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To create a custom skill for Copilot Cowork, save a skill-specific folder containing a SKILL.md file in your OneDrive /Documents/Cowork/Skills/ folder. Cowork discovers custom skills when a conversation starts. You can share a skill from its detail page in Cowork; adding a skill through upload or an Add skill control is documented for PowerPoint and Excel, but Microsoft’s Cowork instructions do not establish a universal Cowork import button.

Before you create a Cowork skill

These steps concern custom skills for work or school accounts. Microsoft says Cowork is available in a browser at m365.cloud.microsoft and in the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app. Work or school access depends on your organization’s licensing and Cowork configuration; Microsoft lists a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and Cowork enabled in the environment, along with usage-based and Cowork billing enablement. Check the current instructions for your account, because availability and requirements can change.

Personal-account Cowork is described separately as a Preview and has its own eligibility requirements. Do not assume that work/school sharing steps or permissions apply to personal accounts. Custom Copilot skills are also distinct from People Skills, agents, plugins, and shared conversations.

How to create a custom skill in Copilot Cowork

  1. Open the Cowork skills folder in OneDrive. Create a separate subfolder for the skill beneath /Documents/Cowork/Skills/.
  2. Create SKILL.md inside that subfolder. Give the file a clear skill name, a description that explains when Cowork should use it, and instructions for completing the task.
  3. Use the documented Markdown convention. Microsoft’s related custom-skill guidance for Microsoft 365 apps describes a Markdown file with frontmatter between three-dash delimiters, followed by the instruction body. The metadata includes a name and description. For example:
    ---
    name: Weekly status summary
    description: Use when preparing a weekly project status summary from supplied notes.
    ---
    
    Instructions for completing the task go here.

    Use this as the documented custom-skill convention, and follow the current Cowork interface if it specifies a different format.

  4. Start a new Cowork conversation. Microsoft says Cowork automatically discovers custom skills at the start of each conversation; discovery is not documented as an immediate refresh inside an already-open conversation.

Keep instructions focused: define the situation that should trigger the skill, the information it should use, and the expected output. Microsoft does not validate user-created skills, so test the instructions on representative, low-risk tasks and review the results before sharing them broadly.

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How to share a Cowork skill

  1. In Cowork, open the skill’s detail page from Customize.
  2. Select Share.
  3. Choose Only you for personal use, or Specific users in your organization to share with selected organizational users.
  4. If you edit a skill that has already been shared, select Re-share so recipients receive the update.

The documented “Specific users” choice is limited to users in your organization. Microsoft’s instructions do not establish that Cowork skills can be shared publicly or with arbitrary external accounts.

How to import or add an existing skill

Microsoft documents upload and add controls for custom skills in PowerPoint, and a custom-skills workflow in Excel. These are app-specific routes, not proof that every Cowork surface has an import button.

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Copilot Cowork Create a skill folder and SKILL.md in OneDrive at /Documents/Cowork/Skills/. Stored in OneDrive; Cowork discovers it at the start of a conversation.
Copilot in PowerPoint Microsoft documents uploading or dragging and dropping a skill, and an Add skill form. The documented workflow saves the skill to OneDrive. Follow the PowerPoint instructions for that app’s controls.
Copilot in Excel Microsoft documents choosing uploaded custom skills and setting up the OneDrive custom-skills folder. Use Excel’s Refresh control in its Custom skills dialog after adding or renaming a skill.

For the app-specific steps, see Microsoft’s PowerPoint custom-skills instructions and Excel skills instructions. If you have a skill file from elsewhere and want Cowork to use it, the Cowork-specific instructions establish folder-based creation in OneDrive, not a universal import control.

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Why isn’t my custom skill showing up?

  • Check the folder and filename. Confirm the skill has its own folder under /Documents/Cowork/Skills/ and that the file inside is named SKILL.md.
  • Check the file structure. Make sure the Markdown includes the name, a useful description, and task instructions. The related Microsoft 365 app guidance specifies frontmatter between --- delimiters; follow any format shown in the current Cowork interface.
  • Open a fresh Cowork conversation. Cowork’s documented discovery point is the start of each conversation, so an edit made mid-conversation may not appear there.
  • Use the right app’s refresh control. Excel’s Custom skills dialog has a Refresh control after adding or renaming a skill. That is an Excel instruction, not a documented Cowork control.
  • Check the sharing setting. If another person cannot access the skill, confirm that sharing is set to specific users in your organization and use Re-share after edits.

Microsoft’s current Cowork overview, last updated in July 2026, is the reference for its OneDrive folder, discovery, and sharing steps: Get started with Cowork.

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