Get started with Workflows in Microsoft 365 Copilot (original) (raw)

Last updated: April 2026

Workflows is an agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot that helps you automate work across Microsoft 365 using natural language. Instead of manually configuring steps or connectors, you simply describe what you want and Workflows generates a working workflow using supported Microsoft 365 services.

Workflows lets you:

• Automate tasks in apps like Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, and Planner.
• Trigger actions on a schedule, or in response to events.
• Collect and save user input with adaptive cards in Teams.
• Use your Microsoft 365 data—like calendar, tasks, or lists—without writing code.
• Test and manage workflows in a visual designer.

Prerequisites

• To use Workflows Agent, you need to be part of the Frontier program.
  Note
  • Workflows is currently rolling out to Frontier early access for Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, and Premium plans in select markets and languages, starting with the United States and English (en-us). Expanded access is coming soon.
  • Frontier includes early access to experimental features, which means features may change as Microsoft improves them.
• Add Workflows Agent (Frontier) to your Copilot from the Agent Store. If you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, follow these steps to add Workflows:
  1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
  2. In the left navigation pane, select Agents.
  3. Find and add Workflows Agent (Frontier). You should see Workflows in the left navigation pane under Agents.
• To use Workflows, your DLP policy in Power Platform admin center must include the following:
  1. Connectors: SharePoint, Approvals, Teams, Planner, M365Copilot and Outlook.
     More information: Data policies
  2. AI actions: AI actions is a connector in Power Platform.
  3. AI prompt: AI prompt is a feature that needs to be enabled in the Power Platform admin center for the environment. If not enabled already, you must ensure PredictionSchema is enabled/activated in your Dataverse org at environment level.
  • Navigate to the environment in Power Platform admin center.
  • Settings -> Resources -> All legacy settings
  • In legacy settings area, choose Processes.
  • Switch view to All Processes.
  • Enable PredictionSchema

Build a workflow

Describe what you want your workflow to do.

1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
2. In the left navigation pane, under Agents, select Workflows Agent (Frontier).
3. Enter your prompt in the text box. For example:

Each weekday morning, review all unread emails from default inbox from the last 24 hours, and identify anything important I may have missed. Focus on messages that are high priority, time-sensitive, or require action. Organize the results into three sections: Needs Response, For Your Information, and Other Important Emails. For each message, include the sender, subject, a brief summary, any due dates or deadlines, and next steps. Send to myself on Teams

A workflow does the following:

• It triggers each weekday morning.
• It reviews unread emails from the last 24 hours in your default inbox.
• It identifies high-priority, time-sensitive, or actionable messages.
• It organizes results into Needs Response, For Your Information, and Other Important Emails.
• It includes sender, subject, summary, deadlines, and next steps for each message.

Connect to Microsoft 365 services

Workflows agent identifies and connects to services based on the names you include in your prompt.

In your prompt, mention:

• Your Outlook inbox or mailbox: Specify where to review unread emails.
• The Teams chat or channel: Indicate where the summary should be sent.
• An AI prompt for Dataverse: Define how the data should be summarized and organized (for example: "Group into Needs Response, For Your Information, and Other Important Emails").

Workflows agent uses your Microsoft 365 account to connect to these services. If it can’t find a match, it may ask you to confirm or provide the Teams channel or SharePoint site.

Test and manage your workflows

Once your workflow is created, you can test, monitor, and manage it directly in the Workflow or Activity tab and the Workflows home page.

Test your workflow

Once you save your workflow, you’re prompted to test your workflow in the chat. Alternatively, you can select Test at the top of the Workflow page.

1. To simulate the trigger, select Test.
2. Review the run history, outputs, and errors.
3. If needed, re-test.

Monitor your workflow

1. To see how your workflow ran, select the Activity page.
   A breakdown of each trigger and action displays. Each step shows whether it succeeded or failed.
   
2. To get detailed insights into what happened, select a specific run.

Manage your workflow

In the workflow list, you can:

• View all workflows you created.
• Turn workflows on or off using the ellipses ( ). Turning off a workflow pauses its automation.
• Delete workflows permanently—deleting a workflow removes it entirely and can’t be undone.

Supported connectors and actions

Workflows supports core Microsoft 365 services commonly used in task automation. In the following table, you'll see the list of products, capabilities, or services across Microsoft that Workflows supports through triggers and actions.

What is a trigger?

A trigger is an event that starts a workflow. For example, you want to get a notification in Microsoft Teams when someone sends you an email. In this case, receiving an email is the trigger that starts this workflow.

More information: Triggers in flows

What are actions?

An action is what you configure the workflow to take based on the event that causes a trigger to start. An action can be for example, to upload a file in a SharePoint site.

More information: Actions in flows

For advanced workflows or to connect to non-Microsoft services, use Power Automate or List of all connectors published by non-Microsoft partners | Microsoft Learn.

Workflow visibility and admin control

Admin settings

Admins control Workflows availability using Microsoft 365 app management settings.

To manage access:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. In the left navigation pane, select Copilot > Settings > Agents.
3. Set access to All Users or Specific users/groups as needed.

Workflows follows the same governance and compliance rules as other Microsoft 365 apps.

Learn more in Manage agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Admin management

Microsoft 365 admin center

Administrators can manage Workflows agent in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Copilot > Agents. Available controls include:

• Enable or disable the agent
• Assign, block, or remove access
• Control visibility using “Allow users access to agents”

Workflows agent respects tenant-level settings configured in the Microsoft 365 admin center and Power Platform admin center (PPAC). These settings determine:

• Whether Workflows agent is enabled
• Whether analytics and telemetry are collected
• Which Copilot features are available to users

Feedback collection (thumbs up/down, optional verbatims) is solely controlled by M365 for the Workflows agent.

Power Platform admin center

1. Data residency: All workflows created in the tenant through Workflows Agents are located in a special purpose environment in the tenant called M365 Copilot workflows environment—in tenant's geographic location, unless you want to Geo-to-geo migrate.
2. DSR and PPAC inventory: System admins can follow Perform data subject requests (DSRs) for Workflows agents​ for performing DSR export/delete for Workflows agents. They can also view Workflows Agents workflows created in the tenant in Power Platform admin center Inventory.
3. DLP: By default, M365 Copilot Workflows environment allows only the connectors required to ensure full functionality in Workflows agents. Your tenant specific data policies don't impact M365 Copilot Workflows environment.

Limitations

• Always review and test AI-generated workflows before using them in production.
• You can’t share workflows created in Workflows.
• Workflows supports a limited set of Microsoft 365 connectors; non-Microsoft and custom connectors aren’t supported.
• Workflows can’t fix errors in existing workflows automatically.
• Since Workflows relies on natural language input in chat to specify locations like SharePoint sites or Teams channels, it might occasionally identify the wrong site or channel if the names are ambiguous or similar.
• Workflows is available only in English.