Use Copilot in Outlook to Conquer Your Inbox

What This Does

Outlook's Copilot summarizes long email threads into a few bullets, drafts replies in your chosen tone, and helps you catch up on a flooded inbox without reading every message.

Before You Start

• You have a work Microsoft 365 subscription (business subscribers get Copilot in Outlook even without the paid Copilot add-on; check with your IT team if you don't see it)
• You're using the desktop Outlook app or Outlook on the web
• You're logged in with your work Microsoft account

Steps

1. Find Copilot in Outlook

Open any email or email thread. At the top of the thread you'll see a Summary by Copilot box; while composing, the Copilot icon (a small sparkle symbol) sits in the toolbar above the message body. These are Outlook's two main Copilot entry points.

2. Summarize a long thread

With an email thread open, select the Summary by Copilot box at the top (in classic Outlook the option is labeled Summarize). Copilot reads the entire thread and produces bullet points covering key decisions, open questions, and what was agreed upon, with numbered citations that jump to the source emails. For a 40-message thread, this takes about 10 seconds.

3. Draft a reply with the right tone

While composing a reply, click the Copilot icon in the toolbar and choose Draft (labeled Draft with Copilot in classic Outlook). In the prompt box, type what you want to say in rough terms: "decline politely and suggest we reconnect next quarter", then select the Generate arrow. Copilot generates a full reply. Tone and length are adjusted after the draft appears: use the dropdown (classic Outlook puts this behind an Adjust button) to make it more formal, shorter, or more direct. Review and edit before sending.

4. Catch up after time away

After a vacation or conference, open each inbox folder and use Copilot to summarize the threads. Start with the most recent threads in your executive's inbox. This turns a 3-hour catch-up into a 30-minute triage.

Real Example

Scenario: Your executive returns from a 4-day conference to 380 emails. You need to identify what needs their attention today.

What you do: Open the inbox, sort by thread. Click each key thread → select the Summary by Copilot box. In 20 minutes you've reviewed 30 threads and flagged 4 that need executive action.

What you get: A list of threads sorted by urgency, with a one-paragraph summary of each, ready to brief the executive in 5 minutes.

Tips

• Use Copilot summaries to prep your daily briefing email to your executive. Paste the summaries and highlight what needs their decision
• The post-draft tone adjustment is most useful when tone matters. Ask for a more direct version when pushing back, or a warmer one for client relationships
• Copilot doesn't send anything automatically. You always review before sending

Tool interfaces change, if a button has moved, look for similar AI/Copilot/sparkle options in the same menu area.