebooks.

Do I need a special license just for Notebooks?

There is no separate notebook-specific license, you need an existing Microsoft 365 Copilot or Copilot Chat license together with an active OneDrive license. Without a OneDrive site, the feature cannot be used according to Microsoft, even with an existing Copilot license. Before rolling out, it is therefore worthwhile to do a quick check of the OneDrive configuration in the tenant.

Can I add images or videos as sources?

Not directly according to current documentation, Office file formats, PDF, Loop pages, and OneNote are supported. Image content would thus first need to be embedded or described in one of these formats, for example as text in a Word document. For purely image or video analysis, other Copilot features are better suited than Notebooks.

Is a Notebook the same as a Microsoft Loop workspace?

No, according to Microsoft, Copilot Pages and Copilot Notebooks are standalone features integrated into SharePoint and Microsoft 365 and independent of Loop. Loop files can be used as references in a notebook, but the notebook itself is a separate concept. If you roll out both features to the team, you should clearly communicate this distinction to avoid confusion.