Microsoft Copilot in Outlook helps you manage your inbox faster by summarising threads, drafting replies, prioritising messages, and surfacing action items without you having to read every email in full. If your inbox regularly contains more messages than you have time to process properly, Copilot can significantly reduce the time spent on email without sacrificing the quality of your responses.

What Copilot in Outlook Actually Does

Copilot in Outlook is built into the Outlook desktop app and Outlook on the web for Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Enterprise subscribers with a Copilot licence. It sits alongside your inbox and works with the emails already in your account. It does not require any setup or configuration to start using for basic tasks.

The core functions include:

• Summarising long email threads into a brief overview
• Drafting replies based on context you provide in plain language
• Identifying action items and key decisions buried in long chains
• Coaching your draft emails for tone, length, and clarity
• Suggesting meeting times when scheduling conversations

How to Summarise an Email Thread

When you open a long email thread in Outlook, Copilot displays a summary option at the top of the conversation. Click Summarise (or look for the Copilot icon in the reading pane) and Copilot will produce a short summary covering who said what, what decisions were made, and what actions are outstanding.

This is most useful for threads you have been copied into but were not actively involved in, and for catching up on conversations that have run over multiple days. The summary appears inline and you can ask follow-up questions such as “What does James need from me?” or “When was the deadline agreed?” directly in the Copilot panel.

How to Draft a Reply with Copilot

To use Copilot to draft a reply, open the email you want to respond to and click Reply. In the compose window, select the Copilot icon or choose Draft with Copilot from the toolbar. Type a brief instruction describing what you want to say, for example: “Confirm the meeting for Thursday at 2pm and ask for the agenda in advance.”

Copilot will generate a complete draft based on your instruction and the context of the original email. You can adjust the tone using the coaching options: More direct, More formal, or Shorter. Edit the draft before sending, as you would any AI-generated content.

Using the Coaching Feature to Improve Your Own Emails

If you have written a draft and want feedback before sending, Copilot’s coaching feature reviews your email and provides suggestions. To access it, write your draft, then select Coaching by Copilot from the Copilot menu in the compose window.

Copilot will assess:

• Tone: whether the email reads as intended (professional, friendly, assertive)
• Clarity: whether the key ask or message is clear
• Length: whether the email is longer than necessary
• Reader sentiment: how the recipient is likely to interpret it

This is particularly useful for sensitive emails, escalation messages, or any communication where tone matters significantly.

How to Prioritise Your Inbox Using Copilot

Copilot in Outlook can help you identify which emails need your attention most urgently. In the Copilot panel (accessible via the Copilot icon in the toolbar), you can ask questions such as:

• “What emails need a response from me today?”
• “Are there any deadlines mentioned in my inbox this week?”
• “Summarise the most important messages from the last 24 hours.”

Copilot draws on your inbox content to answer these questions. The responses are not perfect, but they significantly reduce the time spent manually scanning and triaging a full inbox.

Setting Up Copilot in Outlook

Copilot in Outlook is available if your organisation has a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence assigned to your user account. To check availability, open Outlook and look for the Copilot icon in the ribbon or reading pane. If it is not visible, contact your IT administrator to confirm whether your licence includes Copilot and whether the feature has been enabled for your organisation.

No additional configuration is required for standard Copilot functions. Some organisations restrict Copilot access to specific user groups during initial rollouts, so access may depend on your organisation’s deployment timeline.

Limitations to Be Aware Of

Copilot in Outlook works with the content of your emails as the source. It cannot access information from external systems unless those systems are connected via Microsoft Graph. Draft quality improves when your instructions are specific. Vague instructions such as “write a reply” produce generic results. Providing context such as the relationship with the recipient, the purpose of the message, and the tone you want will consistently produce better output.

Copilot does not send emails on your behalf. Every draft requires you to review and send manually. Treat all Copilot-generated drafts as a starting point rather than a finished product.

Frequently Asked Questions