Copilot in Word can now change your document directly. Microsoft calls this feature Edit with Copilot. In earlier releases it was named Agent Mode, so you may still see that name in older training and articles.
For lawyers, direct editing is useful and risky. It is useful because Copilot can revise a clause in place, using Word’s own styles. It is risky because an unseen change in a contract is a serious problem. The answer is a simple rule: turn on Track Changes before Copilot touches the document.
Here is a safe redline workflow you can use on your next agreement.
Watch the walkthrough
This 3-minute video redlines one clause in a fictitious agreement with Edit with Copilot, then shows a change Copilot said it made but did not.
Read the video transcript
Copilot in Word can now edit your document directly. In this walkthrough, we use it to redline one clause in a fictitious services agreement, with Track Changes on. Then we check its work, and the check matters.
Open the agreement from your firm’s OneDrive or SharePoint, and save a version first. Then, on the Review tab, open Track Changes and select For Everyone. From now on, every change shows as a tracked revision, including changes from Copilot.
Word confirms that Track Changes is on. Do this before Copilot touches the document. If you skip this step, Copilot’s edits go into the text with no redline to review.
Open Copilot. Above the prompt box is a mode menu with two choices. Chat only answers your questions and does not change the document. Allow editing lets Copilot edit the document directly. Ask your review questions in Chat only first. Then switch to Allow editing for the edit.
Give one specific instruction. Ours names Section 9 only. It says to make the indemnity mutual, and to limit each party’s indemnity to third-party claims caused by its own breach, negligence, or willful misconduct. It tells Copilot to keep the defined terms and numbering, and to leave every other section alone.
Copilot wrote a new mutual indemnity paragraph, and it shows as a tracked change. The reviewer’s comment, client will not accept a one-way indemnity, is still attached. Now look at the paragraph below it. That is the original one-way indemnity. It has no deletion mark.
Copilot’s explanation is useful, and it is honest about one change. It added the word reasonable before attorneys’ fees, which we did not ask for. But it also says the old wording appears as a deletion that you can review. In this document, it did not.
Select a tracked change to open its card, and accept or reject it. Notice two things. The author shows as Unknown, so record in the matter file that Copilot made this edit. And the card lists only the added paragraph. There is no deletion to accept or reject.
Here is Section 9 after we accepted the change. It now has a mutual indemnity, followed by the original one-way indemnity, regardless of the cause. The two clauses conflict, and that is worse for our client than the original. If we had trusted the summary in the Copilot pane, this redline would have gone to the other side.
The fix is simple. Delete the leftover paragraph yourself, with Track Changes still on, so the other side sees the deletion. Decide whether you want the extra word, reasonable. Then use Review, Compare, against the version you saved, to catch anything else. Review Copilot’s redline the way you would review a first-year associate’s markup.
To learn Copilot in Word, Outlook, and Teams for legal work, take LGTCP101, Copilot for Legal Professionals, at legalgpts.com.
Before you start
- License. Edit with Copilot needs a Microsoft Copilot license for organizations (or Microsoft 365 Premium for individuals). If you do not see it, your firm may not have the license yet, or the feature may still be rolling out to your tenant.
- Work in your firm’s tenant. Open the contract from your firm’s OneDrive or SharePoint, signed in with your work account. Do not use a personal account for client documents.
- Save a version. Copilot edits the open document. Save first so you can return to the original version.
The safe redline workflow
- Turn on Track Changes. Select Review > Track Changes. Microsoft states that Edit with Copilot respects Track Changes, so each edit shows as a tracked revision.
- Ask questions first, in Chat only mode. Open the Copilot pane. In the menu above the prompt box, select Chat only (Copilot responds in chat only), then ask for a review before you ask for edits. For example: “List the clauses in this agreement that favor the vendor, with section numbers.” This gives you a map of the risk before anything changes.
- Switch to Allow editing. In the same menu, select Allow editing (Copilot can edit your document directly). Microsoft calls this feature Edit with Copilot. Menu names can differ by app and license.
- Give one specific edit instruction. Name the section, the change, and the limits. A specific instruction gives a smaller redline that is easier to review.
- Review every tracked change yourself. Copilot cannot accept or reject tracked changes for you. That is a good thing. Read each change and accept or reject it on the Review tab.
- Compare against the original. Use Review > Compare to compare the final version with the version you saved. This catches anything you missed.
Sample edit prompt
Revise Section 9 (Indemnification) only. Make the indemnity mutual.
Limit each party's indemnity to third-party claims caused by its own
breach, negligence, or willful misconduct. Keep the existing defined
terms and numbering. Do not change any other section.Why this prompt works: it names one section, says exactly what to change, and tells Copilot what to leave alone. A broad prompt such as “make this contract fairer to my client” can change dozens of paragraphs at once.
What happened when we tested it
We ran the sample prompt above on a fictitious services agreement. Copilot wrote a good mutual indemnity paragraph as a tracked change, and the reviewer’s comment on Section 9 stayed attached. Its explanation in the Copilot pane said the old one-way wording would appear as a deletion. It did not. After we accepted the change, Section 9 had both the new mutual indemnity and the old one-way indemnity, which conflict. Copilot also added the word “reasonable” before “attorneys’ fees” without being asked, although it did tell us.
The lesson: check every tracked change against the text itself, and treat Copilot’s description of its own edits as a claim to verify. Then run Review > Compare before anything goes to the other side.
Three limits to know
| Limit (per Microsoft, November 2026) | What to do |
|---|---|
| Edit with Copilot cannot add or change comments, and it can delete a comment if it edits the paragraph the comment is attached to | Resolve or copy important comments before you ask for edits in those paragraphs |
| It can only change the open document; it cannot create new files | Save a copy first if you want a clean original and a redline |
| In a shared document that uses work data, it shows a preview of changes in chat first | Read the preview, and confirm only what you want applied |
Professional judgment still applies
Copilot does not know your client’s priorities, the deal history, or what the other side will accept. Use it to produce a first redline faster. Then review it as you would review a junior associate’s markup. You remain responsible for the final document.
Go further
LGTCP101: Copilot for Legal Professionals covers Copilot in Word, Outlook, and Teams for legal work, including prompting, security, and ethics. LGTCP200: SharePoint with Copilot continues with document libraries and matter files, using downloadable practice files.
Sources
- Edit with Copilot in Word, Microsoft Support
- Draft and add content with Copilot in Word, Microsoft Support
Current as of November 2026. Copilot features and names change often, and availability depends on your license and your organization’s settings. Check Microsoft’s current documentation before you rely on a feature.