Why Your Copilot “Special Instructions” Don’t Work in Notebooks
Due to the rapidly changing environment of AI related content, we are choosing to post often. This means that we are not reviewing and editing content as we usually would. We are choosing quantity because there is SO MUCH to learn, and we hope you find this content useful. You may also find information that is dated, again, because it is changing SO FAST. This is an exciting time and we would love to hear from you!
TL;DR
Copilot Chat supports your custom instructions. Copilot Notebooks don’t yet. But there’s a simple workaround.
What’s the difference between Copilot Chat and Copilot Notebooks?
Copilot Chat is built for dynamic, personalized interaction. It supports your special instructions, like Magnetic North’s blog and social post templates, and adapts to your preferences automatically.
Copilot Notebooks, on the other hand, are designed for structured, step-by-step tasks. They currently do not support memory or special instructions, which means your custom prompts won’t carry over.
Why does this matter?
If you’re using Copilot to generate content that follows a specific format or tone (like we do at Magnetic North), this limitation can be frustrating. You might expect your instructions to “just work” across all Copilot experiences, but right now, they don’t.
What’s the workaround?
You can still use your special instructions in Notebooks. Just paste them manually into the first cell. We’ve even created a reusable prompt file to make this easier for our team.
Want a copy? Let us know.
What’s next?
This is a great example of how fast AI tools are evolving, and why it’s important to stay flexible. We’re not waiting for perfect. We’re adapting in real time, and sharing what we learn along the way.
Let’s keep experimenting. Let’s keep leading.
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Why don’t your Copilot “special instructions” work in Notebooks?
Because Notebooks don’t support memory yet. But we’ve got a workaround: paste your instructions into the first cell.
We’re adapting fast and sharing what we learn. Let’s keep leading.
founder
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matt Timm
Matt’s the founder of this thing we call Magnetic North. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, and spent over 20 years in industry in a variety of Sr./Executive leadership roles. This is his 3rd startup and his favorite. Matt says "It’s an awesome place to work where we challenge each other as we continuously strive to grow our clients’ businesses. I feel great about the fact that we’ve collectively built exactly the culture I’ve always wanted to have in a workplace without any corporate bobble-heads telling me what we cannot do. We work really hard, we get results, we goof off, we’re transparent and we trust each other."