How to Use Copilot in Power Automate
Copilot in Power Automate lets you describe what you want a flow to do in plain language, and the AI builds a starting workflow for you. You can also use Copilot to explain what an existing flow does, to find and fix errors, and to add or modify steps. It requires a Microsoft 365 licence with Copilot enabled and an eligible tenant region.
Copilot in Power Automate lets you describe a flow in plain language and have it built for you. Here is how it works, what the requirements are, and what to watch out for.
What Copilot in Power Automate Is
Copilot in Power Automate is an AI assistant embedded directly in the flow designer. You interact with it through a chat panel and use plain language to describe what you want. Copilot can build a new flow from a description, explain what an existing flow does, suggest fixes for errors, and modify flows by adding or adjusting steps. It understands Power Automate’s connector library, so it can reference SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, Excel, and other Microsoft services in its suggestions. See getting started with AI for broader context on where tools like this fit in your work.
Practical Examples
A few examples of what Copilot handles well. Creating a flow: “When a new item is created in a SharePoint list, create a task in Planner and send a Teams message to the project channel.” Explaining an error: open the failed run, paste the error step name into Copilot, and it identifies the most likely cause. Modifying a flow: “Change the email recipient from a fixed address to the value in the AssignedTo column.” Adding a condition: “Only run the approval step if the Status field is ‘Pending’.” Each of these saves time compared to searching documentation or clicking through connector settings manually.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
Copilot understands context but does not have access to your actual SharePoint sites, mailboxes, or data sources. It cannot select the right SharePoint site or Excel file automatically: you always need to open those nodes and fill in your specific values. Generated flows also occasionally include connector versions or action types that are technically valid but not the most efficient approach. Treat every Copilot-generated flow as a draft: use it to get the structure in place quickly, then review every node before enabling it on production data. For a sense of how AI assistants in general differ from custom solutions, see the difference between ChatGPT and a custom AI solution.
Our tip: Use Copilot to get the structure of a new flow in place quickly, then switch to manual editing to fill in your specific values and test each step. The two modes complement each other: Copilot for speed, manual review for accuracy.