Copilot Not Working

Fix Copilot Cannot Summarize Handwritten Notes in OneNote

WPS Content Manager Sep 30, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs Microsoft 365 Copilot to successfully read and summarize handwritten notes in OneNote.

How to Fix Copilot Not Summarizing Handwritten Notes in OneNote

Product: Microsoft OneNote and Copilot
Device & OS: Surface Pro (Windows)
Scenario: Attempting to generate a summary of handwritten notes using Copilot within the OneNote application.
Observed behavior: Copilot fails to recognize, read, or summarize the handwritten ink, despite demonstrations showing the feature working on similar devices.

Before you start

Ensure your Surface Pro is connected to the internet, and verify that both your Windows operating system and Microsoft 365 applications are fully updated to the latest versions.

Solution 1Recommended

Verify Supported Language Settings

Ensure that your handwriting and Copilot prompts are in a fully supported language to enable proper ink recognition.

Microsoft 365 Copilot relies heavily on regional and language settings to interpret handwritten text correctly. Currently, English offers the most robust support for handwriting recognition and summarization.

Check OneNote language

Open OneNote, go to 'File' > 'Options' > 'Language', and ensure that 'English' (or your supported regional language) is set as the preferred display and authoring language.

Verify Windows language settings

Open the Windows Settings app, navigate to 'Time & language' > 'Language & region', and confirm that your primary Windows display language matches the language you are writing in.

Test handwriting in English

Create a new page in OneNote, write a few clear sentences in English using your Surface Pen, and prompt Copilot to summarize the page to see if the issue is language-specific.

Handwriting Clarity: If your handwriting is heavily stylized or difficult to read, Copilot may struggle to convert the ink to text internally. Try writing more clearly in print format for testing purposes.

Solution 2

Create a New Windows User Profile for Testing

Create a clean Windows user account to determine if the issue is caused by corrupted user profile settings or conflicting background apps.

Solution 3

Seek Assistance in Microsoft Community Forums

If local troubleshooting fails, reporting the issue to Microsoft's specialized forums can help identify bugs specific to your device or Copilot version.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Try WPS Office for Seamless AI Document Summarization

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1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website, download the free suite, and follow the simple installation instructions.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't Copilot read my handwriting in OneNote?

Copilot may fail to read handwriting if the ink is not in a supported language (such as English), if the handwriting is illegible to the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine, or if the note hasn't properly synced to the cloud where Copilot processes data.

Which languages are supported for Copilot handwritten summaries?

Currently, English provides the most reliable support for Microsoft 365 Copilot's handwriting recognition and summarization features. Other languages may experience limited functionality or fail to summarize completely.

What does it mean to 'create a new profile' in Windows troubleshooting?

Creating a new profile means setting up a completely new Windows user account on your device. This provides a fresh environment, free of personalized settings, corrupted cache, or conflicting background applications, helping determine if the software issue is tied to your specific user account.

Does Copilot for OneNote work offline?

No, Microsoft 365 Copilot relies on cloud processing to generate summaries and analyze content. You must have an active internet connection for Copilot to read and summarize your handwritten notes.

Microsoft Copilot Issues